Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Wii Sore

Playing Wii with my children has become hazardous to my health.

Like many, we jumped on the Wii wagon this Christmas after having asked for the game as a family gift, rather than raking in a ton of meaningless gifts that, knowing me, I'd end up consigning as soon as my local shop began taking after the holiday selling appointments.

Oh, it's fun.

Yeah, it's enjoyable.

It's also downright dangerous.

It was a week after Christmas when I felt the knot in my left bicep. Lifting my arm was a chore, and straightening it while lifting? Well, fuhgeddaboudit. I had no idea what had caused this unbelievable pain, until I picked up the controller in an attempt to take on my almost Wii pro-status tennis playing daughter for yet another match - this time only using my right arm.

I woke up with a knot in my right bicep.

Uh-uh. THIS IS NOT HOW 40 WILL LOOK ON ME!

Now, I'm no couch potato. Ok, in complete honesty, my workouts have taken a dive over the last year or so. But while I've abandoned the lifting and half-marathons, at least for this season, I'm not an "unfit" mama. It's all still there, waiting for me to return. Wii? Please! I can take on the Wii!

(Head down) At least I can in 2-4 weeks after I get the go ahead from my chiropractor to resume playing once he literally works out the kinks.

When I first mentioned my pain to Dr. Tony, before the revelation that this injury was caused by a video game, (sheesh), he asked me if I had experienced trauma to the area. Imagine my embarrassment when I realized and thus shared with Dr. Tony, the guy who works with Ironmen, as to how I had pulled my muscle.

Apparently, I'm not the only one who has developed some Wii muscle soreness due to my most powerful backhand in tennis. This recent article on Boston Herald.com makes me feel better as to my Wii lot in life. Trauma, strained muscles, general soreness, injured rotator cuffs have all been linked to excessive Wii play. I'm not alone. I'm not alone. I may be taking the "Wii walk of shame", but I'm not doing it alone.

Kids, mommy can't play Wii with you. Doctor's orders. Guess we better go back to reading books, playing board games and, well, talking.

Photo by Bethany

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hehehe. This is especially comical to me, because my FIL ended up seeing a doctor...and was told he probably had a Wii injury as well! Apparently they are quite dangerous!

Love reading your blog. :)

Joline said...

Thank you for reading Karen, and laughing with me . . . on the flip side, my daughter was just told at tennis lessons last night that Wii tennis was improving her ability to react to the ball! Go figure.