Study finds new PS3 gaming disease

Author: Joe Martin
Published: 25th February 2009
Comments (30) Stumble
Study finds new PS3 gaming disease

According to doctors there's a new skin affliction out there which targets gamers, dubbed PlayStation palmar hidradenitis.

The debate about whether or not gaming addiction is a legitimate illness is still raging on, but according to a report from the BBC there's at least one new clinically accepted disease out there which does target gamers.

The disease, which has been dubbed as PlayStation palmar hidradenitis by dermatologists, is a skin affliction which came to light after a 12 year-old girl was hit with the bug and went to the Geneva University Hospital in Switzerland about sores that had formed on her hands.

Investigating the matter, doctors discovered the girl had recently been playing an obsessive amount of PlayStation 3 and that the sores on her hands matched pressure points on the DualShock controller. The medics stepped in an, after ten days without the PlayStation 3, the girl was cured.

"For the disorder to only affect the hands is very unusual," said the doctors, who decided that PlayStation palmar hidradenitis was the best name for the skin problem since it is so far unproven to affect Xbox 360 or Nintendo Wii gamers.

Regarding the name of the disease, though it's been a while since we brushed up on our Latin we're pretty sure that it translates into English as 'Stop holding your controller so tightly, fool!'.

Have you ever had physical symptoms manifest from too much gaming? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
Quote Tyrmot 25th February 2009, 11:18
the bug? is just sweaty palm disease no?
Quote Veles 25th February 2009, 11:21
So no different than any other sores you might get on your hand you'd get if you were doing something frequently with your hands.
Quote Jamie 25th February 2009, 11:28
That's not a disease!
Quote CardJoe 25th February 2009, 11:28
I had this a lot when I was fifteen.
Quote shigllgetcha 25th February 2009, 11:32
its the crap design of the controller id say
Quote Gunsmith 25th February 2009, 11:39
Quote:
Originally Posted by shigllgetcha
its the crap design of the controller id say

rubbish!

ive seen a pic of the kid, prolly hasnt washed in weeks
Quote HugoB 25th February 2009, 11:49
Quote:
Originally Posted by CardJoe
I had this a lot when I was fifteen.
Only on the one hand though, right? ;)
Quote shigllgetcha 25th February 2009, 12:19
they are designed badly all the same
Quote Nikumba 25th February 2009, 12:22
Quote:
Originally Posted by shigllgetcha
they are designed badly all the same

I find the 360 pad much nicer than the PS3, but then the 360 is desinged for the larger handed western person
Quote shigllgetcha 25th February 2009, 12:28
the buttons are too close to the botom of the controller or somethin and the grips arent long enough
Quote Arkanrais 25th February 2009, 12:34
The only times I ever got anything like this was when playing street fighter 2 against my brother, after a 1-2 hour gaming session, I'd have blistered thumbs (sometimes it took 30mins if we were really going hard).
Quote Cobalt 25th February 2009, 12:45
See, I knew there was a legitimate reason for thinking that anyone who claimed the dual shock is comfortable was clinically deranged.
Quote UrbanMarine 25th February 2009, 12:50
I used to get Guitaridous from playing my guitar too much and wearing out my fingertips.
Quote shigllgetcha 25th February 2009, 12:59
its not designed ergonomically.
Quote UrbanMarine 25th February 2009, 13:24
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nikumba
I find the 360 pad much nicer than the PS3, but then the 360 is desinged for the larger handed western person

I hate the offset joysticks and tighter grip (hand to hand distance) of the 360. I guess I was used to the PS controller going back 13yrs (PS1).

I still prefer spring keyboards over the new fancy ones.
Quote War-Rasta 25th February 2009, 13:55
I've never had this symptoms so badly. I used to get the occasional sore thumb but that's pretty much it. I thought the PS controllers were the most comfortable thing in the world, until I held the original Xbox controller for the first time and saw how wrong I was. Now the I own a 360 i wouldn't change the controller for anything in the world!
Quote ssj12 25th February 2009, 14:18
@Joe martin - This has nothing to do with the PS3 or DualShock at all. It is named PlayStation Disease because thats what the doctor used as its name because the PS brand is iconic. Change your article because at this moment its completely wrong and shows bias again Sony.

http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/02/24/swiss-docs-find-new-skin-condition-playstation-palm
Quote perplekks45 25th February 2009, 14:34
It has something to do with the PS3 because the girl obviously played PS3. And it's not biased, it's clearly just stating facts.

Stupid fanboys... :|
Quote shigllgetcha 25th February 2009, 14:47
http://www.examiner.com/x-2956-Nashville-Health-News-Examiner~y2009m2d24-Skin-disease-caused-by-too-much-PlayStation

this article seems pretty unambiguous
Quote CardJoe 25th February 2009, 14:57
Quote:
Originally Posted by HugoB
Only on the one hand though, right? ;)

Nope. It's a two-handed job for me.
Quote perplekks45 25th February 2009, 15:00
Random Jimmy Carr quote:

"A piece of advice for you:
If you mime jerking off in front of a big crowd... make it a two-hander."

Awesome show on Sunday. :)
Quote Nicb 25th February 2009, 16:44
aaahhhh man! Every thing is going to be called a disease now. This is an extreme case I don't think we need to label it as a new disease. But I'm sure most of us have experienced something close to this in the early Nintendo brick shaped controllers we played with on Street Fighter and similair games. I did.

When I was young I went to church and the preacher said: " Common today, teens are playing video games then taking a break and masturbating or having sex with their girlfriend and then going back to playing more video games all day!" I laughed out load and said "yes". People looked at me and my parents were not happy. Haha

From that day on I dedicated my life....... to video games.
Quote tranc3 25th February 2009, 17:53
reminds me of the time i was playing an Atari 2600 at my grandmothers and my thumb and pointer finger locked up for two days.
Quote mauvecloud 25th February 2009, 21:29
If it was from playing a PS3, why is the picture of a PS2 controller?
Quote marcusp 26th February 2009, 01:21
in other news - you can get a red ring from playing too much xbox (personal experience)
Quote Horizon 26th February 2009, 02:39
who over these people are they need to put the controller down and go out and do some yard work or something.

I find the ps controller more responsive than any xbox controllers i've ever used. The xbox controllers are FPS minded designs.
Quote Journeyer 26th February 2009, 12:31
I find the PS-controllers to be the very best hand-held controllers on the market. Though I don't use them to game on my PS2 (which is only used for Guitar Hero gaming), but I do use them for playing racing-games on my computer. I love them, but then again - taste is like asscracks, or something along those lines. :D

My wrists and left-hand fingers have been damaged to some extend though from playing Guitar Hero too much. They usually soften up after playing a song or two though, and I don't really know what it is - doesn't feel like how carpal tunnel is supposed to. It feels more like the pains you get in your legs after having been on a really long hike, or a really long run after not having exercised for months (don't know what you call this in English). I guess we'll call it guitarithritus.
Quote perplekks45 26th February 2009, 17:33
In German it'd be called Muskelkater which you could translate to muscle hangover
Quote Journeyer 28th February 2009, 10:37
Quote:
Originally Posted by perplekks45
In German it'd be called Muskelkater which you could translate to muscle hangover

I like it, so that's what we'll go with. :D

(In Norwegian we call it "gangsperre", which would translate to "walk-block".)
Quote itrush07 28th February 2009, 11:04
Ewww.. whether you like it or not, just control your kids with their playing time and they'll be ok.
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