Was reading another forum and the topic came up so I thought I would post a rather interesting diagnosis for you all.
Last year my wife and I went with a buddy and his wife down to the Keys for a week of diving. He has his own boat down there, and that was the way to go...but that is another story.
I did not have a wetsuit, and he loaned me one of his spare skins for the week. About day 2, I noticed a slight itching in my forearm region and on my shins. Over the next several days, these areas broke out into full blown rashes...bumps, itching and all. We attributed it the first night to misquitoes, and after that to something that was in my skin suit.
Well, when we got back to Tampa, I went to my nurse practitioner, and she decided that it was sea lice! I was literally bathing in some sort of mixture of vinegar, ammonia and water (don't remember the specifics, except that it made me swear so much when I put the crap on that my wife made me do it outside) twice a day.
It didn't stop for a few more days, and only appeared to be aggrevated by the treatment, so my nurse referred me to a dermatologist. When I went in, he took one look at me and said Poison Ivy or Poison Oak.
No way...that stuff is NOT found on the reefs in the Keys as far as I know. But wait...I did clear out that overgrown compost heap the day before we left on the dive trip. It was left over from the people who owned the house before us, and I had just decided to clear the area out. Could I have gotten exposed to it then?
Well, proper treatment made the rashes disappear...and I have decided that you need to examine EVERY possibility before reaching a diagnosis. My nurse could only treat the symptoms and I had given her no indication that I could have been exposed to foliage that could do that to me.
Lesson learned...tell them everything! Oh, and she was SOOO very disappointed that she couldn't tell everyone that her patient had sea lice. Go figure!
Last year my wife and I went with a buddy and his wife down to the Keys for a week of diving. He has his own boat down there, and that was the way to go...but that is another story.
I did not have a wetsuit, and he loaned me one of his spare skins for the week. About day 2, I noticed a slight itching in my forearm region and on my shins. Over the next several days, these areas broke out into full blown rashes...bumps, itching and all. We attributed it the first night to misquitoes, and after that to something that was in my skin suit.
Well, when we got back to Tampa, I went to my nurse practitioner, and she decided that it was sea lice! I was literally bathing in some sort of mixture of vinegar, ammonia and water (don't remember the specifics, except that it made me swear so much when I put the crap on that my wife made me do it outside) twice a day.
It didn't stop for a few more days, and only appeared to be aggrevated by the treatment, so my nurse referred me to a dermatologist. When I went in, he took one look at me and said Poison Ivy or Poison Oak.
No way...that stuff is NOT found on the reefs in the Keys as far as I know. But wait...I did clear out that overgrown compost heap the day before we left on the dive trip. It was left over from the people who owned the house before us, and I had just decided to clear the area out. Could I have gotten exposed to it then?
Well, proper treatment made the rashes disappear...and I have decided that you need to examine EVERY possibility before reaching a diagnosis. My nurse could only treat the symptoms and I had given her no indication that I could have been exposed to foliage that could do that to me.
Lesson learned...tell them everything! Oh, and she was SOOO very disappointed that she couldn't tell everyone that her patient had sea lice. Go figure!
