Many people don’t have a clear grasp of what goes on behind the scenes of the booming esports industry. In this series, TheGamer will peek behind the curtain and take a look at the biggest competitive gaming scenes. Today, we sit down with Lindsey “GamerDoc” Migliore, DO.
Dr. Lindsey is a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician who excels at inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation. She is also focused on the growing field of esport medicine and has an interest in musculoskeletal injuries, prevention, and non-surgical management.
Lindsey was kind enough to give TheGamer a refined perspective of esport wellness, and expanded more in detail about the significance of physical and mental health in the esports industry.
How did you become TheGamerDoc? What was the story behind your success?
I’ve always been a gamer, been an avid gamer since six years old, and I’ve always used gaming as a form of stress relief. It’s always been one of my healthier pastimes. And I would find myself gaming more in stressful periods of my life, like medical school and intern year. And during those times in my life, something else more remarkable was happening in that I was finally learning medicine. I’ve been talking about going to medical school for so long that all my friends, both in real life and online because I was playing Call of Duty at the time, realized that I was going to medical school.
So every time they had a health complaint, they would come to me and […] I got tired of them asking the questions. And I said, “you know, go to your doctor. Go to your doctor.” And they kept coming back and saying, my doctor told me to stop playing video games, which isn’t an acceptable answer. You wouldn’t tell a marathon runner to stop running. If they are hurting when they’re running, you will help them fix themselves. So this. That is the story behind my entrance. I’m here to help people fix themselves.
What made you get into the medical field?
…I knew I was going to be a doctor—treated musculoskeletal injuries. But okay, I guess maybe I’ll be a sports medicine doctor. I guess I’ll treat football teams. And it wasn’t until I discovered esports medicine that my passions came out, and I finally realized, “Hey, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.”
What’s the aim for you as TheGamerDoc? What’s the ultimate goal?
I love videogames. I’m never going to stop playing video games […] You get injuries that prevent you from gaming. I know multiple buddies who have been injured who have been able to game it. If you Google esports injuries, you’ll see multiple professionals. Multiple streamers have hand injuries. My goal, the goal of TheGamerDoc, is to help people be able to enjoy this pastime for as long as they want and as healthy as possible. I don’t want people to stop gaming and stop enjoying their favorite pastime because of injuries. That is my goal.
What is esport wellness to you? What does it mean to you?
There’s a very thin line between esports wellness and gamer wellness […] I’m focused less on performance, and I’m focused more on longevity.
There are different aspects to esports wellness to gamer wellness. You have the performance side, right? You have the science of gaming, taking tried and true athletic concepts, applying them to esports…
…And then you have the preventative side. The average career span of a personal gamer is like three years, which may or may not be true because we don’t have a lot of great data. But why are these people not able to game after three years?
It’s because of these repetitive injuries, these tendinopathies. [One example is vertical keyboard hand positioning which can lead to medical issues like tendonitis. But there’s more to esport wellness.] There’s nutrition. There’s sleep hygiene. There’s eye health. There’s mental health. Esports wellness is a huge field. And we need more providers because there’s so much to be done.
What are the things you want people to know when it comes to esports wellness?
I think the most important thing is that it exists that esports wellness is a thing. Esports medicine is a thing. It’s something that you can and should focus on […] If you game competitively, you will face an injury in your life. And we’re here to help and start focusing on your health now while you’re healthy.
Do you think physical health is just as important as mental health? And if not, why?
I think they’re exactly equal in importance. I think that physical health and mental health are just as important to be not only a professional gamer, not only an effective gamer but also just any human…
…Mental health in the gaming community is a huge spectrum. On one end, you’ve got burnout that almost everyone is going to struggle with. But then on the other end, you’ve got kind of the deeper consequences of being an esports athlete, of having the huge grind, the travel that a lot of these people do of the streamer lifestyle, which cann be super isolating […] I think as any other health care professional, except for psychologists and things like that, we tend to focus a lot more on physical health because there’s a lot less of a stigma around it. […] I think that we tend to emphasize physical health more because it’s easier. But I think that they’re just as equally important.
