Cleveland Clinic Sports Health to treat, research esports injuries
Jadon Brooks, a AKRON — junior at the University of Akron, recognizes that competitive video gaming might not seem like a physically strenuous activity.
“I used to play competitive soccer,” Brooks said. “Real sports.”
But as a varsity member of Akron Esports, the university’s video gaming team, Brooks was among those who on Tuesday welcomed the naming of Cleveland Clinic Sports Health as the team’s exclusive medical provider.
The Clinic’s Esports Medicine Program will treat UA players’ esports injuries, which typically include tendinitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, eye fatigue and strains on the forearm, elbow, neck, and upper and lower back.
The partnership also affords research opportunities to both the Clinic and UA.
“This is unique because it brings together experts in sports performance, rehabilitation and injury prevention,” said Mark Schickendantz, director of Cleveland Clinic Sports Health. “It provides a great opportunity to collaborate, innovate and demonstrate the positive impact we can have on health, wellness and wellbeing of esports athletes.”
Dr. Dominic King, a sports medicine physician and director of the Esports Medicine Program at Cleveland Clinic Sports Health, will be the medical consultant for Akron Esports.
Michael Fay, Jr., head coach and director of Akron Esports, said the university has an “ethical imperative to make sure that we’re finding out how exactly these types of activities are impacting our students and what ways we can prevent any negative impacts.”
Brooks, the soccer player turned gamer, has experienced his fair share of esports injuries.
“If I sit the wrong way, after a while, I’ll be injured,” he said. “If I don’t blink enough. I have to take a break once an hour just to relax and focus on something farther away.”
But his most serious injury happened after a new game was released.
“I was doing an action that I don’t normally do,” Brooks said, demonstrating the movement with his left hand on the keyboard. “And just like a regular sport, I was over-doing something.”
Brooks strained his wrist, an injury that required him to take a break from competing and wear a brace.
“Now I wear a brace when I’m sleeping, sometimes, just as a preventative measure,” Brooks said. “A lot of professionals have issues with carpal tunnel, so I’d like to avoid that.”
Fay said his players spend about 12 to 15 hours per week in practice and competition. They have two team-practice sessions per week, plus two hours of strength and conditioning, and one hour of yoga.
“The goal there is to make sure they have stronger posture, that they’re able to do things around mindfulness, emotion regulation, stuff you don’t really think about when it comes to playing video games. But it really does give you an edge when you’re competing,” Fay said.
The team already has some measures in place to prevent injuries, including ergonomic chairs to help with posture and improve circulation and monitors with reduced blue lighting, which is the most straining on the eyes, Fay said.
King and his team from Cleveland Clinic Sports Health will meet with varsity players to administer baseline evaluations to serve as a benchmark and to help improve their neurocognitive performance.
“We have strength and conditioning specialists, ergonomic specialists, vision specialists, specialists in sports psychology,” King said. “We’re able to bring a much larger, diverse team to caring for these athletes than some other medical institutions.”
The partnership also allows for “inter-professional and interdisciplinary collaboration,” according to Judith Juvancic-Heltzel, interim director of UA’s School of Sport Science and Wellness Education.
“It’s a tremendous academic opportunity for our students as well, both from the sports side looking at management, marketing, coaching, promotion, sports psychology,” Juvancic-Heltzel said. “And looking out into the university in general: communications, marketing, electrical engineering, computer engineering.”
Brooks said he is excited about the new partnership and what he can learn from it.
“My goal is to learn about new things that I can be prepared for so that I don’t have injuries in the future,” he said.