Table of Contents
Mouse Wrist Tendinopathy - #3 Wrist Pain with Gaming
By Dr. Elliot Smithson, PT, DPT, MS, ATC, EMT·
Quick answer
Mouse wrist tendinopathy is pain on the pinky side of the wrist from an irritated tendon, the extensor carpi ulnaris. It is the third most common pain pattern our team sees in Fortnite and other FPS players, whose games demand constant mouse movement and clicking.
The three main causes are poor wrist and hand conditioning, wrist position and how you hold the mouse, and playing too long without breaks. Management is a daily routine: strengthening in the morning or before bed, stretching after or between sessions, a neutral wrist, and regular breaks.
If you made it here you are likely dealing with pain at the pinky side of the wrist as shown. This is the third most common pattern the 1HP staff has seen with not only fortnite but many FPS games. This was also confirmed with the questionnaire referenced in the main guide. This pain pattern is what the team calls "Mouse Wrist Tendinopathy" (Extensor Carpi Ulnaris Tendinopathy for those working as support staff)
As mentioned it is a wrist & forearm tendon issue not specific only to fortnite but also many FPS games (occurred with a NIP player we had treated who developed mouse wrist tendinopathy due to how he was holding his mouse) Commonly FPS games require consistent mouse movement & high mouse APMs. The tendons irritated involve the muscles which help in index/middle clicking along with moving & lifting the mouse. These are some of the movements the muscle is involved in!
| Finger Flexion with Clicking |
|
|
Management of Wrist Pain with Gaming - Creative Warrior Tendinopathy
Now lets get to management. To keep things simple - we’ll talk about the main causes (THE BIG 3)
- Poor Wrist & Hand Conditioning - These muscles do not have the endurance or strength to handle the X amount of hours you are gaming and the X actions you are performing in fortnite as you grind creative or arena.
- Wrist Position & Posture - Please reference my posture article along with this key video on why wrist position and how we hold our mouse matters
- How we hold our mouse matters
- Posture Article
- Check out the Rez article above to make sure you are keeping your wrist neutral to prevent excessive loading on this specific muscle!
- Playing schedule - you are likely playing too much without proper breaks. Your muscles need time to recovery from repeated loading! Reference the video above to learn more about the big 3.
Exercises to help prevent & manage your pain
Now that we understand the big 3, here is a simple strengthening & stretching routine you can implement DAILY to help prevent & manage your pain. Strengthening exercises should be performed in the morning and/or before you sleep. Stretching can be performed after your gaming session or in between your games when there is downtime. Here is a visual approach for how to perform the exercises
Try this regular strength & stretching program and let us know how it helps you! If you want to check out some of the other pain patterns head back to the main guide. Share this with anyone you feel like it might be helpful for!
