Neoprem Reaction

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dr.md

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:doctor: DOES ANYONE KNOW ANYHTING ABOUT REACTIONS TO NEOPREM. IT HAS HAPPENED TO ME EVERY TIME I WEAR MY DIVE WATCH AND MY DIVE BOOTS, ABOUT A DAY AFTER I DEVELOP A RASH ON MY WRIST AND BOTH FEET. YOU CAN SEE THE PERFECT OUTLINE OF MY BOOTS AND WATCH BAND BY WHERE THE RASH ENDS. IF ANYONE ELSE HAS THIS PROBLEM ARE KNOWS A WAY TO ELIMENATE THIS PROBLEM I WOULD LOVE TO HERE FROM YOU.


THANKS
DR.MD
 
Almost anyone can be allergic to almost anything. If you react to your watch band and boots, do you react anywhere else?

Clearly from your description you are reacting to those items, but it's possible to react to contaminants on them, to detergents, or to solvents or glues that may have been used in the manufacture.

Are these items new or used? Have they been used anywhere or cleaned with anything that could be causing the reaction?

Contact allergies are tricky to track down, and it may or may not be just the neoprene.

Good luck with your detective work.

John
 
both items are brand new . after the first reaction i washed and let them both soak in water for a couple of days but got the same results the first time i wore them. according to dan it is the activator used in the making of the neoprem, but there are about 97 different activators used by different companies.
 
Who knows?

You are right about all the stuff you can react to. Especially, after geing exposed a number of times to it.

How about trying an antihistamine? There are many new, non-drowsy antihistamines on the market e.g. Allegra, Zyrtec, Clarinex, L-isomer of Zyrtec(can't remmeber it's name).

I have seasonal allergies-I don't know what to. It's of acadeamic interest as long as I take an antihistamine.

As long as your "allergy"(I don't like using that term since it has a precise medical meaning) doesn't stop you from breathing - or other important activities- it's just not a big deal.
 
It sounds as though you may be allergic to rubber or latex, from which, I believe, neoprene is made. Divers' watch straps are almost always made of rubber.

Some surgeons cannot use latex gloves for this very reason.

The treatment of all such allergies is not curative but takes two forms.

The first is prevention. If possible, as suggested, identify the allergen and avoid it and protect the skin from it by the means of barrier creams and waterproof undergarments. Antihistmines may help but are not recognised as definitive preventive treatments for contact dermatitis.

The second is to treat the acute phase by the means of topical steroid creams, applied in the short term only, obtained from a dermatologist or GP.

Sounds like a dermatological opinion would be useful in your case, dr.md. Patch testing will confirm your sensitivities to the common allergens.

I hope this helps and your problems resolve.
 
dr.md

First, when you say neoprem are you referring to neoprene rubber?

I agree with Dr. Paul T. Taking an antihistamine for allergy prophylaxis probably isn't appropriate and may complicate diving because so many cause drowziness.

Allergies, once established will follow you for a lifetime. Some allergies are uncomfortable but others may become life threatening.

Latex allergy may present as nothing more than itching eyes and itching around the mouth. However, there have been episodes where latex allergic individuals have an exposure that causes anaphylactic shock and closing of the airway. This type of exposure can occur in just minutes in the sensitized individual.

You are reporting what appears to be a "contact dematitis" type of reaction. Simply keeping the offending material off the skin may suffice.

So consider the following suggestions...wear cotton socks under your booties and make sure that they extend above the boot's opening. Try straping on the watch OVER you glove. Some gloves have elongated wrist areas. There is a Kevlar fillet glove that nearly extend halfway to your elbow.

If you are really allergic to the material, then even these barriers won't help but it's worth a try. The only drawback I can forsee is that the socks take up room inside the bootie and you may need a size larger. Same thing for a glove liner. The Kevlar gloves are not insulated so if you need warmth, this is probably out. In that case you might want to try nitrile exam gloves under your glove.

If your watch won't fit over you glove cuff, you can still make a barrier from an old sock or change the wrist strap to a velcro one. You can also cut off the wrist section of a nitrile exam glove or go to a hardware store and purchase nitrile work gloves (they are thicker). Cut the wrists off and strap your watch over this.

I work with latex daily. I will occasionally have an itchy nose--it's worse with powdered gloves. I keep nitrile gloves on hand for patient's who are allergic. You wouldn't believe how fast or how bad their skin reacts. Strangely enough for me, I usually tolerate contact with latex but if I purchase a length of latex rubber hose for a spear gun, and simply stretch it once, I am turned into a sneezing, itchy eyed, tear soaked, stopped up miserable puppy. Stretching the rubber must release molecules of the allergen into the air and the reaction is extremely rapid.

So, I use a pneumatic gun instead.

Anyway, you might find that you can continue to use your gear with barriers. If that doesn't work, change the gear. The steroid creams suggested by Dr. Paul work slowly and as he said they are for a limited time. See you dermatologist and see if you can identify the exact allergen.

Larry Stein
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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