Video Games Can Cause Injuries Too. Here Are Ten of Them

9. The Lumbar Hunter: Posture – “Oh look! A penny! I’ll just – Owwww!!”

It would have been ironic if I had been thumping my floor bound laptop’s keyboard like a passed out drunkard, not that I drink, with his body dangling from the bedside and his hands and head probing out to see and type what I am writing on the screen. But I learned, and after a lot of pain. Learned that the pain which I thought to be caused by some foul and nefarious creature from another realm was not stemming from that light forsaken imp, but from my ignorance: the erstwhile “awesome as hell gaming stances”. It doesn’t matter if you have a nice plush and comfy bean bag, a relaxing couch or just your plain old chair or bed.

Most games have us glued for hours at a stretch without changing posture and that can have some serious problems. In lieu of enjoying your time to the fullest, you barely notice your throbbing back. Again. What this means is that eventually, this occasional pestering back ache may become chronic.

What it also means is that if you ignore it for too long, and try to bend down to pick up the pen you dropped on the pavement, your back would go something like – “Oh hey, junior! You want your pen back? Let me remind you all those days I spent in oblivion first.”. Good luck getting that pen. And about 20 minutes of bad posture are enough to get your back planning to seek revenge on you. Seriously, be mindful of your posture while you slobber away at your favourite game and get up, walk around every 40 minutes or so because lower back pain is something you really don’t want to have. Ever.