A SCOTTISH osteopath has reported treating his first patient with injuries caused by playing Pokemon GO.
Daniel Gerber, 48, from Glasgow, has nearly 20 years experience of helping people with various body ailments but treated his very first Pokemon induced injury this morning.
The therapist says that people who aren’t used to exerting themselves should start slowly and “not run a marathon before they can walk to try and catch a Pokemon”.
The patient, thought to be middle-aged, walked through the doors of Mr Gerber’s West George Street clinic in Glasgow city centre with an injury said to be similar in type to a pulled hamstring.
It’s thought that yesterday’s scorching weather coupled with the lure of trying to ‘catch ‘em all’ was to blame for the Pokemon hunter’s strain.
Mr Gerber praised the worldwide craze for getting people up from off their sofas, but urged those not used to exercise to take it easy.
He said: “It was somebody who wasn’t used to doing exercise.
“The best thing about Pokemon GO, is that it gets people up and out of their seats to be active outside. The bad thing, is that people who aren’t used to exercise can injure themselves.
“This particular person has a musculoskeletal injury, which basically means over use of the muscle.
“The weather yesterday was obviously great and that combined with the Pokemon craze is what led to the injury I think.
“They weren’t used to doing it and came in to see me to make sure they hadn’t broken themselves.”
He continued: “I’d imagine a few more people will start to come through with more of this type of thing.
“Stretches are pretty useless in this situation so I would tell people to start of slowly and build yourself up.
“Don’t just head out and start running straight away. The best advice would be not to try and run a marathon before you can walk to try and catch a pokemon.”
The osteopath shared news his maiden Pokemon injury on Twitter earlier today by saying: “Had the first patient in with #PokemonGO injuries.
“If not used to running, it’s often a good idea to start slowly and build up.. #OverUse.”
He later shared a video of hordes of people swarming Central Park in New York, as they tried to catch a wild Vaporeon, with the caption: “I don’t often treat #PokemonGo related injuries, but I do treat lots of people who get pain after running run parks.”
Pokemon GO has captured the imagination of millions around the world since its release earlier this year.
One man in New Zealand quit his job in order to devote himself fully to hunting the creatures from the famous franchise.
The app has come under fire however, with gamers accused of showing disrespect by playing at Auschwitz whilst people in Bosnia have been warned to avoid venturing into areas littered with landmines to try and catch the likes of Pikachu and Charmander.