Do you think esport wellness is the key to the door of esports success?
I 100% do. I’ve been saying this for two years now. The first talented player who listens to what we have to say is going to be one of the most successful esports athletes of all time…
What are some regular things professional players can do to prepare themselves both mentally and physically before tournaments and upcoming big events that are weeks away?
Most experts recommend getting your eyes checked every year if you’re a gamer. We put our eyes at a huge strain under huge strain while we’re gaming. And so people’s prescriptions can change pretty rapidly. Making sure that your prescription is up to date is something that is very simple but could have monumental effects if you are gaming with subpar eyesight. You’re not gaming as well as you could be. Another thing is making sure you get your sleep schedule right.
Don’t stay up late training. Sleep deprivation has a huge effect on cognitive performance. If you are going to bed at the same time every night and you’re waking up at the same time every morning, and you carry that forward up to the tournament, you’re going to perform better.
Dehydration can destroy your gameplay, making sure that you have water in a reusable water bottle. And making sure you’re hydrated is super important.
Exercising. We know that when you exercise, you will improve your performance, that it’ll be a temporary boost of endorphins. But it’s also a longitudinal boost. People who exercise will perform better on cognitive tasks when compared to not exercising.
What are the three practices anyone can do to help boost their performance during a game or in a waiting lobby?
Warming up before you’re going to perform can drastically improve your performance […] Warming up increases blood flow to your muscles. This will increase oxygen delivery and raise your temperature. So that’s going to improve flexibility. And it’s also going to allow your muscles to contract faster and more efficiently.
If I am about to game and how well I perform is directly correlated to how fast my hands and how precise my hands can move on my keyboard or my controller, warming up will make that more successful, will make you better—also cooling down. A lot of tournaments will have multiple games throughout the day. So you warm up before your first game, and then you have your game, and then you’re done and [usually] a lot of players will just go chill […] By cooling down after gaming, you keep the blood flowing through your body. You bring in some good nutrients. You take away waste products. And then you know, you’re going to decrease stiffness, you can decrease cramping, and you’re going to prepare yourself for that next match more effectively.
And also the last one is exercise […] You can exercise for five minutes. You can exercise for ten minutes. You can between League of Legends matches. You know that queue can take like four or five minutes. You can stand there, and you can do squats until you have to accept that match. You can do lunges. You can do planks. Exercising between games is going to drastically improve your performance as well.
What are three things people shouldn’t do to avoid gaming problems like player burnout, joint problems around your neck or wrist, etc.?
The first thing that comes to mind is 24-hour stream sessions. People love 24-hour stream sessions. It’s like some weird badge of honor. And like the streaming gaming community, they’re terrible for you. Stay off for 24 hours […] They’re not good for your body.
Number two would have to be you shouldn’t ignore numbness and tingling. Numbness and tingling are the signs of nerve injury, nerve irritation […] If ignored, it’s going to become a permanent thing. And early nerve damage can be prevented, but late nerve damage can’t be fixed. If you’re feeling numbness and tingling, go to your doctor.
And then the last thing [is] that esports wellness [is] becoming more popularized. There are lots of people out there who are calling themselves experts. And I think whenever you get a piece of advice from someone who isn’t a licensed physical therapist, a licensed physician, a psychologist, or anyone [who’s certified] in this field. Anytime you get advice from someone, you should just double-check it. So don’t take advice at face value […] Make sure the information we’re getting is correct. And that includes everything that I’m saying.
You can find Dr. Lindsey at her Twitter, Instagram, and you can tune into her insightful videos on her YouTube channel or through her weekly health and wellness Twitch stream every Wednesday at 8:00 PM EST.
Special thanks to Dr. Lindsey for taking the time out of her schedule to make this happen. Stay tuned to TheGamer for more of the “Inside Esports” series.
