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So. Let's take a look at exhibit A, this article.
What do we see wrong with this?
A) Scientists, dears? I know you're excited about discovering new things, but one participant in a 'study' does not a study make. That's a single case.
B) This 'new thing' has been dubbed "PlayStation palmar hidradentitis". (Which actually should be 'hidradenitis', I believe; shoddy work, there, Yahoo reporter.) Its characteristics? "Painful lesions on the palms" or "painful lumps", caused by "tight and continuous grasping of the hand-grips together with repeated pushing of the buttons", and made worse by sweaty palms, which are not unknown to gamers.
Ooookay, so. First up, gal, loosen up. Seriously, you don't have to white-knuckle the controller. Also, WTF were you playing that made you feel the need to hold on for dear life?
Second, those don't sound like "palmar hidradenitis" to me. They sound like blisters on the hands. Repeated motion, rubbing, and sweat do tend to cause blisters on skin. Shocking!
All the articles I can find about hidradenitis seem to point to this variety, which does sound different enough from the described condition. None of the causes listed for hidradenitis suppurativa seem to be related to rubbing or other trauma to the surface of the skin. Sweating, yes, but that can cause a lot of things.
Edit: Also, it looks like HS is related to inflammation of sweat glands near hair follicles, none of which are generally found on the palms of your hands unless you're a circus freak, a suspected werewolf, or you masturbate regularly, according to old Catholic grandmothers. Hidradenitis does seem to just refer to the inflammation of the sweat glands, which could be possible in this girl's case, but I believe blisters are much, much more likely to be the case.
C) For fuck's sake, if you're going to name your palm blisters after the PlayStation, do some goddamn research first. I never got blisters from my years of playing my PSX and PS2. I don't know anyone who has.
However, way back in '99, there was this game released on the Nintendo 64 that did give me some awful blisters on the palms of my hands. Any gamer worth their salt has played the original Mario Party with the original N64 controllers, and knows the pain of which I speak. We didn't go running to the doctors because of it. We knew the reason we had them. We also steadfastly refused to stop doing that which gave us the blisters, because, fuck, let the other kids win 'cause we weren't spinning our joysticks fast enough? Piss on that.
So, finally, scientists, dears, stop catering to the mommies and daddies who swear up and down that video games are bad for you. If you're going to do so, point out the lack of activity most of these kids are getting (until they step on a DDR pad) (say, what would be the fancy name for video game-induced laziness? "Xbox obesity" just doesn't have the right ring to it) or suggest that perhaps they limit the time Junior can spend on the console if they find he/she's getting a wee bit too excited, there.
And goddamnit, get your 'diagnosis' straight. Blisters, or "Nintendo64 palmar vesicles" if you really feel the need to give yourselves a pat on the back.
Kids and doctors these days, I swear...
What do we see wrong with this?
A) Scientists, dears? I know you're excited about discovering new things, but one participant in a 'study' does not a study make. That's a single case.
B) This 'new thing' has been dubbed "PlayStation palmar hidradentitis". (Which actually should be 'hidradenitis', I believe; shoddy work, there, Yahoo reporter.) Its characteristics? "Painful lesions on the palms" or "painful lumps", caused by "tight and continuous grasping of the hand-grips together with repeated pushing of the buttons", and made worse by sweaty palms, which are not unknown to gamers.
Ooookay, so. First up, gal, loosen up. Seriously, you don't have to white-knuckle the controller. Also, WTF were you playing that made you feel the need to hold on for dear life?
Second, those don't sound like "palmar hidradenitis" to me. They sound like blisters on the hands. Repeated motion, rubbing, and sweat do tend to cause blisters on skin. Shocking!
All the articles I can find about hidradenitis seem to point to this variety, which does sound different enough from the described condition. None of the causes listed for hidradenitis suppurativa seem to be related to rubbing or other trauma to the surface of the skin. Sweating, yes, but that can cause a lot of things.
Edit: Also, it looks like HS is related to inflammation of sweat glands near hair follicles, none of which are generally found on the palms of your hands unless you're a circus freak, a suspected werewolf, or you masturbate regularly, according to old Catholic grandmothers. Hidradenitis does seem to just refer to the inflammation of the sweat glands, which could be possible in this girl's case, but I believe blisters are much, much more likely to be the case.
C) For fuck's sake, if you're going to name your palm blisters after the PlayStation, do some goddamn research first. I never got blisters from my years of playing my PSX and PS2. I don't know anyone who has.
However, way back in '99, there was this game released on the Nintendo 64 that did give me some awful blisters on the palms of my hands. Any gamer worth their salt has played the original Mario Party with the original N64 controllers, and knows the pain of which I speak. We didn't go running to the doctors because of it. We knew the reason we had them. We also steadfastly refused to stop doing that which gave us the blisters, because, fuck, let the other kids win 'cause we weren't spinning our joysticks fast enough? Piss on that.
So, finally, scientists, dears, stop catering to the mommies and daddies who swear up and down that video games are bad for you. If you're going to do so, point out the lack of activity most of these kids are getting (until they step on a DDR pad) (say, what would be the fancy name for video game-induced laziness? "Xbox obesity" just doesn't have the right ring to it) or suggest that perhaps they limit the time Junior can spend on the console if they find he/she's getting a wee bit too excited, there.
And goddamnit, get your 'diagnosis' straight. Blisters, or "Nintendo64 palmar vesicles" if you really feel the need to give yourselves a pat on the back.
Kids and doctors these days, I swear...
