Wetsuit Allergy- Anyone else out there?? Please help

[ralu]

Hello again,
This is how my arms look like after a week and a half from last wearing my RipCurl FlashBomb wetsuit. One day after wearing it's a lot worse.
Unfortunately I get this now from all my wetsuits - even the ones with no glue stitches like my Roxy 3mm one - so most probably it's this type of allergy : http://www.dermnetnz.org/dermatitis/die ... ourea.html
I'm planning to buy a Yulex suit from Patagonia. I've read only one review from a guy who has the same allergy, but I'm desperate to try it.
Any other reviews?

[ralu]

Check out page 4 of that thread especially falz, there's a stated reply from Patagonia. The whole thread is a good read. I learnt a lot!

Update,
I just received an answer from Patagonia - the Yulex wetsuit doesn't contain Thiourea - the chemical I'm allergic to. I'm waiting for a fabric swatch to test it.

Hope this helps.

[jaffa1949]

Good luck and applause to Patagonia for sending a swatch of fabric, thoughtful!

[saltydog]

Interested to hear the outcome! I have sensitive skins and cannot wear polyester clothing for an extended period of time. So far I've been ok w/ wetsuits but knock on wood. Hope this would be a breakthrough for you and many others

[ralu]

Bad news. I din't get the material swatch from Patagonia and I took the chance in ordering directly the wetsuit. After months of waiting, it became available in Europe - I bought it from here (highly recommend) : http://ecosurfshop.eu/gb/suche?orderby= ... ulex+women.
Very well made, high quality fabric, nice looking, but ... I'M STILL ALLERGIC TO IT .
This proves they replaced the neoprene, but not the old chemicals they add for more elasticity. I still don't know which one gives me the allergic reaction. Patagonia confirmed it does not contain Thiourea, the one that usually gives the most reactions.

So, the Yulex wetsuit goes back and I start my research all over again.
Does anybody have a solution?

[jaffa1949]

Wow a sad story there, an out there thought, try washing it in a light pure goats milk soap and you too immediately after surfing.

Goats milk soap has helped some skin allergies, hmmmm hope it helps

[saltydog]

That's bad news indeed. I've heard of good things about goat milk soap as well as oatmeal soap so that might help recover sooner. Meanwhile, I'm wondering if a dry suit might work for you during colder months assuming the cuffs are not neoprene? Also wash your new patagonia . I bought xcel dry lock booties last winter and they gave me mild rash on my shins and insteps for sometime. I did have to soak them in weak dish detergent water at one point due to normal used bootie smell. But after 6 months I don't get that anymore. Granted they aren't as warm anymore either so something might have washed off?

After digging around online (and discarding quite a few derailed forum threads) I've found some possible options for you to consider. In a nut shell, 1) wash your wetsuit A LOT before use to remove chemicals 2) wear base layer under the wetsuit (Fourth Element was suggested) 3) if that doesn't work contact Patagonia etc. to explain the situation and ask for a refund (those are $$$$) 4) wear base layer alone if warm (Fourth Element as previously mentioned) and dry suit if cold.

The following sites may be helpful though they are not surfing specific. I've read patagonia Yulex still has 40% neoprene but they are working on truly neoprene free wetsuits. Hope you find a solution for you.
http://forums.boards.mpora.com/showthread.php/63684-Looking-for-a-wetsuit-that-doesn-t-give-me-allergic-dermatitis
http://www.scubakim.com/?page_id=1533

[ralu]

Thank you very much for your support and potential solutions!
For the sake of others like me, I'll post here the photo with my reaction to the Yulex wetsuit:

This time it was worse. It was like a burn.
Anyway, I sent it back, I sold all my Rip Curl wetsuits (that initially started this reaction on my skin) and kept my old Roxy to experiment on. As we speak, I'm applying the solution somebody else talked about on a different forum:
http://www.scubaboard.com/community/thr ... 621/page-2

At first I laughed, but after trying everything, I'm now willing to fill my bathtub with vinegar as well .
One of the allergens (Mercaptobenzothiazole) is actually soluble in glacial acetic acid and diluted alkali:
http://cameo.mfa.org/wiki/Mercaptobenzothiazole

What I tried so far:

wearing a lycra under
wearing a compression Under Armour layer under
using creams
taping the wetsuit with kinesiological tape (yes, I tried this )
different wetsuit suppliers (including Yulex from Patagonia)
washing the wetsuit with special detergent
keeping it hang outside for 6 months (... you can laugh now )
washing it with vinegar and alkali solution (in the process now ... will get back with results).

