Experts have identified a new skin disorder caused by over-enthusiastic handling of gaming consoles.

Experts have identified a new skin disorder caused by over-enthusiastic handling of gaming consoles.

The condition, given the name PlayStation palmar hidradenitis, causes painful sores on the palms of the hands.

Doctors in Switzerland spotted the symptoms in a 12-year-old girl whose injuries had appeared over four weeks.

A medical team at Geneva University Hospital diagnosed "idiopathic eccrine hidradenitis" - a skin disorder that produces red, sore lumps on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet.

At first the doctors were puzzled. For the disorder only to affect the hands was very unusual, and the girl had not been taking part in any sport or physical exercise.

Then the girl's parents recalled that a few days days before the sores appeared, their daughter had started using her PlayStation gaming console for several hours a day.

The doctors suspected that tight and continuous grasping of the console together with repeated pushing of the buttons had caused the injuries.

Stopping all console gaming for 10 days led to the girl making a full recovery.

Reporting the case in the British Journal of Dermatology, the Swiss authors, led by Dr Behrooz Kasraee, wrote: "Excessive video gaming is currently regarded as an alarming health issue."