EXCESSIVE USE OF NINTENDO GAMES MAY STRAIN PLAYERS' EYES OR WRISTS

Playing computer games also can be therapy for eye disorder, doctor says.

A lot of kids play Nintendo almost every day for about two hours. Many of them are unaware that doing so can cause eye strain or cause them to lose feeling in their fingers when trying to do simple tasks.

But they're also unaware that playing Nintendo has its benefits, too.

Nintendo can also help the player's hand-eye coordination, serve as a type of therapy, or relieve the player's stress.

According to Dr. H. Culver Boldt, a pediatric ophthalmologist, Nintendo could possibly be the solution to correct amblyopia, or lazy eye. He uses Nintendo as therapy for some of his younger patients.

"If you knew nothing about the therapy and you had amblyopia, I would tell you that if you use your amblyopic eye consistently that you would probably be able to build strength back up with it." By putting a patch over the good eye, the amlyopic eye is forced to do the work, Boldt explains.

"But it is very difficult to ask, especially a younger child, to get very excited about doing this. And they will take the patch off their good eye. So I think if you can make a game out of this, you can actually use an amblyopic eye and play games and improve their vision."

On the other hand, playing Nintendo for an excessive amount of time can cause eye strain.

"Anyone who focuses for a long period of time on something close needs to use small muscles in their eye to do that," Boldt says. "Just like if you held a weight up for a small period of time, your muscles would get tired.

"If you focus on things up close for a long period of time, your eyes will get tired and you can feel the fatigue. It is not permanent damage. It's like holding a weight up would not permanently damage muscles. It would just make them tired, the next day they would be OK."

Carpal tunnel syndrome is another risk. CTS is a hand and wrist disorder. It occurs when the wrist and fingers do the same motion over and over again. The movement causes a nerve to be pinched and flattened.

Dr. Alexander Mih is a local hand surgeon who treats people with CTS. "Carpal tunnel syndrome is a problem which a lot of people have. It is caused by pressure on the nerve, usually at the level of the wrist. This is called a median nerve . . . Most common symptoms for carpal tunnel syndrome would be a numbness and tingling, funny feeling in their fingers."

According to Mih, if you have this sensation, you should see a physican as soon as possible. If detected early, CTS usually can be treated with a splint that holds the wrist still.