There is a famous concept in economics that “The free market provides”. The crux of the entire phrase is rooted in the fact that when the need for something arises, there will be simultaneous increase in those willing to supply that need. That is what makes a successful economic setup. This is what shapes our entire society. This is a principle that applies to nearly every job in the world.

Each profession, each job exists to fulfill a certain need. The latest need that seems to have emerged is the requirement for more doctors who have the proficiency and the expertise to handle Esports related injuries as well as facilitate the rehabilitation of many of these gamers that sustain gaming related injuries.

There has been a sudden surge in the gaming industry in the past few years. There are multiple reasons for why that might have happened. However, this increase has led to many of these gamers sustaining injuries that conventional doctors are incapable of handling or treating. There are little to no doctors that can provide proper care as well as service to those gamers that suffer from any injuries during the games.

It almost makes sense that even thought the current number of esports doctors is so low, it is expected to increase in the future. There is just too much growth in this sector to ignore how important this will become in the not-so-distant future. By even the most conservative of estimates, the global esports audience will reach around 380 million before the end of 2018. If you were to count only the millennial and Generation Z, then almost 35% of them are involved with an esports of some kind.

This demographic alone contributes nearly $905.6 million to the esports industry. It is important that there are able doctors who can properly treat and diagnose these gamers. The interest in esports has grown a lot in the past few years as there are conventional gaming publishers that have begun setting up their own such events. FIFA is a prominent example. It regularly sends its teams and individuals to compete in games. The presence of doctors and other medical teams in the arena during these games has also increased.

One doctor noted that the rise in the number of esports doctors has a lot to do with the fact that the injuries that most of these gamers sustain like pain in the hands, wrists, elbows, knees and neck can easily be identified by regular doctors but can’t be properly treated as they lack the proper training.

Esports doctors can easily take multiple factors into consideration, such as repetitive motions, stress injuries from overplaying or tendinitis in the wrists. These are things that only make sense to people who’ve been properly trained on how to handle with them. A conventional doctor may end up making the situation even worse if they’re not careful with how they diagnose some of these injuries.

An example of this is “Gamer’s thumb”. It’s a condition when the gamer can’t bend or straighten their thumb because of the hours they’ve spent holding the controller. An average professional gamer spends 8-16 hours playing. These are factors only a trained professional can take into consideration.