I have been swimming for 24 years and suddenly I have become allergic to most goggles that I try!
For many years I used the hind compy-style goggles with the foam eye protection. Then suddently I started getting red rings around my eyes that would itch and turn flaky. Very embarrassing! A friend told me to try these speedo hypoallergenic goggles. So I did and my red ring problem went away! For a while, anyway. Now it's about 2 years later and I suddenly started getting the allergy to these, "hypoallergenic" goggles. Does anyone have any ideas? Apparently I must have developed a sudden sensitivity to whatever is in that foam and now to rubber.
Thanks for any help!
Kevin
Parents
Former Member
I swim with a woman who had a similar problem last year. She had been swimming for 20 years with no problems. All of a sudden last spring, at the end of our workouts she would take off her goggles and her eyelids and the surrounding skin would be red and puffy. It was weird. She tried brand-new goggles as well as a different style of goggle but it didn't help. She went to several doctors and finally to a dermatologist.
The dermatologist did a bunch of allergy tests (the ones where they inject a small amount of an allergen under the skin, then wait a few days to see whether there's a reaction). The dermatologist actually took a pair of her swimming goggles, ground them up, and used that for one of the skin tests.
The tests showed that she was sensitive to a few various things (parabens is one that sticks in my mind). But you know what finally solved her problem? A new POOL MANAGER. The new manager fixed some broken pool equipment and got the pool water cleaned up. Her problems magically went away.
You might ask your pool staff whether they've changed chemicals or systems recently. If they say no, try swimming in a different pool for a while to see whether the problem goes away. If it does, you'll know it's something in your pool.
I swim with a woman who had a similar problem last year. She had been swimming for 20 years with no problems. All of a sudden last spring, at the end of our workouts she would take off her goggles and her eyelids and the surrounding skin would be red and puffy. It was weird. She tried brand-new goggles as well as a different style of goggle but it didn't help. She went to several doctors and finally to a dermatologist.
The dermatologist did a bunch of allergy tests (the ones where they inject a small amount of an allergen under the skin, then wait a few days to see whether there's a reaction). The dermatologist actually took a pair of her swimming goggles, ground them up, and used that for one of the skin tests.
The tests showed that she was sensitive to a few various things (parabens is one that sticks in my mind). But you know what finally solved her problem? A new POOL MANAGER. The new manager fixed some broken pool equipment and got the pool water cleaned up. Her problems magically went away.
You might ask your pool staff whether they've changed chemicals or systems recently. If they say no, try swimming in a different pool for a while to see whether the problem goes away. If it does, you'll know it's something in your pool.
