New Skin Disorder Linked To Too Much Video Gaming

Keeping a tight grip on a video game controller and feverishly pushing the buttons can cause painful lumps to form on the palms as part of a newly recognized skin disorder, according to a new report from Swiss researchers.

The condition, dubbed “PlayStation palmar hidradentitis,” can cause painful patches on the hands, similar to lesions which may form on the soles of feet following heavy physical activity, said researchers from University Hospitals and Medical School of Geneva. The research findings were reported in the British Journal of Dermatology.

Constant pressure on the hands resulting from gripping the video game controller and pressing the buttons can result in trauma to the surface of the palm, according to the research.

12-Year Old Injures Palms

The study focused on the case of a 12-year-old Swiss girl who developed painful lesions on her hands. Upon examination, it was determined that days before the lesions appeared on the hands but nowhere else on the girl’s body, she had started playing a new PlayStation game for several hours each day.

Researchers suspected that the firm grip on the controller and sweating in the hands caused the painful patches to develop. The girl was advised to stop playing the game and her condition improved after 10 days, the researchers said. She fully recovered from the injuries.

Gaming Takes Another Blow?

News that excessive gaming can result in painful damage to skin on the palms of the hands is the latest public-relations hit to the video gaming industry. Critics have long said that too much time on the PlayStation, Nintendo, Wii, or other popular gaming systems can be addictive and lead to aggressive behavior.

The rise in video games has also been linked to the nation’s obesity epidemic by encouraging children and others to stay indoors playing games rather than engaging in healthy physical activities. Also, previous research has linked movements while playing some games to acute tendonitis in the hands, elbows, and other joints.

A PlayStation spokesman, however, discounted the new Swiss findings. The new study focused on just one gamer and that the company has sold hundreds of millions of gaming consoles since 1995 without a single complaint of such damaged to the skin, the spokesman said.

PlayStation urges moderation in the use of its gaming system and said common sense must be used by individual gamers to determine how gaming much is too much.

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