Lesions Attack Gamers - “PlayStation Palms”
PlayStation palms attacking gamers…
It’s warning time – we are being told there actually is a bit of a risk involved with playing video games too much and it has been given the classy name of “PlayStation palms” – inventive…
“PlayStation palms”, or idiopathic eccrine hidradenitis as it is known throughout the medical community, is said to be caused by the over-use of gaming consoles and pops up as a skin disorder.
Idiopathic eccrine hidradenitis leaves the gamer’s hands with a number of painful lesions and according to the specialists the only cure is to stay away from your console for a minimum of 10 days…
Sweat, anxiety, repetitive button pressing – sounds about right…
The disease tends to be found on joggers who get the lesions on their feet after sweating but now more and more cases of “PlayStation palms” are turning up on the palms of gamers everywhere.
The symptoms were first noticed in gamers in Switzerland when a 12-year-old girl who needed medical attention for the lesions which had appeared over a period of around four weeks.
Left the doctors stunned…
The doctors were initially stunned and perplexed as to what the cause behind the injuries could be, but once her parents explained that the girl played on her PlayStation for a good number of hours each day the doctors realised what the cause was.
The doctors claimed that the lesions are caused by a continuously tight grasp of a gaming consoles pad mixed together with the repetitiveness of the pushing of the buttons.
Mix that in with sweating and anxiety and you’ll be looking at developing the skin disease, idiopathic eccrine hidradenitis, over time.
Sony says we should be using common sense whatever that is…
A spokesman for Sony Computer Entertainment Ltd, the company behind the highly successful and now under-fire console, has pointed out that common sense needs to be realised when playing on the device.
“We firmly believe that video gaming is a legitimate entertainment pastime. As with any leisure pursuit there are possible consequences of not following common sense, health advice and guidelines, as can be found within our instruction manuals.”
“PlayStation was launched in 1995 and has sold hundreds of millions of consoles over the last 13 years. We will study the findings with interest, but to date this is the first time we have ever heard of a complaint of this nature.”
It’s a dermatologist’s dream!
Meanwhile, the cases are building up quite a storm in the dermatological world. Nina Goad of the British Association of Dermatologists has underlined the message that we need to understand when to allow our hands to have a bit of a breather.
“This is an interesting discovery and one that the researchers are keen to share with other dermatologists, should they be confronted with similar, unexplained symptoms in a patient.
“If you’re worried about soreness on your hands when playing a games console, it might be sensible to give your hands a break from time to time, and don’t play excessively if your hands are prone to sweating.”
What about you?
What do you reckon? Another sign of our “wrapped in cotton wool” culture or do you yourself jot in 10 minutes in your gaming day to take a hand break?
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