I guess the goat milk soaps are also alkali so thank you very much for bringing this up!

Any other thoughts?

[ralu]

Forgot to mention I tried Lavacore and Oneill Thermo-X. Lavacore it's ok, but doesn't come close to a 3mm wetsuit. Oneill it's useless on its own, although better than a lycra, but works ok under a wetsuit. Doesn't help the allergy, though.

[ralu]

And one quick update: the swatch material from Patagonia arrived. Too late for me, but I have to appreciate their effort; I asked for it to be glue stitched and it is - they shape it as a pencil holder . Nice! One more thing: I'm from Romania so the postage wasn't cheap.
10 points for Patagonia.

[saltydog]

At least you could have worn it on a finger if it had come in in time

Fourth Element thermocline suits claim to be as warm as a 2mm suit and they are based in uk so you could give it a try with hopefully less postage. They also claim to be a solution to neoprene allergy.

How did the vinegar wash go?

[ralu]

Hello again,
I'm back here because I found a solution to my problem and I'm sure it could help others.
After washing my wet suit with vinegar and baking soda I also took some inexpensive homeopathic pills (Sulfur 15 ch). A doctor who had the same problem told me about them. 5 pills each morning on an empty stomach (no food or water 30 min after) for 2 weeks. Then nothing for another 2 weeks. Then again 5 pills/ day for just one week.
I don't know what worked exactly (the vinegar or the pills), but I'm allergy free and very happy about it!!!
I'll get back to you after wearing my new wet suit (not washed in vinegar ... to conclude what exactly worked.

[triathlonmiles]

Hi I suffer from an Allergy to neoprene.
I have had patch testing through a dermatologist and everything came back negative except the samples of neoprene that i supplied. I recently was supplied a sample of Yulex which doesn't contain neoprene and i have had a reaction to that!

Is there anything else to use? i have got a thermocline nuclear but its not quite the thing.

[FrenchSurfer]

Hi Ralu, hi guys,

Excuse my poor english, I'm french. I've the same allergy problem as you. I've tried several wetsuits: Billabong, Vissla, Patagonia, Hurley (which is a little better) but it's always bad...

It seems that you have experiences sulfur pills and vinegar wash, and it worked. Have you identified which one of those 2 options was succesful? Are you definitly ok now, with all your wetsuits, the allergy never came back?

Thanks a lot

[laughingman]

Hello again,
I'm back here because I found a solution to my problem and I'm sure it could help others.
After washing my wet suit with vinegar and baking soda I also took some inexpensive homeopathic pills (Sulfur 15 ch). A doctor who had the same problem told me about them. 5 pills each morning on an empty stomach (no food or water 30 min after) for 2 weeks. Then nothing for another 2 weeks. Then again 5 pills/ day for just one week.
I don't know what worked exactly (the vinegar or the pills), but I'm allergy free and very happy about it!!!
I'll get back to you after wearing my new wet suit (not washed in vinegar ... to conclude what exactly worked.

HI ralu, I have the same issue, it started with a new suit but now I react to all suits new or old, less to the old ones. After buying and selling half a dozen suits I have all but given up. Did you ever determine if it was the Sulfur pills or the vinegar and baking soda wash?
How did you wash the suit? In a tub or did you actually use a washing machine?
Did you have any side effects from the pills?
Out of curiosity I wonder if you had psoriasis before all this happened. The reaction I have is almost identical to the psoriasis and my psoriasis has gotten worse since I started reacting to my wet-suits.
Nice to have a bit of hope that there is a solution out there!

