bacteia in wetsuit

[adamb]

hi folks!

I've been getting this reaction of spots everytime I dive, i've been to the doctor and it's: [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudomonas_aeruginosa"]Pseudomonas aeruginosa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

got antibiotics, it cleared up and i washed the suit with some dettol and more recently tried listerine. but it's come back!

It could well be something dodgy in the water, have you guys heard of this before? itchy red spots that take 3-4 days to clear up?

and do you know the best way to wash bacteria from the suit without ruining it?

I'm wondering if I have a reaction to the material?

any help appreciated.

thanks
itchy

 

[DivingDane]

Hey Buddy

Mate has had the same problem recently here in Oz. little red spots that haand around for a couple of days.

Have used Antibacterial Wetsuit wash and it seems to have worked just wash the suit after every dive or 2, shouldnt damage the suit (as per manufacturers instructions.

we are using the McNett product they make a heap of other solutions and products for keeping wetsuits etc in good condition, should be able to get it or something similar at most dive shops.

Hope this helps

DD

 

[adamb]

Re: bacteria in wetsuit

cheers for that DD i'll be looking for some of that at the dive shop tomorrow.
Hope that clears it up, these spots are a right fun assassin.

 

[billieball]

My husband had a million little red bumps on his torso shortly after we started freediving. We tried switching lubes, and the spots cleared up right away. Have you thought about changing the brand conditioner you are using for lube?
--Billie

 

[Todt]

For what its worth I had similar issues with certain conditioners .

 

[adamb]

yep, i've used a different lube each time i use the suit. i'm pretty sure theres something in in the suit. I've looked for the shampoo above, but ended up going with napisan and a hang in the sun. I've repeated this twice, now my spots have cleared up i'm waiting for some fine weather to try again.

what lubes do you recommend?

thanks for the replies.

 

[deep thinker]

Theres quite a few things people use as lube, I use the cheapest conditioner I can find and mix a squirt or two with 2L of water. Theres also some hypo allergenic soaps that contain no colourants and perfumes that you could try, just mix up the same way. Its hit and miss really.
Regarding equipment cleaning after every dive I soak my suit and other body gear in the tub with some savlon (dettol) in the water and then just rinse with the rest of the gear under the hose. This gets rid of all the nasties and the smell too. Hope this helps.

If all else fails try not to piss in you suit rofl

 

[m2b]

Spring is back and I have been getting in the water once again. Yes, in the past I've had this same problem, even when I wasn't wearing a wetsuit. The problem may actually be the water your in. It may be causing the problem and the not wetsuit itself.

I started paddling whitewater in 1999. I bought an NRS farmer john wetsuit. I used it for several years for paddling. Never had a problem with it. I have used the wetsuit all but once, today, while diving and I have always noticed the problem. The difference...the water I'm in, not fresh moving water but stagnate water.

When I first got into open water, swimming, a few years back I had the problem. I was wearing nothing more than a regular pair of shorts to go swimming in. They never caused me any problem prior or since, out of the water. The only time the problem ever came up was when I got in open water, non-chlorinated.

I started diving and the problem was still there. Last year when I started diving the problem came back. This year I've now five days in the water in the past two weeks or so and the problem has been back for several days now.

Anymore I don't blame the wetsuit, I'm using a new wetsuit. It's still a 'junkie' wetsuit. I bought it at a discount retailer. I figured I could use it for many things water related and not just freediving only and since it was under $50 I went ahead and made the purchase. I dont' have to lube up to put it on or anything like that. So the lube isn't the problem, at least not for me it isn't. The only thing I can figure it is the stagnant open water that is causing me the problem.

I have an idea of how to take care of the problem, permanently. I'll have to give it a try and see what happens. It's very unconventional. Don't treat the body...until you have treated the mind first. Yes...very unconventional.

Ryan

 

[adamb]

i'd be keen to hear how you get on. i'd of thought if it were in the water then other divers in the area would have the same problem. i've been to the local dive shops and it's all new to them. maybe i need a change of skin?

 

[m2b]

I did edit my previous message slightly to add in some more detail. Now I'll add in a little bit more.

Around where I live there is a ton of divable water. I guess there is a decent sized scuba contingency but I'm the only freediver in the area. That being said I watch where I dive. I try my hardest to avoid boatable waters. If I do get on lakes with a lot of boat traffic, I watch when I get on the lake to avoid the times when most people are out boating.

This puts me diving on one particular man made lake that is used for flood control, no motor boat accessibility and gas powered boats aren't allowed anyways. It receives a lot of its water from runoff from the nearby alpine ski area, err the chemicals used to increase how high the temperature can go and they can still make snow.

The other lake I frequent quite often, also 5 minutes from home is on the opposite side of ski area and is spring fed. I believe it more than likely also sees some of the same chemical laden runoff as well.

Now why does one person get affected and another person doesn't...skin sensitivity to the chemicals in the water. One person may have a higher sensitivity level than you do.

As an example. When I was a kid I could always tell when summer arrived. I would always get a nice rash, heat rash, that would break out on my stomach. I haven't had that in years now...I guess my sensitivity level must have changed over time.

One idea to try, the one I'm planning to use..Emotional Freedom Technique. It's free to learn and the ways you could use it to improve your freediving are too numerous to count. I'll start with seeing if I can permanently get rid of this stupid rash and go on being able to enjoy freediving the rest of the summer.

By the way, last year it did seem like after a couple of weeks the rash disappeared on its own. Almost like I developed a bit of tolerance to it.

Ryan

 

[adamb]

i thought the same. stagnant water part. first i cut out peeing in my suit and also my entry point. I dive in the ocean in New Zealand, its usually fairly rough with plenty of storms to push water through. I used to enter through a fairly stagnant part of the coast and I think that water may have had the bacteria in it as the suit lets the water in and not out I get 2-3 hours of diving with infected suit. Now I enter in the rough and still the same.
Thanks for your input I'll take a look at your EFT