More Oogy Skin Stuff From Broomstick (TMI of course)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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I have a nice case of contact dermatitis. Granted, I’m not a doctor, but I’ve had it often enough to recognize it. No, I am not asking for medical advice, but I am planning to see the doctor tomorrow as this time around it seems to exceed my ability to self treat.

GIS on “contact dermatitis” for examples. I’ve got the little mini-blisters and swelling, although my arm is not as swollen as some of the more lurid examples on Google. Probably picked it up while trimming trees and bushes recently. The guy I’ve been working for was gibbering POISON IVY! POISON IVY! Well, it might be, except (at least up until now) poison ivy, ironically, did NOT cause me to break out in a rash (the resistance runs on my father’s side of the family). Personally, I think it’s more likely to be a locally common type of thistle-like plant, known as “pricky weed” to some of the old timers, which can also generate vivid and textured rashes. Or maybe a tomato plant, as they definitely cause such rashes on me. Or something else, as there is no shortage of things for me to be allergic to in the natural world.

The rash started a couple days ago with an itch. As noted, there has been some swelling and some mini-blisters, some of which have ruptured. Ew. I am leaking a good part of the time. I went to open a jar and had a couple pop from the flexing, which I suppose means I either have awesome forearm muscles or a really gross skin condition (or both?)

Anyhow, while the itch has diminished the swelling and blistering has not, and my energy levels are starting to drop which has, in the past, been the preclude to more visible signs of a skin infection. I wrapped my arm in gauze bandage today, then cut the toe out of an old (but clean) sock to make a tube to cover the mess while I was at work today to protect the skin, and there were fewer signs of rupture and ooze.

At least the rash isn’t spreading. It just doesn’t seem to be getting much better.

As I said, hoping to get to the doctor tomorrow.

Sorry (or maybe not) it’s not a pimple or abscess thread, but it’s the best I’ve had of late (which makes me happy, even if not you ick voyeurs).

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People who claim they are immune to poison ivy but really aren’t are a dime a dozen.

http://www.zocdoc.com/answers/6199/can-you-lose-a-natural-resistance-to-poison-ivy-as-you-get-older

According to your story, it’s a good guess that’s what you have.

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Yeah, that why I said resistance and not immunity - obviously, if you bathe in the offensive oil you’re going to have a problem. However, as a kid and teen I used to pull that crap out of people’s yards for money and never got a rash from it. So, presumably, yes, I was one of the resistant people. And still might be. Or might not.

However, there are at least a half dozen other things that give me a rash very much like poison ivy (because the rash is not unique to that plant, all contact dermatitis looks like it) that are not, in fact, related to poison ivy at all. And I watch out for the ivy because my partner is VERY allergic to it so I try to clear any out before he wades in, just as he warns me off any tomato plants in the area (which yes, really do give me a rash just like poison ivy). And thus, I am reasonably sure that there was not poison ivy in the stuff we trimmed this week, because I didn’t see any and its something I watch out for. This wasn’t some massively over grown vacant lot, it was a fairly decently manicured backyard. The trees and bushes didn’t have any vines growing on them other than Virginia creeper and that one grapevine that creeps in from the neighbor’s yard.

Identification is somewhat important to me, as currently I make part of my living off doing these things so I really would like to figure out what, exactly, set me off. Saying “oh, poison ivy, obviously!” doesn’t help, because, as I noted, the culprit could certainly be something else. Like the “pricky weed”, which was present in some abundance in one area of one of the yards. Maybe the mulberry tree, which was a bit, shall we say, sticky between sap and berry remains.

Given where and how this has manifested, it was something I carried supported by my forearm, which would most likely be tree branches. Really sort of hope I’m not allergic to the mulberries. It wasn’t the pines (which have been known to give me a rash as well) because we weren’t trimming the pine trees. They were in the front yard, we were in the back.

Normally I wear a flannel shirt when doing this sort of thing to avoid this problem, but with it being 97 degrees out the choice was between heatstroke and risking a rash. I did wear my leather gloves, which at least kept my hands unaffected.

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Well, definitely showing some signs of infection this morning, but nothing real serious, just a couple pin-point of pus. Doctor can fit me in around noon, thank goodness, this really needs to be looked at.

