Nintendo thumb

Nintendo thumb

Nintendo thumb, known also as gamer's grip, Nintendinitis and similar names, is a video game-related health problem classified as a form of repetitive strain injury (RSI). The symptoms are the blistering, paraesthesia and swelling of the thumbs, mainly through use of the D-pad, though any finger can be affected. This can lead to stress on tendons, nerves and ligaments in the hands, and further onto lateral epicondylitis ("tennis elbow"), tendinitis, bursitis and carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).

Some of the symptoms are described under trigger finger.

Originally known in a video gaming context as "Leather Thumb", this condition was known to occur frequently among users of the Atari 2600 home video game console in the late 1970's and early 1980's. The condition was first highlighted when the Nintendo games consoles were released, leading to reported cases of RSI, primarily in children (being one of the primary audiences of videogames). Later, the controllers for the Sony PlayStation and PlayStation 2 were noted as causing the condition. However, due to the shape, size and extended use of game controllers it is not limited to just those specific ones and can occur in users of any gamepad or joystick. Similar problems have also been with the use of mobile phones, and text messaging in particular (see Blackberry thumb).

In June 2005, the South African Medical Journal published a report by Safura Abdool Karim, a 13-year-old who had investigated such problems occurring in people at her school.

See also

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External links


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  • Nintendo thumb — (nin.TEN.doh thum; th as in thin) n. A repetitive stress injury that causes swelling at the base of the thumb due to overuse of video games. Example Citation: Professional skateboarding looks utterly terrifying, but even the timid can do kick… …   New words

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