Alright, gaming-itis is not a real word. But we could talk about words like joint stiffness, carpal tunnel and repetitive stress syndrome - all of which could be related to gaming, especially PC gaming. Repetitive clicking on the mouse and improper hand placement when typing can certainly cause some stress, stiffness and pain. Especially during a marathon RTS match or hardcore FPS sessions.

Part of the problem is that only certain muscles are used, or rather overused, while others are underused. Many problems from sports are due to overuse for example, tennis elbow.

The Xtensor is "a core training tool that can help your range of motion in your fingers and create more stability in your wrist and elbow." The device works the muscles from your fingers through your wrist and up to your elbow. Since I don’t play tennis or golf (and I am not a doctor) I can only speak about how it worked for me. I have a wicked case of ’mouse finger’ because I spend between 12 and 16 hours a day in the office working on the computer. Many days my index finger on my right hand hurts (or just feels odd) because of repetitive clicking on the mouse button, and spinning the mouse wheel during the work day. In fact, some days it is so disturbing that I have taken to using my middle finger to click the mouse at times and let the index finger dangle limply over the side of the mouse.

When I first heard about the Xtensor I thought it could be just the thing to help me with this problem. When the review unit came I thought it looked like something out of a superhero costume and even made "pew pew" laser-like sounds when I put it on, yes, I’m a child at heart. The unit is made of hard plastics and rubber. To use it you slide your hand into it and then fasten the Velcro straps at the wrist to hold it in place.

The finger bands are made of elastic rubber and lock into place in the palm of the hand and extend to your finger tips. They then create tension when you open your hand and thereby work muscles that are probably underdeveloped. They also help work the tendons in your hand. If you don’t think this is important put the fingers of your left hand just behind the knuckle of your right index finger and start clicking the mouse repeatedly. You’ll feel those tendons at work.

There are three positions in the Xtensor, sort of like light, medium and heavy exercise. I put mine in the middle one and left them there because they are such a bother to continually move from one to the other. Plus the finger bands aren’t very strong and seem to break easily. The slots for the finger bands are such that at times the anchors for the bands will slip out. So you have to tuck them in so they they uncomfortably poke at your palm.