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Yuck - glad you got right on scheduling a visit to the doc, if it’s starting to turn infected (always a risk with something like this), what with your propensity to turn a minor infection into a cringeworthy tale. Good luck!

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Remember - if those things grow and you have to pop them, post details. With pictures. It would be in keeping with the finest traditions of the SDMB.

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I didn’t have to pop them, they got that notion on their own. I swear, a couple of spot had all the durability of soap bubbles.

Did see the doc today. He said let’s see the rash so I unwrapped the bandage, revealing ooze in various colors - mostly a sort of rusty-watery liquid with a few spots of pustulent greeny-yellow going on. Doctor looked at it and said “So, you were working in the backyard, right…?” Apparently there has been a rash (ha-ha) of this sort of thing with summer being under way.

He told me to double my usual dose of antihistamines, as they seem to be helping, just not quite enough, and gave me a Rx for antibiotics. Probably staph, but most likely garden (ha) variety staph and not MSRA.

Then I had lunch, went home, took my first dose, changed into a new bandage and work clothes (including the sock-tube cover) and went to work. After that, came home unpeeled the bandage, washed my arm down (ouchy-ouchy-ouchy), had dinner, and my second dose and some antihistamine. Bandage removal and washing resulted in more oozing, but it’s slowing down now. I’m just going to have to keep things covered for at least a couple days.

May be disappointing to some - it was caught relatively early so I’m hoping it doesn’t get too pyrotechnic.

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Fingers crossed it is just a little normal contact dermatitis with regular staph.

I’m only allergic to two things - trees and grasses. Of COURSE my favourite thing in the world is gardening! I was planting some juniper shrubs that were wet, and I got itchy, irritated red bumps all up and down my forearms from it. I guess I’ll file juniper shrubs under “trees” then. (The bumps went away in a couple of days.)

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Broomstick,
I’m sorry to hear about your oogy skin stuff, and hope it continues to be medically boring.

Cat Whisperer,
I had to laugh at your tale of woe, I’m pretty sure I would have filed juniper shrubs under “trees” to begin with. Although, I’ll admit, I’m not knowingly allergic to anything (though I’m starting to suspect I’ve got the seasonal kind), and I can see why you migh hesitate to label anything as an allergen that you don’t have to.

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Today I learned that it can be surprisingly difficult to photograph your own arm. Anyhow, I broke the link because maybe not everyone wants to be able to accidently click on it. This is after this morning’s bandage removal and clean up, complete with ooze (mostly clear stuff, no creamy eruptive puss you sicko perverts you).

http: // i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n563/BroomBroomstick/oozyrash01 . jpg

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That looks like the contact dermatitis my husband has on his leg (minus the pus) because he won’t stop scratching it!

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It’s poison ivy (or oak or sumac, whatever). It looks exactly like the rash I had a few weeks ago… which I refused to believe was poison ivy for a while. :smiley:

I honestly believed I was one of the folks who didn’t have reactions to poison ivy, but what I think has happened is that I’ve become progressively more sensitive to it with each minor exposure. I also thought that it was just some sort of generic contact dermatitis because I didn’t have the big splooshy blisters as shown in most internet photo examples of poison ivy. Apparently, it all depends on how much urishol touches each spot.

Best wishes on your appointment. I will certainly go directly to a doctor the next time I’m in that situation, especially with the amount of staph in my community. Tea tree oil and Benadryl helped me the most, but I’ll go to a doctor in future to get something stronger than Benadryl to help me sleep at night. (I was waking up having scratched myself bloody because of the intense itch.)

Edit to add - I discovered during my bout with poison whatever that it is also very difficult to photograph your own lower leg.

Edit to further add - I’m pretty sure the treatment for contact dermatitis of unknown origin is the same as for poison ivy/oak/sumac, since that’s just contact dermatitis from a known source.

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My husband’s gotten more and more sensitive to urushiol as he’s gotten older… he didn’t get rashes at all as a teenager. Now at almost-40, mango skins give him a rash and he needs steroids for poison ivy exposure.

PS: I saw this thread title and went “YES!” Sorry Broomy. We luvya 'n all.

