Heat rash

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Originally Posted by ny biker

Word is that the pros use pantyhose. I don't know if they cut regular pantyhose into sections and tie the ends or if they use knee-highs, but apparently they put ice in them and then put the ice-filled nylons on their backs inside their jerseys. That way when the ice melts there is no plastic bag full of water to deal with.

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I may just have to try this next time I have to lead my club ride. On Thursday it was 100 degrees when the ride started @ 6 pm, and even though it was only 15 miles and I was wearing a bandana with cooling beads, I had a tough time finishing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ny biker

Word is that the pros use pantyhose. I don't know if they cut regular pantyhose into sections and tie the ends or if they use knee-highs, but apparently they put ice in them and then put the ice-filled nylons on their backs inside their jerseys. That way when the ice melts there is no plastic bag full of water to deal with.

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Excellent idea.

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Originally Posted by thekarens

The last one went away a couple days ago. Rode 50 today and it came back with a vengeance

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I was wondering if the ice made luvmyguys' rash go away. Although, come to think of it, ice baths have not made the heat rash under my socks go away.

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

I was wondering if the ice made luvmyguys' rash go away. Although, come to think of it, ice baths have not made the heat rash under my socks go away.

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Oopps missed that. My bad. That would have been cool if it had.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ny biker

Word is that the pros use pantyhose. I don't know if they cut regular pantyhose into sections and tie the ends or if they use knee-highs, but apparently they put ice in them and then put the ice-filled nylons on their backs inside their jerseys. That way when the ice melts there is no plastic bag full of water to deal with.

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This is common to see in Texas. I think people use knee highs but I could see using the whole thing if you happened to have hose around.

I wonder if those instant ice packs would work as well?

I used to have this problem when I lived in NC and was often riding in the hottest part of the day. For me, it happened on my thighs, regardless of the shorts, sunscreen or what was covered and what wasn't. Pouring ice water on my legs did nothing to stop it. Some days, it was so violent that they were huge welts for days and a full week before the discoloration went away.

As someone else mentioned, it's your core. Keep the core cool (ice in a buff on my head helped me) by whatever methods possible and you can reduce the effect. BUT, once it starts, there is no stopping it. It has to be prevented to work.

I used to feel this odd tingling feeling when it was happening...minutes later, the welts would start to appear. I was riding this past Saturday in the worst heat I've biked during the last 5 years and I felt the tingling again. Luckily, we were able to immediately move into a shady area and I doused myself with ice water and was able to avoid the reaction this time. I think it helped that relatively speaking...it wasn't THAT hot out this time.

PS - there were a couple of threads about this a few years back if you try searching for something like 'weird rash'.

So, it's my turn. Last Sunday I rode about 68 miles on a hot sunny day. It was a long, slow ride with various stops for mechanical issues and missed turns as well as scheduled rest stops. Later that day I noticed some red, slightly puffy blotches on my legs, just below the where my shorts ended and just above my knees. At first I thought it was sunburn, but it didn't hurt. It didn't itch, either.

Today (Saturday) I did a 62-mile ride. It was not quite as hot, and though the sky was blue for most of the ride there were a fair number of clouds in the sky to keep the temps in the 80s, below average for July in the DC area. And after the ride I noticed the same red, slightly puffy blotches just below where my shorts ended.

Based on my extensive experience with contact dermatitis, I do not think this is a sunscreen allergy. If it was, I would be covered in an itchy rash, especially on my face.

But -- I also have a history of mystery hives, which my doctor has diagnosed as autoimmune hives. Most commonly this manifests as small red bumps that itch like crazy at first and then slowly fade over several days. Sometimes it is worse than that, with wheals that look like classic hives or angioedema. Anyway I started to experience a flare-up 2 days before the bike ride last Sunday, with small itchy red bumps that mostly have occurred above and below my knees.

So my first thought is that the red puffy blotches are related to the extra histamines that are in my system right now.

I started taking an antihistamine (Zyrtec) every day back in January, and this is the first time since then that I've seen more than an occasional random red itchy bump. Today I stopped at the store to get some Zantac, which is an H2 inhibitor, and I will start taking that to see if it helps the Zyrtec beat down this particular episode. I'm hoping that once these hives fade away then the red puffy patches will also stop appearing.

That's interesting. For me the rash was completely flat.

For me there is only a bit of inflammation, hardly noticeable. I think I only saw it because I've had similar bizarre-red-puffy-skin experiences. Like after getting a massage for lower back pain, my forehead was red and inflamed for hours afterwards, in the exact area where it rested on that donut-shaped pillow thing.