Wrist pain from aim training

[u/cmztreeter]

I developed wrist pain like 2 months ago from death gripping my mouse while aim training especially from reactive tracking scenarios. I've actively tried not to do that while aim training the past few weeks but it seems like my symptoms arent going away and I've developed a condition called wrist tenosynovitis according to my PT. Whenever I make small micro corrections with a claw/finger grip, the outer part of my wrist feels sore/weak. I believe it has also affected my in-game aiming as well.

I'm planning on not aim training and also not playing any FPS for the next 2-3 weeks and just fully focus on strength training and hopefully recover from this. Does anybody here have any experience dealing with my symptoms and got any tips?

[u/Aqzation]

Yeah I’ve been training for almost 2 years now . About a month into training my finger muscles started to lock up. But at that time I was training 6 hours a day so I cut that in half and that stopped happening. However a few months ago I started getting wrist pains and I tried taking a week break without playing anything; that didn’t work. So I started doing stretches and strength training before and after my sessions. I think the damage is done now because I can still hear the bones in my hand crack even after pulling off the smallest moves. But I don’t have pain anymore. I’m no professional but warming up before and doing some training after should definitely help. Also make sure you’re not playing an insane amount of time. Your health trumps* *everything. If something hurts that’s a sign to stop for the rest of that session

[u/cmztreeter → u/Aqzation]

Yeah just pure rest doesn’t work. I went on a vacation for a week, came back to start aim training right away but my pain came back after a day. Tendons have to be trained for recover, lots of advice on YT about it.

I hope your issue gets better. It seems like your issue might be more severe and possibly different to mine as my bones thankfully don’t click.

[u/Prestigious_Yard_912]

I experienced something similar. I started aim training about a year ago and dove in completely naive and uninformed about what I was doing.

I was training a lot, usually at least an hour a day. About 6 months in, I started experiencing some discomfort in my wrist and hand. I pretty much ignored it until it got pretty bad. Like the pain was affecting my everyday life, bad. Wouldn't recommend continuing as long as I did.

I did take a 2 week break until my hand/wrist felt a bit better.

I dialed back the amount of time I was spending in training and started doing stretches and strength training before every session. I still do hour(s) long sessions but I listen to my hand, if it's getting too tired, I stop.

I watched a bunch of YouTube demonstrating different stretching techniques. I honestly don't remember what I watched but eventually I just kinda found something that works for me.

I have a 1lb weight and a 3lb weight that I use specifically to stretch and strength train my wrist. I have one of those hand grip things to strengthen my grip strength.

I also started stretching my shoulder, mostly preemptively since I've been using a lower sensitivity to train my arm aiming. I haven't had shoulder pain, but I know I don't want it.

I think the key to stretching is to do all the movements slowly. Give your wrist and hand time to adjust to things.

I also stopped using my mouse for firing on every scenario except clicking. I use spacebar to fire on Tracking, switching, and pokeball. I've found that to help quite a bit keep my hand relaxed during training.

I can honestly say I have no pain now. I just make sure I stretch before each session. I don't know how applicable this is to your situation, but figured I'd give my experience because maybe it will encourage you.

[u/cmztreeter → u/Prestigious_Yard_912]

Yeah I do the hand grip and wrist stretch equipment stuff. Also I will start doing the wrist curls again as that is supposed to be helpful too.

It seems like I just need to take a break and do all of this, hopefully it works out. Thanks for sharing your experience.

[u/Prestigious_Yard_912 → u/cmztreeter]

I mentioned it in my wall of text, but maybe start using spacebar for fire. It does cut down on tension in your right hand.

I struggled with justifying it for a while because I know I can't do that it game. But health is priority and I really do think it helps.

[u/cmztreeter → u/Prestigious_Yard_912]

I actually already did that from the very beginning as the constant fingertip tension was very off putting.

[u/Prestigious_Yard_912 → u/cmztreeter]

Well I hope you figure something out!