StoneAgeDocArchives
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Adding to the Archives
Welcome to the new blog, StoneAgeDocArchives
Since June 2005 we have posted more than 450 newspaper columns that have appeared in The Stone Age Doc and that are now archived at www.stoneagedoc.com. The columns have ranged from 400 to 500 words in length and cover a myriad of health topics, many of which are based on my 35 years of clinical pediatric practice and 40 years of teaching at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine.
A change in servers required a new format and the popularity of blogs made this one a logical choice. The column below, Toasted thighs and other laptop hazards, was published in January 2014.
Two or three columns will be posted every week until we are up to date for the year.
I welcome your comments and suggestions. Feel free to contact me at drphil@stoneagedoc.com..
Since June 2005 we have posted more than 450 newspaper columns that have appeared in The Stone Age Doc and that are now archived at www.stoneagedoc.com. The columns have ranged from 400 to 500 words in length and cover a myriad of health topics, many of which are based on my 35 years of clinical pediatric practice and 40 years of teaching at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine.
A change in servers required a new format and the popularity of blogs made this one a logical choice. The column below, Toasted thighs and other laptop hazards, was published in January 2014.
Two or three columns will be posted every week until we are up to date for the year.
I welcome your comments and suggestions. Feel free to contact me at drphil@stoneagedoc.com..
Toasted thighs and other laptop hazards
Toasted skin syndrome is a modern malady
blamed on laptop computers but it’s something that our grandparents were aware
of. Hot water bottles, those ugly, unwieldy red rubber bags that were applied
to sore muscles and painful backs sometimes caused superficial burns when the
water that was poured into them was too hot. A generation later the careless
use of heating pads caused the same problem, pain and redness that took a
couple of days to go away. The heating pad is obviously a technological
improvement but because it can produce heat for a much longer time than a hot
water bottle it can lead to more severe burns, especially in patients with
diabetes, who often have poor sensation in the legs.
Laptop
computers are the latest reason for toasted skin syndrome and the area affected
– no surprise – is the front of the upper thigh. On airplanes, in student
lounges and coffee shops I have watched young persons casually typing away on a
laptop perched – where else – on the lap. The designers of those convenient
computers are aware of the heat that they generate and some of them warn users
about the hazards. Most do not.
The
first sign of toasted skin syndrome is sunburn-like reddening of the skin but a
mottled appearance occurs with longer exposure. If the condition is ignored
there may be long-term discoloration and degeneration of the skin. Some
dermatologists warn that skin cancer is a potential hazard. That has not yet
been seen in laptop users but there are numerous reports of skin cancer from
other sources of heat injury. Time will tell.
The
cure is simple: use the laptop on a desk or table. For the dedicated laptopper
there are plenty of gadgets available to use as heat shields but something as
simple as a magazine placed under the unit will solve the problem.
The
propensity for young people to assume uncomfortable-looking positions while
using laptop and notebook computers is a more likely cause of problems. Neck,
shoulder and back pain are common complaints, sometimes as a result of carrying
a three- or four-pound computer on a shoulder strap.
There
is a glimmer of hope in the recent trend toward smaller notebook-type and
tablet computers. They aren’t well suited to the lap, they generate less heat
and they are so light that carrying one all day isn’t likely to cause much
discomfort.
Philip J. Goscienski, M.D. is the author of Health Secrets of the Stone Age, Better
Life Publishers, 2005. Read his archived columns at www.stoneagedoc.com. Contact him at drphil@stoneagedoc.com.
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