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Seriously, wash your hands after playing in the tank!!

Every morning when I wake up I check to see what corals have fallen or moved overnight. I picked up a plug with some Emerald sunrise palys on it, and put it back in the rock, my hand very slightly brushing against it, which I didnt feel. I just rinsed my hands under tap quick before leaving. On the way to work I rubbed my eye, with that hand of course, and it was almost instantly dry. Felt like both my eye and lid we dry, and constant friction between them both. I had some drops in the car, helped the dryness, but not the redness. All day it felt terrible, and I tried not to touch it(I really shouldnt anyway during work, Im a mechanic) I took it out at lunch, soaked the contact, but noticed with it out it felt worse. By the end of the day my vision was starting to get a little cloudy, but I attributed that to the contact being on my irritated eye. When I got home I took it out again, and it wasnt the contact, my vision was cloudy. I had to use a steroid to clear it up, but the first night sucked. My eye was totally swollen from rubbing. The drops ended up clearing my vision slowly, when I woke up again it was very slight, but only looking at direct light sources, headlights etc. I was very surprised this happened, it was the only thing I could think of that would do that. I put my contacts in a half hour earlier with no problems the whole time. Scary, I wonder how bad it couldve been. :-\
 
A "Short" read on a article I was preparing that may applies

We frequently receive calls from individuals who experienced itching, burning and redness of the skin after a marine encounter of unknown origin. Usually the symptoms disappear after one to two days, but sometimes they abruptly return. This can occur anytime from two to five days after the initial encounter, and the recurring symptoms may be worse than they were initially.
According to DAN consultant Dr. Bruce Miller, a board-certified dermatologist, dive medicine physician and diver, this is a “delayed hypersensitivity reaction,” or reaction to a toxin. Unlike a systemic (whole body) allergic reaction, which may affect larger skin areas or other organs, the delayed reaction tends to remain confined to the injury site.
“Once this delayed reaction occurs,” Miller said, “topical hydrocortisone cream (which is often part of the usual initial treatment) may have little or no benefit. The recommendation is to be evaluated by a physician, because oral steroids may be required to treat the reaction.”
Think of this delayed reaction as being similar to a very bad case of poison oak, Miller said:“Without proper treatment, the symptoms can persist for weeks or longer. It’s important to seek evaluation by a physician to ensure no secondary infection exists from the skin breaks that can occur when the skin is scratched too vigorously.”
https://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medical/faq/faq.aspx?faqid=191
CONTACT DERMATITIS
The Weiss Skin Institute established a Contact Dermatitis Clinic to help patients who suffer from skin allergies. You can develop skin allergies to almost anything including metals, rubbers, nail polish, plants, and even the ingredients in skin care products and topical medications. Many persistent rashes like hand eczema, eyelid dermatitis, and facial rashes are due to repetitive contact with a particular substance that you may not even realize. If the source of the allergy is not isolated with the TrueTest, Dr. Weiss will use Finn chambers, to attempt to isolate the allergenic source. Because of this advanced methodology, the Weiss Skin Institute is frequently used as a regional referral source for patients with contact dermatitis.
What is contact dermatitis?
Contact dermatitis is an inflammatory response of the skin to an antigen or irritant. There are two types of contact dermatitis, allergic contact dermatitis and primary irritant dermatitis. Allergic contact dermatitis affects only individuals previously sensitized to the contactant. An allergic reaction is specific to the individual and to a substance (or a group of related substances) called an allergen. Allergy is a hypersensitivity (oversensitivity) to a particular substance, and always involves the immune system. All areas of skin that are in contact with the allergen develop the rash. Primary irritant dermatitis results from direct injury to the skin. It affects individuals exposed to specific irritants and generally produces discomfort immediately following exposure.
How does allergic contact dermatitis occur?
Allergic contact dermatitis is a cell-mediated, type IV, delayed hypersensitivity reaction that results when specific antigens enter under the skin. This means that the offending substance to which you are allergic combines with a special receptor and travels to the second layer of skin, the dermis, where the immune cells (T cells) become sensitized. The next time that you are exposed to the antigen, the allergic reaction takes place.
What are the common causes of allergic contact dermatitis?
The most common offenders in allergic contact dermatitis are plants of the Toxicodendron genus (e.g., poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac). Other substances include nickel sulfate (various metal alloys), potassium dichromate (cements, household cleaners), formaldehyde, ethylenediamine (dyes, medications), mercaptobenzothiazole (rubbers), thiuram (fungicides), and paraphenylenediamine (dyes, photographic chemicals). Irritant contact dermatitis occurs when an irritant produces direct local toxic effect on the cells of the top layer of skin, with a subsequent inflammatory response in the second layer of skin (dermis).
Where is irritant contact dermatitis most likely to present?
The most common site for irritant contact dermatitis is the hand. Individuals with atopic dermatitis are genetically predisposed to develop irritant contact dermatitis especially of the hands. Although irritant contact dermatitis is caused mostly by chemicals (e.g., acids, alkalis, solvents, oxidants), plants (e.g., hot peppers, garlic, tobacco) also have been implicated. Severity of the reaction is related to the amount and duration of exposure to the irritant.
How does allergic contact dermatitis present?
In acute allergic contact dermatitis, lesions appear within 24-96 hours of exposure to the allergen. The main symptom, in addition to the rash, is itching.
http://weissskininstitute.com/medicaland_medicaldermatology_contactdermatitis.php
 
