Caving knee rash...

[JoW]

OK, at risk of exposing my embarrassing ailments to the world, the last few years when I go caving I sometimes get a sore rash on my knees. This happens especially if I get wet legs and then do some crawling. It appears quite quickly and makes crawling even more painful than it usually is (more padding helps a bit but not that much due to the nature of it). It goes away again after a few days of not caving, helped by some emollient cream or hydrocortisone if required. I suspect something eczema like, but this location is a bit problematical for caving as it makes it feel like I'm crawling on fire ants quite quickly.

So, has anyone else experienced anything similar? And has anyone found a way of preventing it? I'm wondering if some kind of barrier cream might help but not sure what to try.

 

[mikem]

Reaction to your own sweat can cause an irritating rash (more often seen on helmet straps)

 

[langcliffe]

OK, at risk of exposing my embarrassing ailments to the world, the last few years when I go caving I sometimes get a sore rash on my knees. This happens especially if I get wet legs and then do some crawling. It appears quite quickly and makes crawling even more painful than it usually is (more padding helps a bit but not that much due to the nature of it). It goes away again after a few days of not caving, helped by some emollient cream or hydrocortisone if required. I suspect something eczema like, but this location is a bit problematical for caving as it makes it feel like I'm crawling on fire ants quite quickly.

So, has anyone else experienced anything similar? And has anyone found a way of preventing it? I'm wondering if some kind of barrier cream might help but not sure what to try.

This reminds me of a common complaint we had in the days of wetsuits .

 

[JoW]

Reaction to your own sweat can cause an irritating rash (more often seen on helmet straps)

Not sure my knees are particularly sweaty... And as far as I recall it happens even when my undersuit is clean (I wash it regularly). But yes I have seen what you're describing happen to people.

 

[JoW]

This reminds me of a common complaint we had in the days of wetsuits .

I don't think this offers any insight into my knees but it did make for very humourous reading (probably wasn't very funny to experience however!).

 

[JasonC]

This reminds me of a common complaint we had in the days of wetsuits .

A fascinating account of speleological science in action!

 

[cavingbiker]

As I recall, wetsuits issues were more at the back of the knee where it tended to bunch up.
Perhaps your knees are reacting to the undersuit. You could try an elasticated bandage over your knee, or borrow an undersuit made from a different fabric and see if the rash appears.

 

[LadyMud]

Happy Bottom Bum Butter ? Applied before you go caving?

 

[alanw]

Going away with the application of hydrocortisone makes me wonder if you wash your undersuit in bio laundry detergent?

 

[mikem]

Yes, I was just wondering if your washing powder had changed?

 

[JoW]

Happy Bottom Bum Butter ? Applied before you go caving?

Thanks, might be worth a go

 

[JoW]

Going away with the application of hydrocortisone makes me wonder if you wash your undersuit in bio laundry detergent?

I do use a bio liquid, but it's the same as I wash all my other clothes in. I suppose it could be some reaction between that and the water and my knees, though the rest of me is fine. But I've got some unscented non-bio I can wash it in for a few washes to make sure.

 

[snebbit]

I did get similar but on just my left palm and it drove me crazy after appearing out of nowhere with no history of eczema. Only caving trips triggered a flare-up.

No amount of OTC creams or prescribed steroids seemed to fix it for a couple of years, but eventually went to see a GP who happened to experience the same thing with watersports (some sort of hypersensitivity/eczema-y allergy to streamwater or something, I wish I'd listened more, sorry) and prescribed a big tube of Clobetasol Propionate that cleared it up literally overnight, and now occasionally when it looks like it's starting to erupt after a wet crawly caving trip I just rub a pea-sized amount on and it's gone an hour later. I love that tube.

 

[Cantclimbtom]

Prevention is better than cure.
Harder to get hold of these days because mechanics now wear disposable gloves, but to avoid contact dermatitis from engine oils and such like people used to rub barrier cream into their hands, not sure what was in it other than lanolin (maybe some zinc oxide?). Savlon stopped making their barrier cream but 3M's Cavillon is generally available (I think it is also used for bed sore prevention?)

If the happy bum cream doesn't help, try Cavillon.

 

[Rachel]

For big tubs of cheap barrier cream, have a look in the baby care aisle, by the nappies

 

[Loki]

Bio washing powder absolutely kills my skin. Don’t go near it.

 

[mikem]

It'll likely just be that the knees suffer more contact / rubbing than the rest of you, so have become more sensitive.

 

[andrewmcleod]

Not related to the OP's query, but this weekend my knees were rubbing in some way under my kneepads as I moved around.

Shaving my knees appears to have fixed this even if I did look a bit strange shaving my knees with my trousers pulled down at the SWCC