Skin Disorder Related To Playing Excessive Video Games

UK skin specialists have warned that excessive use of video game consoles can lead to a skin disorder.

Describing this condition in the British Journal of Dermatology, the researchers have revealed that a 12-year-old girl had to attend a Swiss hospital recently after having intensely painful sores on the palms of her hands.

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They say that the little girl, who was a regular user of a games console, recovered fully after 10 days of abstinence.

The report further reveals that upon examining the girl, doctors at the Geneva University Hospital concluded that she had a condition known as 'idiopathic eccrine hidradenitis'-a condition that generally causes red, sore lumps on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet.

The disorder, previously found on the soles of the feet in children taking part in heavy physical activity like jogging, is thought to be linked to intense sweating.

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The patient's parents revealed that she played video games for several hours a day, and had continued to play even after developing the sores.

The doctors suspected that tight and continuous grasping of the console's hand-grips, repeated pushing of the buttons, and sweating caused by the tension of the game might have triggered the problem.

"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," the BBC quoted Nina Goad, of the British Association of Dermatologists, as saying.

"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," Goad added.

A spokesman for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd, manufacturers of PlayStation, said: "We do not wish to belittle this research and will study the findings with interest.

This is the first time we have ever heard of a complaint of this nature."

Source-ANI
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