Anyone ever suffered from swimmer's itch?
www.cdc.gov/.../factsht_cercarialdermatitis.htm
I went for a nice two+ mile lake swim on Saturday and am now covered. :bitching: The other people I was with did not get it (although several of them were wearing wetsuits). I was really itchy on the drive home and then the red bumps appeared. I tend to have pretty sensitive skin and bad allergies to many things.
I'm especially concerned about this part: "Because swimmer's itch is caused by an allergic reaction to infection, the more often you swim or wade in contaminated water, the more likely you are to develop more serious symptoms. The greater the number of exposures to contaminated water, the more intense and immediate symptoms of swimmer's itch will be."
I wonder if this will be the end of my open-water lake swimming days. Anyone BTDT?
Parents
Former Member
We're definitely getting to the time of year when Swimmer's Itch appears again (at least here in CT) - in fact, I noticed a bite on my butt yesterday.
My experience is that if you can shower off immediately after swimming, your chances of developing the itchy pimples goes down. Just toweling off doesn't seem to have the same preventative effect. If showers don't exist where you swim, consider bringing jugs of water to pour on your face/head/torso when you come out.
I have not had any worsening of symptoms due to constant exposure. I would urge you to try swimming again, rinsing off thoroughly upon emergence and see if that makes a difference.
We're definitely getting to the time of year when Swimmer's Itch appears again (at least here in CT) - in fact, I noticed a bite on my butt yesterday.
My experience is that if you can shower off immediately after swimming, your chances of developing the itchy pimples goes down. Just toweling off doesn't seem to have the same preventative effect. If showers don't exist where you swim, consider bringing jugs of water to pour on your face/head/torso when you come out.
I have not had any worsening of symptoms due to constant exposure. I would urge you to try swimming again, rinsing off thoroughly upon emergence and see if that makes a difference.
