You may want to move that Laptop off your Lap!

Researchers at the Department of Dermatology - University Hospital Basel in Basel, Switzerland have just published a report in the October issue of Pediatrics (the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics) that the heat from laptop computers has caused skin afflictions in patients legs:

We report here the case of a 12-year-old boy with erythema ab igne on his left thigh caused by the use of a laptop computer. Erythema ab igne is a reticular, pigmented, sometimes telangiectatic dermatosis that is caused by prolonged exposure to a heat or infrared source. The heat originates from the optical drive, the battery, or the ventilation fan of the computer.

This condition has become known as the 'Toasted Skin Syndrome' and results in a sponge-like discoloration. In some of the patients the skin returned to normal appearance in a short time, other patients had the symptoms for a longer period.

The best advice from the articles online is to use a pad or place your lap top computer on a desktop or table, avoiding contact with your direct skin (or even through your  pants). There are many pads on the market to help with this - among them the Belkin CushDesk, pictured at right.

You can read the abstract from the research here: Laptop Computer–Induced Erythema ab Igne in a Child and Review of the Literature