Australian doctors are worried about a sudden surge of sports injuries which are finding their way into their waiting rooms ever since Microsoft bought out its Kinect interface.

Apparently Australians are falling over themselves, quite literally to do themselves harm either by falling over, hitting each other, or crushing the furniture. Collisions, sprains, ruptured ligaments and even broken bones now seem as likely to occur in the home as on the sports field, the quacks complained. Games related physical injuries first became associated with computer gaming after the release of Nintendo's Wii motion sensitive controller, but the body count for the Kinect appears to be much higher. Videos of Xbox Kinect fails - as they are called - began appearing on YouTube not long after the release of the controller.

Dr Ian Gillam, an exercise physiologist with Exercise & Sports Science Australia, told the Sydney Morning Herald that, for any form of exercise program, players should consult medical guidelines. The normal advice doctors give people over the age of 40 is, if they are planning to do vigorous activity, they should have a medical exam to ensure there are no underlying cardiac or respiratory conditions. People who have cardiac conditions and are grossly obese should not jog jump unless they really want to risk of lower limb injuries from landing heavily on legs and the trunk area.

Dr Gillam said that, aside from collisions, you would get muscle strain injuries such as a torn hamstring or, for the over 40s, an Achilles tendon rupture. Lower back injuries might also result from any lunging, jumping or twisting activities, still it could be worse. Your head could fall off.