An Australian woman says she has suffered severe burns after falling asleep on her charging iPhone 7.

In a Facebook post, Melanie Tan Pelaez posted a picture of her red, blistered arm and issued a warning to others to keep their phones well away from their beds.

"I recently purchased an Apple iPhone 7 and accidentally fell asleep with my arm on my phone whilst it was charging. I was woken up by sudden pain, pins and needles, numbness and shortness of breath" reads the post.

"I have been an iPhone user since the beginning and have never had an issue or concern, so it's really scary and disappointing that something like this happened and can happen to someone else".

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Fortunately, she was apparently otherwise unharmed.

Speaking to news.com.au, Pelaez explained that she had fallen asleep watching movies on her phone, and when she first woke up she wasn't sure what had caused the injury.

"The hospital did a number of tests and told me the mark was a burn from a foreign object and told me to check around my bed to see what could be the cause of the injury", she said.

"We matched the markings on my arm to the phone and charger".

Pelaez acknowldeges that it could have been worse, but the painful injury has prompted multiple trips to the emergency room and she has met with a plastic surgeon to discuss options to deal with the scar.

While handling or sleeping with a charging phone is not generally advisable — in fact Apple says so explicitly in its iPhone user guide — no reasonable user would expect the device to get so hot as to burn them. iPhones — and other smartphones besides — will shut off automatically if they overheat, due to being confined or being exposed to direct sunlight or another heat source.

If the iPhone was to blame for Pelaez's injury, it's unclear whether or not there was some kind of malfunction or other factors.

While Apple has not made an official statement on the matter, Fairfax Media understands the company is in regular contact with Pelaez and is working directly with her to resolve the matter.

Pelaez told news.com.au that Apple doesn't think the phone was to blame but has offered her a replacement, which she refused.

"I don't trust the device anymore," she said.

Pelaez has been contacted, and this article will be updated if Fairfax Media receives further comment.