EHealth Insider diary,

All progress has its drawbacks and so it was this week that the world was warned of the dangers of ‘laptop thigh.’ This, the BBC website reported, is a "nasty rash" that can be caused by the heat from a laptop "especially if used against bare skin for hours at a time."

An article in the journal Paediatrics explained that the scientific name for the condition is ‘erythema ab igne’. It’s often seen in workers exposed to heat and elderly people exposed to hot water bottles and bar fires; but now laptop users and gamers are suffering the condition. Fortunately, ‘fire stains’ tend to clear up once the source of heat is removed – although cancers are a possibility. Surely ‘laptop thigh’ is also easy to prevent?