doctors say "excessive gaming may cause the rash"
That is what doctors in Switzerland have discovered after a 12-year-old girl came in with a mystery rash.
She had painful sores on both palms of her hands, a condition that initially confused doctors.
It was similar to another condition - idiopathic eccrine hidradenitis - which occurs on the hands and feet after vigorous exercise.
But their patient had not been doing any exercise.
The penny dropped when her parents mentioned she had been spending several hours a day on her PlayStation.
Doctors named the skin complaint "PlayStation palmar hidradenitis".
They suspect that a tight and continuous grasp of the console's hand-grips, together with repeatedly pushing of the buttons, had caused the injuries to the girl's hands.
Sweating if a player becomes anxious about winning or losing a game can make the problem worse, they added. Thankfully, she made a full recovered after 10 days without using the console.
Sony Playstation
Nina Goad, from the British Association of Dermatologists, said: "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."
A spokesman for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd, manufacturers of PlayStation, said: "We firmly believe that video gaming is a legitimate entertainment pastime like watching movies, listening to music, or reading books.
"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."
He added: "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."
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