We've received a number of unsightly wounds upon our mitts from certain games -- "Mario Party Stigmata" comes to mind -- but according to author Mike Tomlich, a different kind of "silent epidemic" is sweeping through the adolescent gaming populous: Crooked fingers. He claims the repeated actions associated with controller manipulation can lead to "accumulative damage" on the soft hand bones of gamers under the age of eight.
It's a theory sensational enough to have merited coverage from Tomlich's local TV news station a few years ago, which we've posted after the break. Tomlich apparently has a plethora of research and the endorsement of a rheumatologist to back up his claims, though we still find them a tad suspect. Sure, our hands are gnarled stubs with digits irrevocably curled in unnatural directions, but that's probably from our tireless journalizing, and not our lifelong penchant for button-mashing.
The muscles.. became so strained with.. overuse, that eventually the hand locked into a deformed position, and he was left with nothing but a claw. He traveled the world seeking a cure.. acupuncturists.. herbalists.. swamis.. nothing helped. Towards the end, his hands became so frozen the was unable to manipulate utensils, and was dependent on Cub Scouts to feed him. I hadn't seen another pair of hands like Ray McKigney's.. until today.
Basically anything you do repeatedly with your hands, day-in and day-out, is going to have an effect. Whether it's wanking it, playing games, guitar, piano, a blue-collar factory job, etc. Ever look at a professional guitarists hands? They're all kinds of fucked up. I played bass for years and my index finger on my right hand is a little off. It's just the life we lead, has nothing to do with games in particular.
And it really doesn't affect the use of your hands anyways --might contribute to arthritis later in life though.
what about holding a baseball bat? typing? holding pencils? working the tv remote? using scissors? anything that requires finger skills? Or is it just video games because well... they're bad for you
I've played games, literally since I was 3, and my hands are pretty normal aside from all fingers and thumbs being double jointed. Maybe that's what saved me?
While I am sure some will argue otherwise, I don't think too many children under the age of 8 are sexually mature enough for such activity- let alone to do it "hours on end". If there are such children, then our society is officially doomed.
Music, definitely. I've been playing guitar for about 13 years. My left hand, due to stretching to reach frets, is an inch longer thumb-tip-to-pinky-tip than my right hand.
@Xizer: How about this: Piano. Guitar. Violin. Or pretty much any musical instrument.
Odd shaped hands are nothing new. Our hands change shape to adapt to what we use it for the most.
Do enough menial labour and you'll build callouses, turning your hands into a pudgy mass of thick hard skin. Play the guitar enough and you'll have callouses at your fingertips, making your fingertips probably wider and thicker than the base of your fingers. Play the piano enough and your fingers all curve inwards, to better press straight down against the keys.
Although, button mashing on controllers looks like it IS pretty damaging to your hands, more so than any other activity I can think of. However, normal usage of controllers shouldn't be any worse than playing musical instruments.
@Xizer: I'm a college student and I hold pencils and pens for hours and have been for years. Of course I am not always tightly gripping the pen/pencil but you aren't always tightly gripping a controller, either. I spend more time holding a pen to take notes in lectures than I do at home playing video games, and I imagine it's the same for other note-taking, lecture-going college students.
And even regular pen/pencil use over time will change the shape of your fingers. Take a look at your parents' or grandparents' index and middle fingers and tell me there aren't callouses there.
I'd like to see something come out in a scientific journal or journal of medicine and read that first so you can get the facts.
people like this can say anyhting really, if you get published in a journal you have to prove yourself otherwise the academic community laughs you away
Even if it's true, I have a hard time believing it has any effect on how well the hands function as adults. I played more games as a kid than I care to contemplate and currently make a living playing and teaching music. The little (if any) deformation my fingers suffered is far outweighed by the boost in coordination (and fond memories of NES/Master System games).
Exactly! I took piano lessons for 12 years, starting when I was in grade school, and my hands look similar to those pictured in the article. Although I've done a good deal of gaming in the last five years or so, my hands have been effed up since my early teens.
Yeah, a year and some change of Rock Band drums (and now real drums as a result) is already giving me some wrist-related problems. :( I'm pondering wearing a brace, but that's going to handily defeat the whole flexible wrist drumming style I was going for. Oh well. :)
It's possible that a decade of suffering from Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis didn't help either but we'll stop to consider that after the settlement cheque comes through from Shigeru Miyamoto...
Both of my index fingers are a bit crooked, like not extreme, but enough for me to notice, I've asked people about it but they always look at me like im crazy.
How soon before all these old people who have never played a video game in their life are dead and buried so that we as a society can move on and stop having these fogies and their "in my day, we played with ourselves, and we loved it!!" arguments?
(I would've posted this sooner, but it takes me so long to type because of my malformed fingers.)
when my brother was about four we noticed that he had trouble holding pencils and scissors the right way. the doctor said that the muscles in his fingers were too weak and suggested having him play video games to strengthen them.
omg they are right! that explains why they were able to get funding, and not just get repeatedly shot down again and again, regardless of the party in power. Lets also pretend that genetics doesn't play a part in this at all! THIS WORKS SO WELL.
Where are the millions of "Generation Y" people calling out for justice because of their hands ruined by growing up and playing video games, lets not pretend this is the first generation to grow up alongside video games, so lets stop pretending. The website is great, it gives us gems like "don't let your younger than 5 year-old kid color, or risk picking up anything they couldn't pick up with their two fingers otherwise they'll be invalids their entire lives! I'm not saying there wrong, all I'm saying is they are pretending they are approaching this scientifically, yet they have yet to conduct a study and all you get to do to find out more is to buy a book, who would have thought. In this case the burden of proof is on them, as there are plenty of people who fit the description yet aren't effected, or that somehow their fingers not being "perfect" is somehow a detriment to their life"
Basically, if it didn't look like they were only there to sell books Id be intrigued, but it looks to be the exact opposite. a classic "think of the children" threat.
You know, I've always noticed that I have very strange thumbs. They curve outwards. Like I go to make a thumbs up, the thumb curves backwards. My friend has the same thing, but I didn't notice it until I mentioned it to him. I think he basically called 'em "gaming thumbs" .. thumbs the result of lots of hours of playing video games. Or maybe it's just some genetic trait we both share.
My right pink is a little deformed, mainly because I claw grip my mouse. Middle and ring fingers of both hands are a bit weird though, mainly for this reason and some others like drawing and practicing my bass guitar. Also, probably (but unlikely) another reason is the work I do for my dad, since I've been the one who helps my dad to destroy a leaking wall, and pave our garage.
