3DS XL leading to hurting palms?

Does anybody's hands start to feel weird after a while playing on 3DS (XL in particular for me)? I feel like my lower palm of my left hand feels all weird and irritated after a lengthy play. (Almost sore and itchy.) I'm guessing that when I use the analog the bottom of the 3DS XL pushes into my lower palm.

A part of me wonders if the original smaller 3DS would have been better because maybe it wouldn't be pusing into my palm like that. I don't remember my old DS lite really doing that.

I suppose it's something I'll have to live with, though, since the New 3DS is only coming out in NA in the XL form I was almost tempted to switch to the smaller.

I have giant hands, so that's why I originally picked XL.

I guess I was just seeing if anyone had that same issue and, if so, did you have a solution for that? I feel like those attachment grips seem like overkill, but if anyone really had a positive experience maybe I'd think about it.

I don't really get it from the Vita, though my palm doesn't really rest on anything with that. In the end, maybe I'll just have to deal with it.

My hands used to get crampy after playing 3DS or XL for a while. I bought a 2DS and it fits in my hands so much better. My hands don't get achy after long sessions of A Link Between Worlds and its a much more comfortable fit. I'd recommend it if you have big hands. If you see one in a display somewhere you should put it in your hands and try it out. Its more comfortable for me than the 3DS or the XL.

Thanks for that info. I kind of wondered about 2DS ans almost considered buying it because it seemed like it might possibly be a better fit for me. Then, of course, they announced the new 3DS and made it more unlikely for me to purchase a 2DS. I can totally see where you are coming from. If I do ever see one around, I'll pick it up and try it out. Again, I might just deal with the pain because I'm a bit excited for Xenoblade on 3DS. :/

How are you holding your 3DS XL? Do you hold it like this?

If I hold the 3DS or 3DS XL like this I get hand cramps really quickly.

I hold it like this, except I rest my pinky fingers underneath the console.

My hands are smaller than average, and they did hurt in that region, but only when I played Smash 3ds. Now that there is no reason to play that version, no hand issues. All other games have been comfy for me and I hold the system pretty tight.

Did you try loosening your grip?

@JigglyWiggly_: @haziqagha: Those are actually both good ideas. I'm afraid that I might be gripping it too tight actually like in that first picture. I'll have to try out your suggestions. I was almost getting paranoid that it had something to do with the weight of it. Come to think of it, I have a work laptop sometimes that I rest my palm on the corner of that reproduces a similar feeling. It really probably just is a matter of applying too much pressure. I'm known to do that with a lot of controllers actually too. I was doing that with my DS4 controller on ps4 and had a different kind of pain. Once I loosened up it wasn't a problem.

I do almost wish it was a little lighter, but that's not happening. Lol.

@SpiderLuke: Yeah, you're probably holding it like the first picture. I used to do that when I first got my 3DS and I always had hand cramps, once I started holding it loosely I've never had that issue again.

@haziqagha: Yeah, it doesn't seem to be much of an issue any more. I kind of spread both hands out and looser like the right hand on the second pic and it really helped a lot. Thanks!

I have very large hands and my hands hurt after a few minutes of holding the 3DS XL on it's own. Thankfully, I found this awesome grip that makes the 3DS XL comfortable to hold and as a bonus, it even has a compartment in the back to store extra games. If it wasn't for this grip, I would have sold my 3DS for being too uncomfortable.

I've found all the DS, and 3DS range pretty uncomfortable for extended play really. Just have to put it down and give my hands a stretch from time to time. Think it's because I have quite large hands but they are pretty thin when open, I need something more chunky.

I had this problem for a while and I'm glad to run into this post, my hands do get uncomfortable after a while. I never had this problem with the other nintendo products :/

I've never researched about this, but you could look into those outer shell thingies that cover over the 3DS XL itself, making it more comfortable. Dunno what they are called though.