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Here\u2019s a hazard you probably didn\u2019t expect from too much screen time.<\/p>\n
Two doctors in the UK reported in the journal<\/a> BMJ Case Reports the bizarre case of a young boy whose laptop literally toasted his skin over weeks and maybe even months of using it. Thankfully, the kid\u2019s fine and was never in any real pain, so we can dive into this medical oddity without feeling too guilty about it.<\/p>\n According to the eyebrow-raising paper, spotted by Ars Technica<\/a>, the boy was first brought into an emergency department with reddish markings over his abdomen in a lace-like pattern. Nurses first described it as \u201cspontaneous bruising,\u201d but they didn\u2019t find skin abnormalities anywhere else on his body. The boy also wasn\u2019t in any pain, and didn\u2019t have any history of trauma or illnesses that could explain the markings.<\/p>\n When doctors did a chest x-ray, they found some kind of build up in his lung, though it was unclear what it signified. The boy admitted that he got pushed into a chair while play-fighting with his siblings a week ago, leading the doctors to search for signs of a traumatic injury. But after a CT scan, they didn\u2019t find any. They weren\u2019t completely sure of what was going on, but the doctors discharged him with antibiotics for a suspected lung infection.<\/p>\n The boy was back several weeks later, though \u2014 and the rash was even worse. Parts of his abdomen were pinkish, exhibiting clear signs of skin breakdown, the doctors wrote, with mottled patches of dark brown. (You can view a photo, at your own peril, here<\/a>, via Ars.)<\/p>\n That\u2019s when the doctors began to suspect some kind of heat damage. But when they asked the boy about heat sources, nothing turned up.\u00a0<\/p>\n Then, as they continued to question him, the boy mentioned something crucial: he was home-schooled and did most of his assignments on his laptop<\/a>, sometimes for eight hours a day, often while charging. And of course, he usually rested the laptop on his torso while lying down.<\/p>\n This supported a diagnosis of a erythema ab igne (EAI), also known as \u201ctoasted skin syndrome.\u201d It\u2019s caused by repeated, close exposure to low heat, which slowly damages the skin over time. Patients often get it from heat pads and space heaters, but a warm laptop can cause it, too. It causes a distinctly lace-like rash, which explained the boy\u2019s symptoms.<\/p>\n EAI is benign, and in most cases, its rashes disappear on their own once exposure to a heat source is stopped, taking weeks to months to heal. Once properly diagnosed, the boy\u2019s rash was dressed, and he came back to the hospital several months later to confirm that he had fully healed. Now that he\u2019s okay, he might try studying at a desk instead.<\/p>\n