Nintendo thumb

Nintendo thumb, also known as gamer's grip, Nintendonitis and similar names, is a form of repetitive strain injury (RSI) caused by playing video games. 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 De Quervain syndrome.

Originally known in a video gaming context as "leather thumb", this condition was known to occur frequently among users of second-generation game consoles such as the Intellivision or the Atari 2600 in the late 1970s and early 1980s. 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 early-generation video games). 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 can occur in users of any gamepad or joystick. Similar problems have also been observed with the use of mobile phones and text messaging in particular (see Blackberry thumb).

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