Nickel allergy

Earlier you mentioned that you use latex gloves. Have you used latex gloves every time you have experienced the hives?

My mother developed a latex allergy over time back when it was not a well known problem. She would break out in hives and puffy eyes every time she cleaned house. The allergy doctors kept testing her for dust, cleaning products, etc. Couldn't figure out what was causing it.

One day, after cleaning, she broke out with hives and puffy eyes AND this time, her hands and forearms developed solid red swelling that stopped at the proximal edge of her gloves. I happened to come home right then and told her that to me it looked like she was allergic to the gloves.

She went to the doctor and told him that she was allergic to latex gloves... he was amazed, started researching and found that it was really a "thing" but that it was rare. (this is nearly 20 years ago). As she was an active EMT at the time and gloving up was mandatory on calls, our department had to order nitrile gloves because the county would only provide standard latex gloves.

Fast forward a few years. We were on a call, the patient was a DOS. While standing around waiting for the ME to show up, one of the Austin/Travis County EMS paramedics suddenly dropped like a rock and developed difficulty breathing and nearly died. Had to STARFLIGHT her out. To that point, she had never experienced ANY symptoms of any sort. Within 48 hours, the A/TC system had shifted to all nitrile gloves.

Latex allergies can develop over time with gradually increasing symptoms, both in severity and type, or can suddenly manifest as a life threatening event.
 
I am sorry that happened to you, That would be extremely frustrating to go through! I have heard of quite a few examples of people being/becoming allergic to the epoxy/resin in micarta. I have heard of some people allergic to the dust, but most are allergic to wet epoxy/resin. Might be worth doing some more looking into. Out of what you listed, that seems the most likely cause of a reaction to my very limited knowledge. Good luck I hope you figure it out soon!
 
zzyzzogeton said:
Earlier you mentioned that you use latex gloves. Have you used latex gloves every time you have experienced the hives?

My mother developed a latex allergy over time back when it was not a well known problem. She would break out in hives and puffy eyes every time she cleaned house. The allergy doctors kept testing her for dust, cleaning products, etc. Couldn't figure out what was causing it.

One day, after cleaning, she broke out with hives and puffy eyes AND this time, her hands and forearms developed solid red swelling that stopped at the proximal edge of her gloves. I happened to come home right then and told her that to me it looked like she was allergic to the gloves.

She went to the doctor and told him that she was allergic to latex gloves... he was amazed, started researching and found that it was really a "thing" but that it was rare. (this is nearly 20 years ago). As she was an active EMT at the time and gloving up was mandatory on calls, our department had to order nitrile gloves because the county would only provide standard latex gloves.

Fast forward a few years. We were on a call, the patient was a DOS. While standing around waiting for the ME to show up, one of the Austin/Travis County EMS paramedics suddenly dropped like a rock and developed difficulty breathing and nearly died. Had to STARFLIGHT her out. To that point, she had never experienced ANY symptoms of any sort. Within 48 hours, the A/TC system had shifted to all nitrile gloves.

Latex allergies can develop over time with gradually increasing symptoms, both in severity and type, or can suddenly manifest as a life threatening event.
Click to expand...
Woh that’s super interesting. I wore latex gloves on the second day out of the three days this happened. I’ve also wore latex gloves a lot in the past but I guess that wouldn’t make a difference. Either way I threw them in the trash.
 
Black Oak Bladeworks said:
I am sorry that happened to you, That would be extremely frustrating to go through! I have heard of quite a few examples of people being/becoming allergic to the epoxy/resin in micarta. I have heard of some people allergic to the dust, but most are allergic to wet epoxy/resin. Might be worth doing some more looking into. Out of what you listed, that seems the most likely cause of a reaction to my very limited knowledge. Good luck I hope you figure it out soon!
Click to expand...
I agree I think it was the micarta dust that was irritating me. I worked with it a lot then went and worked out without taking a shower and I’m convinced it got into my pours and when I took a hot shower my skin lit up. I did clean the whole shop today (With hazmat suit on lol) and worked in there without one on and so far so good! I’m also on a massive amount of steroids too so that helps.
 
I'm glad I reread this thread with the later additions. I'm allergic to latex but I sure didn't know it could get that bad that fast. It just starts feeling like I have bugs crawling on my skin. I didn't know people could go anaphylactic from wearing latex gloves. I wore them for years before I even noticed the itching. I guess I'm just lucky. Live and learn.

Anybody power grinding needs to take care. I read about a guy getting metal poisoning from grinding.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top