Surfers foot

[esonscar]

Sux - good luck with it all dude.

[Johno]

ut o winter is coming, av surfed all summer no booties no gloves and my feet and hands have been the best they have been for the last few years, also stayed away (which i always wore coz i love em) rubber flip flops as I was getting a reaction off them,

going to buy some fourth element gloves soon and try them, was also looking at the Excel bambo booties, but b4 i fork out £45 for them am going to ask the surf shop for a small sample to stick to my foot to see if i get a reaction.

Regarding the patch testing, I went for this and it was a wast of time. they stuck all sorts of chemicalls on me back, had no reaction what so ever coz its only my hands and feet what react to the chemicall.

Any more findings any one please post,

[Sar]

Regarding the patch testing, I went for this and it was a wast of time. they stuck all sorts of chemicalls on me back, had no reaction what so ever coz its only my hands and feet what react to the chemicall.

Just a quick thought, where did you go for the test? I have heard stories about commercial allergy testing places being a stitch up - but usually in the vain that the recommend something that people dont need - which obviously wasnt your case but not so professional. If you go through the docs can you get them to test it on your hands and feet.

I havent checked the previous posts but have you tried a barrier cream? Savlon make one which I bought when I got a rash on my hips and back after surfing a couple of times - figure the hips thing was from the board pushing the wetsuit onto my skin. But I havent had that reaction since.

Have you got a gran or anyone who could knit you some wool lining booties?

[Johno]

Sar cheers for the reply, am with Bupa through work so got refered to the skin specialist, thats who told me it was a contact elegic reaction! I thought I had some manky foot desise b4 and trew away all me shoes. Av not tryed barrier cream as such but have used vasseline / sudacream and they help to mosten the area but dont stop the itching / burning redness sores. I think its some chemical they use in this new supper strety neopren so av been looking at booties and gloves made from recycled / nature fibers if i dont find any fin what works am going to av badly cold feet all winter but its worth it

[kekerengu71]

That's the key to the whole thing - no neoprene - but even having it near ur foot would leach and then set off the whole reaction again... I am having no problems with Viper Fins btw - they say they are 100% natural rubber, so it must be the petrochemicals in neoprene - I am getting mild flare ups off engine oil or terpentine btw - so that's pointing to an issue there...

[Johno]

Got the below information from Fourth Element

I don't know of any gloves which will help you I am afriad.

Most neoprene allergies are due to the presence of Thiuram compounds below which ARE used in neoprene but are NOT used in Thermocline or finsocks from fourth element.

Chemical Name Formula CAS No.
tetramethylthiuram monosulfide C6H12N2S3 97.74.5

tetramethylthiuram disulfide C16H12N2S4 137-26-8

tetraethylthiuram disulfide C10H20N2S4 97-77-8

dipentamethylenethiuram disulfide (C5H10NCS3)2 120-54-7

I hope that this helps

have we got any scentist in the hose to abreaveate the above? any know of any neopren what does contain the above?

Am going to get some fin socks and try them there only £15

[kekerengu71]

Found a product that will settled my feet and hands Pinotarsol or Pine Tar Soap http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_tar There will be an equivalent in the Northern Hemisphere. I surfed 2 days ago, and skin reacted to something, so I had a bath in this stuff and although my hands and feet had reacted from the surfing, after a good soak skin is on the mend, Will keep you posetd if a get a peel in the next few days, but I don't think I will cos this stuff has cleaned up a number of reactions in the last few months. Also... I'm not 100% sure if its the westuit causing the problem, as I havn't worn it for 2 months, but even without it now in the warmer water am still getting the reaction?? water quality? salt water? who knows..

[Johno]

I'll av a look at that link,

I have not worn boots or gloves for about 6 months and my feet look normal and all cracks have gone. Also didnt wear any think were my skin came into contact with rubber (flip flops)

My feet are now xxxx frezzing! I have got a pair of them Fourth element socks so need to get some round toe booties to try them. am a bit reluctant to buy some more boots if they react.

Was talking to another surfer at the weekend and his mate had the same problem but on his hands only!

I think its some doggy chemical in the neoren or my hands and feet are elergic to PEE!

I'll keep ya posted

[jd_surf]

Hi,

I've been reading this thread with great interest.

Johno, the symptoms you described are identical to what I have been experiencing for many months.

I too use xcel boots and gloves and have so far been putting up with the pain and discomfort.

Did you manage to find a solution? I used verrucae socks which worked until they ripped and also nitrile gloves under my wetsuit gloves.

Cheers Jules.

[Johno]

Hi JD

I know the pain ya going threw, at times I could hardly walk coz my feet were so bad.

I have used the following gloves since November and havent had any reaction http://www.fourthelement.com/wet_gloves.php

For my feet I purchased a paire of Xcel first withch caused bad reaction then a paire of Cskins wired with that fleece lining, they were great at first but then started to make my feet go bad.

