From the you-can’t-make-this-stuff-up department: According to a report from Reuters out of London Tuesday, too much PlayStation usage may grow lumps on your palms.
The report cited “Swiss scientists,” saying that keeping too tight a grip on the video game controller while furiously pushing the buttons can cause the newly identified skin disorder that takes the form of painful lumps on the palms.
The scientists have labeled this malady, “PlayStation palmar hidradentitis,” after discovering its appearance on a 12-year-old girl with sweaty palms and a predisposition toward aggressive PlayStation game play.
Reuters quoted a report in the British Journal of Dermatology by Vincent Piguet and colleagues at University Hospitals and Medical School of Geneva, saying that “tight and continuous grasping of the hand-grips together with repeated pushing of the buttons produce minor but continuous trauma to the (palm) surfaces.”
They added that sweating can make the symptoms worse.
The Reuters report went on to say the disorder causes “painful lesions on the palms similar to patches found on the soles of children’s feet after taking part in heavy physical activity.” (Must be all that Swiss cheese they make them carry).
In the story, a Sony spokesman pointed out that the study involved one person and said the company had sold hundreds of millions of the consoles since the product was introduced in 1995. (Let’s give them a hand.)
“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,” the article quoted Sony spokesman David Wilson as saying.
But Sony shouldn’t feel picked on. Apparently other researchers warned that acute tendonitis may result from playing too much with your Nintendo Wii. (Wonder what you can get from your Xbox?)
I guess I’d rather have lumps than hair on my palms.
