Am I screwing with my health through constant laptop use?

August 23, 2011 4:07 PM

Am I screwing with my health through constant laptop use?

For the past couple of years, I've spent several hours a day with a laptop on my lap. And by "lap" I mean resting on my thighs and my lower abdomen/uterus/ovaries/general babymaking organs. I have a 2004 PowerBook and it frequently gets hot. Every now and then I'm concerned that I'm effectively resting a warm metallic brick with God-knows-what chemicals and components on a sensitive region of my body. However, I've never been able to find out whether this could have long-term health effects.

I have a physically demanding job and am otherwise active, so I'm not really concerned about the effects of a sedentary hobby. My question is whether the laptop itself, used as it is for several hours a day in contact with my body, could pose a health risk.

Thanks in advance!

posted by delight to Health & Fitness (12 answers total)

Physiological changes from heat would probably affect men more than women. The scrotum hangs off the male body to keep sperm at lower-than-body temperature.

Since your ovaries etc. are inside your body, they will be kept at body temperature, anyway. For men, a laptop would raise scrotum temperature and lower sperm counts, but probably not do much to ovaries unless you held the laptop base to your stomach for hours at a time.

Even then, you'd probably get first-degree burns before your insides get warmed up above normal body temperature enough to adversely affect eggs. There's a whole stasis thing going on to keep your body at a constant core temperature.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 4:14 PM on August 23, 2011

I guess I'm specifically interested in whether this behavior increases cancer risk.
posted by delight at 4:38 PM on August 23, 2011

Google "laptop heat rash" or "erythema ab igne" for the medical term. It's a blotchy white-and-red heat rash on part of your body that gets repeated, long-term contact with heat - laptops, electric blankets, heaters, etc. It can give you skin cancer, apparently.

I had this on my thigh from a very hot laptop I'd put on my lap, usually over jeans, over the course of a year or so. It wasn't too noticeable - just discoloration and red splotchiness, not nearly as bad as the wikipedia article shows. I would joke that my laptop was cooking my thigh, but little did I know it actually was!

It took about a year for mine to go away entirely.
posted by subject_verb_remainder at 4:44 PM on August 23, 2011

I guess I'm specifically interested in whether this behavior increases cancer risk.

There is not a single significant study that indicates that that's the case.
posted by halogen at 4:50 PM on August 23, 2011

I'd worry about yeast infections before thinking about an increased cancer risk. Maybe get a laptop desk (desktop-and-cushion-buffer), to ease your mind about your laptop use?
posted by Iris Gambol at 4:55 PM on August 23, 2011

I have no concern that you are ruining your reproductive health. I'm a little concerned about your posture and wrists because the ergonomics of laptops actually in your lap is terrible.
posted by DarlingBri at 5:23 PM on August 23, 2011

Seconding the laptop desk- really great for keeping from cooking your thighs while wearing shorts.
posted by jenkinsEar at 5:39 PM on August 23, 2011

I guess I'm specifically interested in whether this behavior increases cancer risk.

It does not.

If you'd like some separation between your legs and the laptop you can get a "lap desk". Some of them come with cooling fans; you should not buy those ones, all they do is eat battery.
posted by mhoye at 5:57 PM on August 23, 2011

I'd worry more about how you're getting through life with ancient technology than any harm to your body, unless you're doing all this in the nude
posted by Patbon at 6:26 PM on August 23, 2011

You can also buy these 'laptop tables' at IKEA which are basically an adjustable height stand you can put your laptop on when sitting at the couch. Saved me from ruining my back by hunching over to use the laptop on the coffee table or alternately over-warming my thighs.
posted by pravit at 6:37 PM on August 23, 2011

I got something shipped by amazon and it came with these dark grey dense foam-like mesh rectangles that are perfect for using between your lap and a laptop. I'd link you to someplace to buy them if I knew what they were made of or what they were called. Keeps the heat off you, elevates your laptop, stable enough, and can be packed easily with the laptop for travel. Anybody know what I'm talking about?
posted by cashman at 6:51 AM on August 24, 2011

You're probably more likely to have problems with a repetitive stress injury from the poor ergonomics of having the laptop on your lap. Poor posture --> back, wrist, shoulder problems.
posted by Barry B. Palindromer at 7:41 AM on August 25, 2011