I bought these

http://www.fourthelement.com/wet_finsock.php

But because my boots are split toe they were fare to uncumfertable, so I put plastic bags on my feet tape round my big toe and foot then slip the boot on. this seams to have worked but make sure you dont use bags with holes coz I think this caused a small reaction.

How was it wearing varoka socks? and were did you get notrile gloves?

[jd_surf]

Thanks for your reply.

Yeah it's a real pain. Took me a while to work out that it was the gloves and boots.

I think I will get myself some of those gloves and fin socks, thanks for the link. There are a few stockists near me who sell them.

I surfed yesterday with the nitrile gloves and plastic bags on my feet with no reaction. The nitrile gloves I have been using are one I got from work, basically they look like heavy duty marigold gloves that contain no latex.

http://www.marigoldindustrial.com/en/in ... 00016.aspx

I used them yesterday and had no reaction.

Verrucae socks worked very well but it made it difficult to pull the boots on because where quite sticky. Eventually they ended up ripping.

[Johno]

See below link

http://dermnetnz.org/dermatitis/rubber- ... lergy.html

Rubber Alergt! and by the way the gloves from Fourth element caused a reaction after 2 wears

but I have cracked the feet.

I wear Fourth Element fin socks and Xcel 5 mm Bambo lined round toe boot with no reaction at all and quite comfy. my feet have not been this good for years.

As for the hands tryed Vinly gloves under me wetty gloves - caused a reaction

Used tghin white cotton gloves under me wetty gloves - caused a reaction

I have now purchased some silk gloves to try and will post my results

[Beachbum]

What about wearing a plastic bag on each foot, a sock, and then the booties. Maybe a rubber band or tape to keep them all in order. I haven't surfed in cold water yet, so hopefully I don't have this reaction as well. Good luck though.

[Johno]

Did the sock and plastic bag thing it worked but was uncomy coz my foot was sliding every were in the boot

[esonscar]

Did the sock and plastic bag thing it worked but was uncomy coz my foot was sliding every were in the boot

Lol - sorry that is funny! - try gluing your foot in to the bag and - oh never mind - glad to see you had a reaction free session at least!

Keep searching for the solution - then sell it to the world!

[kekerengu71]

Havn't worn O'Neil wetsuit all Southern Hemisphere summer - hands healed up, apart if we got a dirty water day, which would annoy them but only slightly. Went out with wetsuit a couple of times and after 2hr surf skin came off my fingers.... It's got to be toxins in the suit or gloves. No more wetsuit surfing for me. Pintarsol is the bomb BTW, and I have done some more research - Excema is related to toxins in the blood > drink lots of water apparently am trying that. Treating the skin is only half the story it's basically poisoning, so clean that system out!!

"Water is not the life source without good reason.
Without it our body's fine tuned engine runs less efficiently, & parts of it may even pack up working properly.

• Drink about 3-5 pints (about 2 litres) a day

• If you have 4-5% less than the recommended daily amount of water, it can affect your mental & physical performance by up to 20-30%

• Water flushes out the toxins in our bodies, which if they accumulate can cause dehydration which in turn causes tension, aches, pains, & headaches.

• water helps keep our joints well oiled, helping prevent joint disease such as arthritis in later life.

• water helps our gut work more efficiently, helping prevent constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, & many other related diseases.

• water hydrates your skin. Drinking enough water can combat skin disorders such as eczema, psoriasis, dry skin, wrinkles & spots.


Add a squeeze or slice of the following to make your water more tasty:-


• lemon; to tone your kidneys }
• lime to tone your liver }combine these 3 for a hangover cure
• orange for vitamin C }
• kiwi fruit for vitamin C"

[kekerengu71]

Just to ad a note -I recently came across Janola or Bleach as an excellent remedy - is really working for me - just a cap or so full in 4-5 litres of water -really sorts my hands out for 3-4 days, and they are getting better!! I think apparently Pinetarsol is good for the Ezcema, and Bleach gets rid of any microbes that have got into the infected skin.Give it a try!

[hailley]

Johno, you might want to try go see another doctor who specializes in skin and foot problem, a chiropodist perhaps might help you. If you don't have any idea here,[removed link] i hope this helps. If that's a foot allergy, they can give you advice on what to do to avoid that skin irritation that you're having.

PW edit - removed advertising

[tony g]

Hello,
O'Neill makes good 5mm booties with a red fleece linning on the inside that would protect your foot from being in direct contact with the neoprene. The linning is laminated on the neoprene on the inside of the booties. They are the O'Neill 5mm Round Toe Booties. Great booties and worth a try.

Good Luck!

Tony

[zandvoortsurfertje]

What you also can try is buy other booties or make so much money that you can go surf the whole winter in a warm place so that you don't have to go out in this freaking cold sea??