Blisters After Contact With Sea/ Fresh Water Posted: 07-27-06 11:25am
I am a 39 year old male and I have never
had a problem going into the ocean or a
fresh water lake.
Recently I went out into the ocean for
about 4 hours. Within an hour my hands
started itching badly and tiny blisters
started forming around the base of my
thumbs and on the top of my hands. The
blisters look like tapioca and are realy
small. There are a lot of them and the
fluid inside looks yellowish. The initial
bad itch disapears after about a day or
two although scalding hot water makes the
itch go away immidiately for a good two to
three hours. After about a week the
blisters disappear and the skin turns
brown and itches. A few days after that
the dead brown skin is gone and the
underlaying skin is red. It looks like
recovering skin after a burn. The red
skin is sensative to the touch but reduces
in color to normal skin color after about
another week.
The same thing happened in a freshwater
river. The blisters came back in full
force and almost dubbled in amount and
spread to the bases of my index and middle
fingers.
I went to see a dermatologist and he gave
me "desoximetasone". It does help with
the itch and the redness of the skin but
it does not cure the problem. He said
that there was no cure for this and just
had to live with it. I don't have these
symptoms with normal tab water.
Does anybody know about this condition and
is it true there is nothing for it?
Clearely there is something in "outdoor"
water that causes this to happen. I hate
having to give up my outdoor water
activeties.
Thanks.
|
MN-Mike
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 24 Jul 2006 Posts: 10
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Posted: 07-29-06 23:16pm
Hey kiteboarder.
Maybe it isn't the water but being out in
the sun for a long period of time and the
water intensifies the sun. Could this be?
I'll tell you why I think it may be.
For years I made hay in the fields and was
out in the sun for many hours. About 5
years ago, I noticed the same thing you
are describing but it wasn't as intense as
yours. The next week I was out again for
many hours and it was worse. Each
subsequent exposure it got worse, and the
next year was even worse yet.
I have moved and don't farm anymore but
whenever I am out working on the pool or
the yard in the direct sun for hours, I
get it. It is always on the base of my
fingers/thumbs and sometimes just a few
are on my wrists and up my arms.
With all the crap we have put in our
environment I wouldn't be surprised if it
is a chemical reaction intensified by the
sun, maybe the sun itself being that the
atmosphere is so wacked.
Did the doctor say what it was or what
caused it with any certainty? I heard a
news story of an international health org
warning of a "global itching" epidemic
coming on. Someone knows something eh?
Maybe try some powerful sunblock or an
industrial type chemical block skin lotion
they make for workers that contact mild
chemicals with bare skin. I used to have
some but never thought of trying it til
now.
Good luck and don't give up going airborn
on the kiteboard.
|
Kiteboarder
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 27 Jul 2006 Posts: 2 Location: Florida
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Posted: 07-30-06 01:45am
Hi mike,
thanks for your input. The sun, in the
instances I had, was definitely out in
full force. Never actually thought in
that direction. It just seemed logical to
me that it had to be something in the
water. This due to the fact that during
the peiods without contact with "outdoor"
water i'm still out in de sun and nothing
happens.
The doc however said that there was
nothing against it but just in case wash
my hands with regular soap instead of
liquid soap. That does not do the
trick.
I'm just very frustrated having never been
alergic to anything and now starting a new
hobby/ sport (kiteboarding) this
happens.
I'm keeping the faith that there is
something for/ against it. I will
definitely look into those industrial
blockers.
Cheers.
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