Kinesiotaping's Impact On Wrist Pain And Mobility In College Esports Gamers: A Preliminary Pilot Study

BACKGROUND: The emergence of esports has intensified wrist overuse issues among gamers. While kinesiotaping (KT) therapy benefits traditional athletes, its efficacy for gamers is unclear. PURPOSE: To investigate the efficacy of KT therapy in improving wrist mobility and alleviating pain among esports gamers. METHODS: Twenty-four gamers were recruited from Beijing Sport University. All participants engaged in esports on personal computing devices and had maintained at least a routine 2-hour playing time daily for at least a month before the study. All reported chronic wrist pain (pain intensity at least 2.57 (mild pain) based on Visual Analog Scale (VAS)) and/or mobility issues on at least one wrist. Participants were randomized into an experimental group (n = 12) instructed to use wrist kinesiotape nightly on their most affected wrist and a control group (n = 12) with no treatment. All participants played a 2-hour esports gaming session between 6 pm - 12 am daily. Over the course of four weeks, daily follow-ups ensured gaming engagement and kinesiotape usage in the experimental group. Primary outcomes were wrist mobility (flexion and extension measured by a goniometer) and self-reported pain intensity on VAS of the most affected side. All participants, after randomization, showed no significant baseline differences in age, BMI, pre-study VAS score, and wrist mobility (p > .05). RESULTS: A one hundred percent retention rate was achieved. After four weeks, the experimental group showed a significant pain reduction (4.08 ± 0.99 vs 2.33 ± 0.88, p = .001), such an effect was not found in the control group (4.25 ± 1.06 vs 4.50 ± 1.83, p = .658). These post-study VAS scores were significantly different (P = .028). However, wrist mobility changes remained consistent post-study in both experimental (flexion 71.92 ± 5.93 vs 71.67 ± 5.18, p = .914, extension 66.67 ± 4.33 vs 66.25 ± 3.44 p = .510) and control groups (flexion 70.08 ± 6.36 vs 71.75 ± 4.07 p = 0.440, extension 66.42 ± 3.09 vs 64.67 ± 2.99 p = .339). No wrist mobility difference between groups was found post study as well (p = .593 and .435, flexion and extension respectively). CONCLUSION: KT therapy demonstrated effectiveness in pain reduction in this cohort, but it did not yield any significantly observable change in wrist mobility with short-term application.