Professional gaming is brutal on the body – inside the growing field of treating esports injuries

Professional gamers face a genuine occupational-health problem: eye strain, carpal tunnel-like injuries, back pain from marathon sitting sessions, and even life-threatening blood clots, as illustrated by the retirement of League of Legends star Uzi and the 2011 death of British gamer Chris Staniforth.

A 2021 study of Portuguese esports players found more than a third reporting anxiety and depression, with nearly half experiencing sleep disturbances. Top teams have responded by hiring physical therapists, trainers and psychologists, borrowing injury-prevention approaches from traditional sports.

An exercise scientist argues the field should instead look to musicians and dancers, whose long histories of repetitive-strain research may translate better to keyboard-and-mouse athletes than football playbooks do. Faker's recovery from cubital tunnel syndrome and subsequent championship run is offered as a case study in what proper treatment can accomplish.

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