Gaming as physical therapy

[Street Level]

A whole month ive bren looking at my Xbox wishing I could play some damn Borderlands 2 (2nd playthrough).
On the 1st of this month I had surgery on my wrist and was in a,cast for 4 weeks. 2 days ago it camcame off and my hand wrist has been sore as shit...so bad I was scared to move it. I got some thumb movement back and popped a couple painkillers and said fuck it, I'm going to give it a shot.
To my surprise it has helped immensly and I have aton of movement back in a day.

Anyone else used gaming this way? I can't wait to tell my physical therapist and see what they say lol.

 

[Isop]

Nothing for physical therapy per se, but in grade school I was a HORRIBLE student, particularly reading comprehension and literature studies. Like, sub 2.0 gpa. Got into Final Fantasy VII and I became completely engaged in the story; had to read dialogue back then, stat management, etc. My grades jumped up to a 3.5gpa and my reading comprehension and literary skills vastly improved, all within a school year. Didn't even realize I was improving because I was just enjoying the game and so engaged. That sneaky FFVII.

Also, I used to play fairly high level fighters, back when arcades actually existed. Worked on a lot of movement techniques; crouch dashing, wave dashing, SS cancels, stance cancels, etc. Lots of tricky hand / finger manipulation. Every woman I get into an intimate relationship with says that I'm exceptional at foreplay and fingering. So maybe playing SC / Tekken / VF helps the cause a bit, heh. :shrugs:

 

[EndlessCritic]

Also, I used to play fairly high level fighters, back when arcades actually existed. Worked on a lot of movement techniques; crouch dashing, wave dashing, SS cancels, stance cancels, etc. Lots of tricky hand / finger manipulation. Every woman I get into an intimate relationship with says that I'm exceptional at foreplay and fingering. So maybe playing SC / Tekken / VF helps the cause a bit, heh. :shrugs:

I don't know if this is true, but I would certainly not recommend bringing this up with women.

 

[Dinkin_Flicka]

How long have you been in physical therapy?

When I had surgery on my knee, sitting around babying it was the last thing I wanted to do. I got my ass kicked at physical therapy and hit the gym to get strength and size back. I can't speak to a wrist injury, but I wouldn't be surprised if the range in motion used in your fingers to play some games is good after the surgery to keep it loose and help avoiding building up scar tissue from the surgery sight. I'm sure the therapist will have some much more vigorous stretching/excersice for you, but the gaming probably doesn't hurt.

 

[Street Level]

How long have you been in physical therapy?

When I had surgery on my knee, sitting around babying it was the last thing I wanted to do. I got my ass kicked at physical therapy and hit the gym to get strength and size back. I can't speak to a wrist injury, but I wouldn't be surprised if the range in motion used in your fingers to play some games is good after the surgery to keep it loose and help avoiding building up scar tissue from the surgery sight. I'm sure the therapist will have some much more vigorous stretching/excersice for you, but the gaming probably doesn't hurt.

I go for the first time on monday. Id say I have 80% of my range of motion back. I think strengthening my hand is going to be the worst thing ever and I'm in for a world of hurt.
How long were you on physical therapy? They have me scheduled for a month and as of now I have a 2lb weight restriction.
I can't wait to go back to work.

 

[Dinkin_Flicka]

I was in physical therapy for like 6 months after an ACL reconstruction. I ended up going for a little bit longer due to some complications but the last month or two is was mostly just check ups with the therapist to see how things were progressing. I was younger and had a lot of free time, so a lot of that was spent hitting the gym and working on getting mobility back. Had that shit happened today I wouldn't have been able to dedicate as much time as I did and wouldn't have recovered as well.

It's amazing how fast muscle tissue wastes away when you're in a brace for weeks with no movement. My left leg lost pretty much all muscle mass and it looked like I had been a wheel chair for years. The therapst said I would get the strength back, but probably wouldn't get the size back. Hit the gym a bunch and thank god I got the size back, shit looked weird having one normal size leg and one crippled leg. Even stretching/lifting as much as I was I never got full range in motion back. Not really noticiable though, like 98% extension and like 85-90% ability to bend my knee back.

I'm interested in what you therapist has to say about gaming. In my experience he wanted me to work, work, and work some more to keep it active, so if gaming keeps your surgery sight from staying stagnant I'm sure he'll think it's a good thing.

Good luck with the upcoming therapy. I would say hopefully he doesn't hurt you to bad, but that pain is progress. Wouldn't mind getting some doctor perscribed game time these days being married with 2 young kids.

Wife: Kids are asleep, do you want to watch this generic romantic comedy with me?
Me: Sorry babe, gotta hit up the physical therapy, doctors orders.