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Pain easily tolerable with intense distraction

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   http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050519-012851-2497r.htm

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050519-012851-2497r.htm

Video games double-edge sword

By Elliot Smilowitz
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL

Washington, DC, May. 19 (UPI) -- Research shows video games can be a double-edge sword, putting players at risk for repetitive motion injuries to their hands even as some, mainly featuring sports and fighting, produce a level of pain distraction.

A study by Dr. Bryan Raudenbush of Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia finds the pain distraction can be helpful for patients undergoing painful procedures or suffering from chronic pain.

"The types of games that resulted in the greatest distraction from pain were the ones that required more effort on the part of the participant," Raudenbush told United Press International. "No real surprise there. If you can distract people enough, even painful stimulation doesn't seem that bad."

Raudenbush studied six categories of video games: action, puzzle, arcade, fighting, sports and boxing. Of those, sports and fighting games produced the greatest pain tolerance. Pain tolerance was tested by administering pain consistently and having subjects rate their level of pain on a 0-10 scale every 30 seconds.

Raudenbush gave questionnaires to subjects to measure mood and frustration levels, and he measured participants'pulse rate.

He found increases in pulse occurs for all types of video games, but more so for action, fighting, sports and boxing games. Sports games produced the most anger, and arcade and boxing games the most frustration.

Raudenbush said his results could prove useful in helping to alleviate pain, though it is far from a cure-all.

"I'm in no way viewing this as an alternative therapy for people suffering from chronic pain," he said, "but it should be a good adjunct to their pain relief. Hopefully the use of such games in doctor's offices and dental offices will distract people from the procedures they will have, such as dental work, injections and routine exams."

On the other hand, doctors have warned for years that repeated thumb use on video game controllers can cause osteoarthritis. That issue resurfaced recently as text-messaging has become more popular.

In January, Sean Hughes of Imperial College London told the BBC that excessive text-messaging and use of the BlackBerry wireless communications device can be harmful to users.

"The thumb is designed to flex and rotate in all directions," he told the BBC. "It works differently from other fingers. The joint at the bottom of the thumb allows it to move like this, and tapping away could cause it to become sore."

Alan Hedge, a professor at Cornell University's Department of Design and Environmental Analysis, told UPI such thumb injuries are nothing new.

"Through the years, it's been known as washer woman's thumb, pipette's thumb," he said. "When video gaming came to prominence it was called Nintendo thumb and now it's referred to as BlackBerry thumb."

Hedge said factors in this type of injury include repetition, speed and frequency of movement, as well as the amount of force used and the position of the hand.

"Repetitive firing and rapid movement in a game are the most damaging to the thumb," Hedge said, and noted that ironically, the types of games that are best for pain management are the worst for thumb injuries.

Raudenbush said he wasn't surprised by the complaints of "Nintendo thumb."

"There are detrimental effects of doing anything repetitive for long periods of time," he said. "The best advice is everything in moderation."

Hedge said he wasn't surprised by the results of Raudenbush's study.

"It's the same as when you're at the doctor, looking at something else while getting injected with a needle," he said. "People who are able to think about other things can tolerate pain better."

--

E-mail sciencemail@upi.com



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