Poison Ivey/Oak on skin and Diving

[mike_s]

Well, after working in the yard all last weekend, I'm covered up in Poison Ivey/Oak sores.... I mean they got really bad this time. I was wanting to go on a dive trip this weekend, but that didn't work out. But it makes me wonder how diving would affect the skin irritation.

I've been to the doctor and gotten the normal drugs for it, but it made me wonder about going diving with this on your skin. How does it affect it?

How about variables of:

1.) fresh vs salt water?

2.) wetsuits on skin?

3.) itch factor?

4.) Anything else?


Just curious how this would cause the spread, irritate it, etc. if diving

-mike

 

[diver_paula]

I'm not in the medical field at all but I would think your skin would leave a residue on your wetsuit that would be difficult to remove. & could then reinfect you at a later date.

Other than that, I know when I had poison ivy as a kid, swimming in the ocean seemed to help. At least not, worsen the problem.

 

[STOGEY]

I too am not a physician, but sometimes when I have bad athletes foot and go into the salt water. The salt water helps to aleviate the athletes foot. So maybe the salt water would do the same for poison ivy/oak. I too had a bad case recently, and the ocean water didn't seem to do it no harm. That is as far as making a worse infection.

However as far as the athletes foot is concerned. I have noticed a few fish with itchy scales. So maybe they get a case of athletes scales from my athletes foot.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Well, I'm going to say don't dive at this time. Now I use the "rule of nines" to determine whether I have a bad poison oak problem. That rule states that if greater than 9% of your body is burned, it is serious. Having a sking eruption like poison oak/ivy is like having a second degree body burn. So, what is 9% of your body? Well, an arm is nine percent, the chest is 9%, abdomen 9%, upper back in 9%, lower back/buttocks is 9%, upper leg 9%, lower leg 9%, the head is 9% and that makes 11 areas, or 99% of you body. The other 1% is your genital region.

The main hazard is getting an infection from the dive. Perhaps the sea water won't cause a problem, but when was the last time you washed your dive suit? If you have greater than 9% of your body erupted in an allergic reaction to poison oak/ivy, then you need to stay out of the water. Exposure to contaminated water can cause a really nasty infection, and you don't want that. Under 9%, it's your call, but I would stay clear of the water anyway. Find something else to do for the weekend.

By the way, I've taught fire fighting agencies in Oregon about poison oak prevention and treatment. What you want to find is a product called Tec-Nu, and use it either to prevent the poison oak in the first place, or to remove all the oils on your skin to prevent spreading. See this website for more info:

http://www.teclabsinc.com/pro_tecnu.html

SeaRat
(former USAF Pararescue, EMT/Paramedic, smokejumper & FA Instructor)