Thanks for the info whitebird, lots of stuff to look through there. I probably should just take a few pairs of gloves from work. I think they have the dust inside, which freaks me out. And I dont want the dust in my tank!
 

JohnS_323

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
I feel your pain. I had the same thing happen to me twice. The second time was the day of our first Frag Swap. I worked the whole day almost blind! I know how scary it is. After that I decided to get Lasik surgery so that I wouldn't have to risk taking out my lenses with contaminated fingers.

Audi0s said:
Every morning when I wake up I check to see what corals have fallen or moved overnight. I picked up a plug with some Emerald sunrise palys on it, and put it back in the rock, my hand very slightly brushing against it, which I didnt feel. I just rinsed my hands under tap quick before leaving. On the way to work I rubbed my eye, with that hand of course, and it was almost instantly dry. Felt like both my eye and lid we dry, and constant friction between them both. I had some drops in the car, helped the dryness, but not the redness. All day it felt terrible, and I tried not to touch it(I really shouldnt anyway during work, Im a mechanic) I took it out at lunch, soaked the contact, but noticed with it out it felt worse. By the end of the day my vision was starting to get a little cloudy, but I attributed that to the contact being on my irritated eye. When I got home I took it out again, and it wasnt the contact, my vision was cloudy. I had to use a steroid to clear it up, but the first night sucked. My eye was totally swollen from rubbing. The drops ended up clearing my vision slowly, when I woke up again it was very slight, but only looking at direct light sources, headlights etc. I was very surprised this happened, it was the only thing I could think of that would do that. I put my contacts in a half hour earlier with no problems the whole time. Scary, I wonder how bad it couldve been. :-\
 

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
PA (and I'm sure lots of other vendors) sells armlength long gloves. They are the best for use in ur tanks.
 

Tazmaniancowboy

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
I have the arm length rubber gloves for the tank and never use them. I can't feel a thing with them on and get very clumsy. I have seen the full arm disposable ones and am going to look into getting a box or 2. With all of the horses around me I'm sure somebody has them.
 
I think they have the dust inside, which freaks me out. And I dont want the dust in my tank!
Harmless!
Did not mean to make a big deal about what happened to you but it could have been alot worse. I screwed up 7 months ago and got stung bad, still dealing with it. Now that I did my research, I know what happened and I see posts like yours on many forums. Hopefully some of the info will help avoid that from happening.
GregH
 
Most of farm sites sell the full length disposable gloves (meant for cows). Do not use gloves with powder! At the least buy a box uf unpowdered latex or vinyl gloves. They're about $7 - $8 at the local pharmacy (WalMart, Walgreens, CVS, etc.).
I don't use the full arm ones sold for tanks either. Too thick and clumsy and actually got a small tear on one hand from a rock. The animal ones are thinner but probably need a rubberband or something wrapped around the upper arm to keep them from fallling down as they dont have an eleastice band. But they are about a $1.00 per pair.

Wow, just did a google search and found they are all made in China http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/disposable_arm_length_gloves_Manufacturers.html


or check out these http://www.jefferslivestock.com/ssc/product.asp?CID=2&pf_id=11565
 
Ill grab some non latex non dusty ones from work, Ill try to get them to order a different type. Whats not made in China anymore? The more I hear about their quality of products the less I buy from them. No regulations whatsoever...on anything!
 
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