Pool related Dermatitits?... a tale of the great spotted person

Triathlon Forum
1

Alright… I’m looking for advice here or maybe just others who are dealing the same thing…

For the last month, my skin has been my nemesis. It started with an itch or two on my shins, wasn’t too bad for the 10 days I was away over the holidays (also the 10 days I wasn’t in the pool). But in the last two weeks it has been back and it’s been bad. My lower legs irrupted into an itchy disaster. Starting with just itchy patches and the odd raised spot. Then it moved to around my elbows, first on one side, then the other. Luckily it has stayed in these two areas. I’ve tried Benadryl, Aerius, (neither worked). Now I’m onto Colloidal oatmeal baths and Benadryl cream 4x/daily. I went to the doctor, who basically said that it’s nothing serious and is likely just related to cold/reaction to something/etc and to just keep doing what I’m doing.

So now, in my desperation to get away from the itch (and looking like a leper), I’ve been convinced to take a few days off from the pool (I usually swim 3x/week) to see if it clears up at all.

Is anyone at all experiencing the same thing in winter weather or chlorine? I am going nuts!

Disclaimer:
-I do suffer from cold induced uriticaria, but this presents differently
-I have no known food/drug allergies
-I haven’t changed any cream/soaps/etc.
-The cream/soaps/etc I’m using are of the non-harsh variety.
-Chlorine usually doesn’t bug me

2

…probably not a lot of help here – but winter time I also get the red blotches - esp after swimming (which I havent been doing lately) and hot showers…

I rely on two things to get me through the winter – tubs of lubriderm lotion – literally swim in the stuff (and really dont use it at all in the summer) – and if things get too bad, I have a weak topical cream from the doc that I’ll use on the spots if they get too bad…

Overall, my skin hates winter (and we dont even have winter in AZ!) - I’ve found the key is to lube up after every shower…before bed…before swimming, etc…

Good Luck!
-Ron

3

You might try an anti-fungal like Neosporin-F. Locker rooms can be nasty.

4

I have the same problem. To treat, I have reduced pool time (no hanging around chatting with the team before showering) and started applying Cetaphil cream after every shower (immediately after toweling). For me, high levels of water softening in my home system also trigger it, so I turned down the water softener.

5

I would bet that it is excema. I’m sure that you can Google around to get ideas of treatment, but what we do for my son is try to reduce contact with water. So try to limit (group) showers (multiple showers/day will not help you), and use lotion (lubriderm is good) immediately after. With my son (1.5yrs old) we cannot bathe him every day, every other day max.