[ralu]

Hi again,
No, I did not have psoriazis. I know it's a serious condition so you should check with your doctor or with a homepathic doctor about Sulfur pills. They are a homeopathic treatment so they don't have any side effects, but you should check with them anyway. I was sceptic regarding homeopathic tteatments, but eager to try everything to be able to use a wetsuit. And I did and it worked. I still get some mild reactions from time to time but nothing compared to the old ones. With another 5 small pills, I'm ok the next day.
The washing helped also, I think. When I got a new suit, I got a stronger reaction, but the pills still worked.
I got the suit in the tub, dampened it, poured 500g of baking soda on it, left it for half a day, then poured 1l of vinegar over it and some water to fully cover everything and left it overnight . It sounds silly, but I was desperate ). And it helped me!
I will definetly stay away from brands that started my reaction in the first place (not naming them again). I only wear the brand that I wore before that - I guess I can say it's a cheap Roxy suit, right? ).
Good luck!

[klassikerst]

I found a solution which works since three years now and just realized that there are still many people out there suffering from skin reactions caused by their wetsuits.

Good to see that people are sharing their experiences although it is a quite uncomfortable topic. Therefore, I decided to share all relevant information I found out during the years.

It all started with a rash or allergy very similar to the the pictures posted by ralu.

I tried wetsuits from Oneill, Rip Curl, Xcel, NP. Also tried different base layers and creams.

I also tried different barrier layers like thermocline and lavacore which would block the softening agents from the neoprene to reach my skin. However, there was no clear solution.

Meanwhile, after experimenting a lot, I am convinced that two factors generate my problems and that the problem is not solved as long as I only eliminate one.
I found the following paramters:

Rubbing: Rubbing of the wetsuit makes it all worse.

To reduce rubbing, use a tight fitting wetsuit as it gets stretched while moving instead of rubbing or even crimpling.

Do not use any base layer as it increases the rubbing.

Try to find a wetsuit with a very smooth inner surface! Be carefool, all the smooth base layers for additional warmth are not smooth when stretched. I always stretch the material before rubbing against it, to check its smoothness. The differences between the brands are then tremendous.For me, all technobutter materials from Oneill work fine.

Do not apply cremes before. I tried different products like BodyGlide etc. to reduce the rubbing, but as they plug the pores my skin tends to react more sensitive.

Bacteria: Keep your wetsuit clean.
I realized that I get more skin reactions as soon as my wetsuit gets smelly. As soon as I finished surfing I keep it drying inside-out and use a hanger-fan as soon as I am at home. Then I use myrazime every once a while.


In addition, I apply a skin protection spray which is quite expensive but super helpful. I do not risk it, but i think that I could wear a rough and smelly wetsuit without getting any reaction when applying this spray. It is called "Cavilon No Sting Barrier Film" and is produced by 3M.
Normally it is used against "Medical Adhesive-related skin injury" and "incontinence -associated dermatitis" and protects the skin against moisture and friction. I use it as 28 mL bottle spray and only need 5-6 "pumps" to spray it on every sensitive area. In this way a bottle lasts for 6-7 times. If I surf two days in a row, I only apply it once. Although you do not see it, it protects for minimum two days.

I hope that this information helps anyone! By using the spray and taking care of my wetsuit I can focus on surfing and windsurfing again instead of searching the internet and trying different solutions.

[kookRachelle]

Actually allergies do work like that. The mainstay of allergy therapy is desensitization which is slowly increasing the amount of allergens a person is exposed to in an attempt to normalize the reaction to the allergen.

noooo I get where you are coming from, but to build tolerance against allergens, you need injections to introduce it systemically. It also takes FOREVER (like a year or more) which is why it is not commonly done unless it's an allergen not easily avoided. You cannot do that with skin allergies that cause contact dermatitis, only things like food allergies, and definitely under the supervision of a specialist requiring an insane number of visits. In this case it is better to avoid the triggering agent altogether and find an alternative. He could take an antihistamine beforehand and then topical hydrocortisone or antihistamine on the typically affected areas after. This will help in suppressing and treating the histamine response and is relatively safe.

[oldmansurfer]

Actually I think desensitization for contact allergies has been show to be somewhat effective. But perhaps it is best to consult with a dermatologist for the best method to approach this. However desensitization is not always effective. These days there are so many new allergy treatments these days certainly a dermatologist would be able to provide the latest. Avoiding allergens is always the simplest way to deal with allergies if you can. I avoid wetsuits all the time so it's possible. I do like the barrier spray idea. Seems like a way to protect yourself from contact.

[kookRachelle]

I avoid wetsuits all the time so it's possible.

well just rub it in why don't you?!