Playstation Skin Disorder Discovered

Video games are bad for your health.

Swiss scientists have identified a new skin disorder and they're calling it "PlayStation palmar hidradentitis." The condition is marked by lumpy palms on players who mash playstation buttons.

"The tight and continuous grasping of the hand-grips together with repeated pushing of the buttons produce minor but continuous trauma to the (palm) surfaces," Vincent Piguet and colleagues at University Hospitals and Medical School of Geneva reported in the British Journal of Dermatology.

When asked for a response, Playstation spokespeople said that the study only involved one subject so it's hardly scientific.

"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," Sony spokesman David Wilson told Reuters. "We would not wish to belittle this research and we will study the findings with interest, but this is the first time we have ever heard of a complaint of this nature."

The study focused on one 12-year-old girl who reported to a Geneva hospital with lesions on her hands. Doctors couldn't figure it out until she said she played video games. Doctors ordered her to stop playing and 10 days later the lesions were gone. The lesson, those doctors said, is clear:

"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," Nina Goad of the British Association of Dermatologists said in a statement.

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