Itchy disaster girl goes swimming.

August 10, 2007 12:49 PM

I currently have a nasty bunch of poison ivy rashes, and expect I'll be rid of that within the next week. The worst of the ivy welts is on my ankles and calves. Yesterday I got a whole new batch of red itchy hives, as clearly my body was not happy about the new detergent I got. They are especially bad thanks to the heat, and especially bad on my hands, elbows, and knees. I know generally what to do to care for them and keep the itching to a minimum. What I don't know is if it is ok to go swimming in a pool. I don't want to screw up the pool OR my already decimated skin. In general, I do not have a chlorine sensitivity.
posted by modernpoverty to Health & Fitness (12 answers total)

Most gyms, swim clubs, and community pools I have been to prohibit entering a pool while you have open sores. Thus, if your hives are open and/or weeping, I wouldn't go in, it's kind of gross and it's really rude to other people using the pool.

That said, chlorine is still pretty irritating, and not all pools are kept totally clean. When your skin is already sensitive and irritated due to both your reaction to the detergent & your poison ivy rash, I think it's generally a bad idea to expose yourself to the risk of chemicals and/or bacteria that a pool would contain.

In your shoes, I would just fill up a tub with cool water, some colloidal oatmeal bath soak, and pretend I'm at the beach. It's cleaner and might actually help your rash rather than prolong it.
posted by tastybrains at 12:52 PM on August 10, 2007

I found pools were delightfully drying for my poison ivy rashes. But like tastybrains said, it's not really fair to other poolgoers if you're weeping all over the place.
posted by Anonymous at 1:07 PM on August 10, 2007

I am NOT a doctor and so this is just informal advice based on my experiences.

I was medical supervisor at a summer camp where lots of kids got poison ivy and everyone went swimming - I never saw it make anything any worse and the chlorine can help prevent infections from any over-vigorous scratching. Chlorine can also be a little drying, which might reduce itching depending on your skin. Bring some rhuli gel (if it's still itchy) or bactine (if it's not) and clean bandages to apply afterwards while it's still nice and clean. As long as the oily urushiol is gone, you're not "contagious".

On preview - Hmmm, yes, mine was an informal situation with lots of kids who were already dirty and scratched up from being in the woods. I was picturing this as your pool or a friend's. If it's a hotel, spa or formal pool I would absolutely err towards consideration of the other guests.
posted by milovoo at 1:07 PM on August 10, 2007

Poison Ivy is not spreadable within a few hours after contact. It's an oil that causes the rash, so after washing your clothes and rinsing your skin, you're fine to enter the pool. I don't have experience with going into a pool with the rash, but I've always felt the most comfortable when my skin's wrinkly after a shower, so I'd personally chance the pool.

My last case of poison ivy was really uncomfortable and eventually I went to a dermatologist. They see this thing all the time and can prescribe behind-the-counter stuff that will prevent all that discomfort. I know it's a drag to see the doctor, but I'd take that irritation any day over the ivy rash.
posted by cowbellemoo at 1:09 PM on August 10, 2007

I've had good luck using extremely* hot water on poison ivy rashes. Yes, it's completely insane to think about, but apparently the hot water exhausts your cell's ability to produce histamine. I've gotten several hours of drug/cream-free relief this way, and it's a method I've read about for young children who get the rashes. Downside: you get several hours worth of itchiness in a few seconds.

* - extremely = as hot as you can stand without burning
posted by jquinby at 1:32 PM on August 10, 2007

Or I could have read your original question and learned that you were really just asking about pools and such.

Er, what everyone else has already said.
posted by jquinby at 1:34 PM on August 10, 2007

That weeping fluid coming out of you sores is actually blood plasma or interstitial fluid, depending on how you look at it. So in a fairly literal way, you circulatory system has been opened to the environment and no longer has the protection that the skin normally affords it.

This would allow whatever is in that pool water will be absorbed into your circulatory system at a much faster rate than it would be if your skin was intact.

Chances are, you will be fine, but it is something that I would personally avoid.
posted by 517 at 2:24 PM on August 10, 2007

Even if there is minimal risk to the other pool goers, they may not know that there is minimal risk, so it would likely make them uncomfortable. This all depends on how obvious your rash is, though, I'd think.
posted by amtho at 2:27 PM on August 10, 2007

I know you're asking more about whether or not you should swim. But if I may add this slight derail to the advice already given, you might see your doctor about a short course of prednisone for your dermatological debacle.

Oh, and no, I would not go in a chlorinated pool with sores all over my body.
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 2:38 PM on August 10, 2007

Response by poster: it's a friend's pool, and it's just been cleaned and refreshed, so it's not a lake/gross pool or anything like that. and the only other person there has seen it at its worst.

my poison ivy was all seeping mcnasty, but now it's in the final healing stages. no active grossness, just some redness and such.

thanks so much!!
posted by modernpoverty at 4:08 PM on August 10, 2007

Since is a friend's pool and the sores pretty close to healed, go for it. I wouldn't worry about it at all.

I have been swimming in (friends') pools while I had (weeping) poison ivy sores many times, and it always made the sores feel much better, at least for a little while.
posted by Silly Ashles at 4:28 PM on August 10, 2007

Awesomest backwoods ghetto poison ivy cure EVER:

scratch it raw w/ some 3M pads---you know, those green ones? Dump bleach water on it. No more poison ivy in ~12 hours max.

Pools don't use chlorine gas anymore, they use hydrochloric acid which is....BLEACH. However, pool HCl about 12% versus 2-3% household, of course it's being diluted in a couple hundred thousand gallons of water.

But ya, you should be fine, and you'll FEEL GREAT.
posted by TomMelee at 5:42 PM on August 10, 2007