Never ever lean on the game. Stand at it. I had real problems with my wrists when I first started playing a ton. You don't want any pressure on your hands while playing.

I have the same thing: it's Carpal Tunnel if you're older. I'm 68. Old fart.

These stretches only take a few minutes to do (I'm not sure why the guy is in his underwear though)

My worst pinball injury was a hangover that lasted two days. But it was worth it!

I had that issue when I first went to the local museum of pinball in Banning. Played for over 8 hours and I had a habit of leaning on the games. My wrists hurt after that so I've learned to stand now and not lean.

If you are 45 or over it's probably nerve damage/degeneration...getting old blows.

I've suffered from carpal tunnel for many years, having been at a computer most of my entire work life, and more at home as well. But lately, it's been bothering me worse than usual, and now I know why.

On my Spider-Man (Home Edition) the front is a bit lower than on my Bally early SS machines, and I DO find myself leaning on the game. Now I know not to do this.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

Never had an injury from just playing. But I have shocked myself, cut myself, and crushed fingers doing repair and maintenance more times than I care to remember.

Probably pretty common for all those guys that wear gloves when they play.....

Maybe you shouldn't be drinking a 12 pack every time you work on your machines

The technical term is "Pinjury"

I used to get tendonitis in my elbow from playing for hours.

Im doing it backwards....I have meds preventing me from playing Pinball! No fun either way....

I probably got eveyone beat.

While working on a game I turned to grab a tool and felt my knee give out. In order to save my knee I dropped to the floor. Only problem is that I landed on my ankle/cafe. Ankle broke in two places and upper part of leg bone just below my knee. (sorry I dont know technical names of bones) Also ripped all the tendins from inside of my ankle. It's been 6 weeks so far since the surgery and cast was removed a few days ago. Had to have plates and screws put in and now have a bionic foot! I'm able to move ankle ever so slightly and have been able to stand on it with the help of cruches. Two weeks from now I start physical therapy and hope to get back to work on the game.

Oh the game I was working on you ask?
No Fear.......Ironic huh? A game about action sports where people are doing cool shit when they get injured. Not me though....I just literally kicked my own ass!

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Damnnnnnn!
That sucks bad!

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This is common in cyclists. You're leaning on the machine and putting pressure on your ulnar nerve (pinky and ring) or your median nerve (index, middle and ring). You'll regain feeling, but you can cause permanent damage if you don't change your stance. Just don't lean and put pressure on your palm. This is why a lot of road cyclists wear gloves.

Here's an article with some more info. http://www.cobbcycling.com/mens-hand-numbness/

It doesn't hurt to wear like mechanix gloves.

Holy Crap! You won,,, errr ummmm... sadly. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

Bettet now. Just lost a little bit of movement in my ankle. Stairs can be tricky on rainy days and the cold weather makes it stiff to move too. Got the No Fear back together though.

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was changing out flipper board on my cirqus voltair. playfield dropped down on my head almost knocked me on my ass. good thing as a kid i was taught how to take a punch. shaked it off and finished the repair.

Heck yeah there are pinball playing injuries. After all, pinball players are athletes according to a thread on Pinside....

Wow, maybe pinball will be in the next Olympics since it’s a sport and all

Don't be surprised if it does....

Apparently pole dancing & poker are being contemplated for the next Olympics???

http://nypost.com/2017/10/18/pole-dancing-may-soon-be-a-sport-in-the-olympics/
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/pole-dancing-poker-olympic-games-observer-status-recognised-sport-a8013686.html

Yeah I hope it does then the value of all machines goes up. Then maybe I can finally stop buying!

Now, that's how you do an LED conversion! Good luck getting past TSA with your bionic ankle.

Yeah, I’ve been injured by pinball, I had my feelings hurt. Stupid SDTM drain.

I have a bone spur on my right hand from slamming my games early on, before I figured out that dropping F-bombs was way more satisfying than injuring myself. Also tore up my elbow and shoulder on that same arm from trying to slide save a Lord of the Rings that was on location....on a concrete floor with standard levelers. Ever since then, I've been much more careful about how I do things. That crap took nearly a year to fully heal....still have the bone spur. Doesn't hurt, just looks weird.

When I go to PAPA and play for 8-10 hours a day for a few days my forearms will get super-sore.

I had my feelings "injured" once when my wife who rarely if ever plays pinball kicked my ass once. Does this count ?

It counts man, it counts.

I've certainly played my fingers blistery before. On more than one occasion.

Thankfully that does not happen when i live somewhere i can play pinball every week(or more often)!

Thanks for the tip, I didn't know that either.

I'm going to try an experiment and install some 31" GTB legs on one of my Bally/Williams 28 1/2" leg machines and see if that makes a difference.

Weird thing is, I get that numbness only when I play my TWD. I don't think my stance or style is any different than any other games I've played over the years, including my current games, but maybe it's how intense the games are.

Other pinball injury...tore both biceps unloading a TZ from my truck by myself. Right arm completely tore and the left arm tore partially. Two surgeries in a two-month period. That was a year ago. Left arm is still pretty numb from elbow to wrist because scar tissue built up during the two month wait. The doctor had to move some nerves around to do the surgery.

I had unloaded many games by myself in the past, but this TZ was loaded in my truck backwards (head toward tailgate). I had to try a different method, but it didn't work out so well.

I hear ya but im thinking that something like this would take away from the true pinball experience no ?

Lots of games already have that. The only resistance you're fighting against is the spring in the button itself and the plastic jig that has the opto interrupters attached. I'm not sure how much less resistance there could possibly be there and still have the button pop back out..

Anybody ever get ulnar nerve entrapment? That's where your pinky gets numb and you can feel tingling up to your elbow, like when you hit your funny bone. I just started playing a lot in the last 6 months and now I have that, it's definitely from pinball. Not sure if it's due to repetitive stress, or an awkward, too late attempt to nudge on a ball that flew off the slingshot into the outlane. It's not serious, but it could be if it gets worse.

The old 60's Gottlieb mechanical flipper linkages hurt my hands (arthritis doesn't help) so I replaced the flipper linkages with 70's Gottlieb flipper switches and wired it all in.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/personal-touch-to-your-em-games/page/6#post-2508653