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ALL contact dermatitis looks like that. I’ve had that from contact with chemicals, from tomato juice spilled on my arm, PineSol, Tide laundry detergent (that was a bad episode - it was my underwear than had been washed in Tide…), contact with thistles… poison ivy is probably the most common cause in normal people, but for those of us with hyper-sensitive skin there are a lot of other potential causes. I also might be developing a sensitivity to creeping charlie, which is a type of ivy, and which is extremely abundant around here. I’ve been sneezing a lot lately whenever I encounter it, if I’m getting more sensitive then juice from it when cut could set my skin off.

I realize a lot of people will not believe that I am reasonably sure there was no poison ivy involved in this case, but I am reasonably sure it was a different plant as I really did not see any poison ivy and I was actively looking for it (when I do encounter PI I take precautions because, even if I don’t have a reaction, the person I work with is so hypersensitive he could get it from a handshake, from clothing, or from the oil transferring from my jeans to the seat of his truck, or from tools used to cut it. Makes the poor man utterly miserable). As I said, thistles can do this to me, and there were certainly thistles around where I was working. I thought I avoided contact between them and bare skin but it’s entirely possible I did not.

Would you believe I don’t perceive that rash as itchy?

I do keep it bandaged, just to avoid further damage.

My doctor is reluctant to prescribe “something stronger” due to how often in the past I’ve been given “something stronger” for my allergies Too much of the “stronger stuff” can be unhealthy, and I’m already at elevated risk of things like cataracts due to how much I’ve had in the past. In fact, I do have a rather impressive array of anti-allergy medications at home simply because, if I was in the doctor’s office every time I had a reaction to something he’d have to charge me rent. My biggest concern here is the infection, not the rash, which I know will heal up on its own. The doctor’s concern, other than the infection, was whether or not I was having trouble breathing or showing other signs of much more serious and/or life-threatening reactions.

Really, it was like - look, rash. Yes, that’s contact dermatitis - nurse, how’s her blood pressure? Her pulse? Mrs. B, are you have any trouble breathing? Have you needed your asthma inhaler? Do you feel dizzy? Oh, by the way, what you’re doing for that rash is fine, but double the Benadryl - any other symptoms? Fever? Pain? No? OK, good, here’s the Rx for antibiotics and I want to see how it’s doing in one week. Breathing problems, use your inhaler, if that doesn’t help, then ER. If it gets worse over the next couple days, or spreads, call me, watch out for reaction to the anti-biotic.

I’ve actually walked into his office with much worse than this. In fact, there’s a thread around her somewhere describing the office visit (different doctor than the current one) where a medical student puked. This is pretty tame for me, although I’d prefer this sort of thing to be much less common in my life.

Yep, treatment is pretty much the same for all of it… In my case I’m interested in knowing the exact source because I’m allergic to so damn much and I need to keep track of what’s on the list so I take protect myself as much as possible. While I’m sure people are trying to be helpful in saying “poison ivy” this is a case where amateur diagnosis isn’t that helpful.

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Well, hey, I got pictures for you this time!

ETA: And my husband thinks you’re all sick puppies for looking at it.

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I remember that thread fondly.

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Did you take the picture down? I can’t see it. <pout>

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The link is deliberately broken. Copy it, and take the spaces out, and then use it. I may be erring on the side of caution, here, but I don’t want the mods getting put out because there’s a direct link to something some folks would find icky.

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Ah, yes, the puking med student. Good times.

My mom’s story is that she went on a walk when she was 8.5 months pregnant with my older brother. She paused at a field to watch some cows, leaned on the fence, and played with, then started picking apart some dead vines on the fence.

When she woke up the next day, she was covered from head to fingertips to toenails with contact dermatitis. Her eyes were almost swollen shut. About the only place she didn’t get it was where she sat down. Her mom made an appointment with the doctor and drove her in, and despite warning the office staff that it looked really bad but wasn’t infectious, they didn’t take her too seriously.

After all the pregnant ladies in the waiting room fled in terror, the nurse put her in her own room. The doctor sighed and asked her why she couldn’t have pulled that in her first trimester. He didn’t want to risk steroids on her, so she spent most of the next week in tepid oatmeal baths, wearing gloves.

20

Not much to report today. The oozy areas are less oozing (which isn’t to say they’ve stopped, just slowed down), the swelling is down, there is less generalized redness, and the raw areas are starting to scab over.

I’ve been taking my medicine like a good girl. As much as I wanted to work in the garden today I decided the weeding could wait a bit. Leftovers for dinner, so I don’t have to go out back and pick anything, either.