Bright, red, hot patch of skin?

[do it easy]

Does it looks like this? http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=188296

 

[JGBrown]

DCS of the skin is a possibility. Perhaps the suit was tight on the arm, restricting blood flow, and make it more likely to trap nitrogen bubbles.

If you previously had bouts of contact dermatitis to the point that the doc said "the worst case he's ever seen", abrasion, pressure, irritation, and DCS can all inflame and target the patch of previous injury.

It is not uncommon for the same area where you previously had contact dermatitis to flare up to any kind of irritants. My guess is, you might have had a suit squeeze on that arm that restricted blood flow. The congestion then flare up the patch of eczema that you previously had the contact dermatitis.

But my first diagnosis is still what I would stand by, it is ear syphillis.

The contact dermatitis I had previously was blisters that converged into big open sores, it was hot:14:
I definetly had suit squeeze, when my valve failed to vent I opened my neck seal venting 100% of the air and partially flooding my suit.
This was not similar to the dermatitis, it bore a bit of resemblence to the pictures of skin bends, but it had a very clear and defined border, like that of a piece of suit. It was not mottled but evenly light red, it really did look like a mild sunburn, was slightly sensitive to heat(same as my kayaking ones) but not at all itchy or painful.

EDIT:
its slowly fading and my arm actually seems to bit a bit more tanned .
I'm an idiot.
I was driving up in a open top jeep, my left arm was out the window, it was sunny for the first 30 minutes of the drive.
That just hit me now, I forgot that the doc said as a result of the chems he put on my arm I'd be more sensitive to sun.
I had my sleeve up because I wanted to be able to read my watch on the drive.
post dive, I never got out of my fleece, and it was cloudy so I assumed no sun exposure.
I've made a real :mooner: of myself, but I'm glad it motivated me to finally bug my mom enough to get DAN coverage.
and to be more careful ascending, my friends computer was very unhappy with us for that.
It ended before my gauge, and I adjust my gauge tightness at depth.
I think the suit squeeze might have exacerbated the sunburn, it squeezed me quick and hard when I vented my neck seal.

 

[JGBrown]

Does it looks like this? http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=188296

Nope, the only part of the whole post incident that I did ok at was research, I spent approx 4 hours digging through DAN, here, google etc researching skin bends, signs and symptoms etc.

Part of the confusion in the incident was new gear, with the new regulator instead of rental, I did not have the same headache and nausea I always get post dive.
the rental ones were like sucking air through a straw, I'd get nasty CO2 headaches post dive every time.
I didn't have this at all, or the usual fatigue, so I didn't have a good baseline for how I feel post dive with this rig to be able to tell if anything was different.

 

[do it easy]

EDIT:
its slowly fading and my arm actually seems to bit a bit more tanned .

Call DAN!! and tell 'em you're OK

 

[JGBrown]

Funny story about that, I called DAN and left a message, they called me back, I work nights so I wasn't quite awake and called them right back, sat on hold and waited 20minutes, left a message 8 hours ago.
ah well, at least I didn't call the emergency line

and I learned more in that cold dark dive then I did in my clear bright open ones(not that I'm anxious to repeat that learning too soon)
There was quite a bit of task loading on the dive too, I had new BT, new regs(tested once) new gauge, new light.
The BT and gauge on BC combo is so easy!
all I have to do is remember my tables, no more fishing over my head for the floating console.
New pistol grip light, vis was about 8" at the start of the dive, I could hit myself in the face and not see it coming.
below 25' it was much better.
before I only had a secondary type light for looking into crevices and such.
I'm going to dive the site again soon, but I've learned a lot in really short order.
I also learned some stuff I was happy about, about how I respond underwater when I know there's multiple problems(valve not opening, depth, low on time) and when I follow the procedures and it doesn't help that i can problem solve enough to somewhat stableize the situation(adding rocks to pockets, body position in water to slow ascent), that my buddy is really amazing, and that low viz isn't scary.
and I learned not to go that deep again anytime soon.
Overall I'd say it was a positive dive, because the first part was amazing for the dive itself, and the last part was a good smack upside the head about practice, control, insurance, and a ton of other stuff I need to learn
I'm pleased with dive 8.
3rd since OW.
Finally got my trim down, and my air consumption rate was actually lower this dive then it has ever been on more relaxing ones.
normally my buddy ends with way over 1/2 when I hit 500.
(he uses bar so its hard to convert exactly)
this time I ended at 600 and he at over 1/3
I think my new signature will be a good reminder that I need to be more careful.

 

[pro99line]

To get some more information to try to help you, we'd have to know where you were diving, what kind of exposure protection you were using, and what your profile was. (It's unlikely this was a coral burn if the OP was diving at home . . . )

BTW. There are cold water corals that live in temps around 39 - 55 f and yes some that could sting or burn you. Just an FYI.

 

[DandyDon]

BTW. There are cold water corals that live in temps around 39 - 55 f and yes some that could sting or burn you. Just an FYI.

Within recreational dive depths...?

I'm thinking those are deep enough that the OP would have mentioned depth if he'd been that deep.

 

[Wildcard]

Yes, well within rec limits.

 

[JGBrown]

It was a sunburn, but with a drysuit, whites fleece suit and clothes in between me and anything I doubt it was that, plus I didn't touch anything other then when I stopped on the wall to vent my suit, I wear 7mm ti/kevlar gloves, full hood etc.
the only thing exposed is the few inches around my reg.

EDIT: in my defence, I haven't had a sunburn in a couple years I forgot what they were like.
and I forgot that the chemicals I was putting on my arms to fix a problem from my work have a side effect of making it easier to burn, they thin the skin and bleach the pigment.
plus I try not to touch anything after reading about the damage I can cause, just like no trace hiking.
water temp was a warm 42 according to my bottom timer.
I'm just working out a write up of the dive now, which will include gear, profile, issues, mitigating factors, solutions to problems and of course, my many screw ups.

 

[fisherdvm]

Didn't I say "solar contact dermatitis" in my differential?? Huh, didn't I??

Well, it is still is syphillis until proven otherwise!