Question for the girls about 'the girls'
j9swim
CharlestonSenior Member
Ladies- when i do long swims in salt water the little sea lice get stuck in my bathing suit and eat away at the 'girls' . I have insanely itching welts, any prevention tips...besides swimming topless:)
Comments
Milko
https://db.marathonswimmers.org/p/milko-van-gool/
If the cells don't make it to the skin, there is no reaction, and therefore no sting. Apparently, even wearing pantyhose can be protective (I've never tried it though.)
I am thinking some Vaseline/grease gets absorbed into the skin, but "enough" Vaseline/grease should be protective.
It's that time of year, and this topic came up on MSF page on Facebook, so I thought I'd re-open and share the one treatment that really works for me (thanks Abby Fairman for the advice). Nothing I've tried worked to prevent the stings and my skin overreacts badly. Fluocinonide Cream 0.5% gives complete relief for 6-8 hours. That's enough to get through most work days and most airline flights. You need a prescription in the US.
Very hot water is the best relief I've found. I've had sea itch plenty of times and have never found a good preventive (tried vaseline and sunblock - helps a little but not enough, plus it junks up your suit). Stand in the shower with the water as hot as you can stand it. Direct the spray onto the welts - you will get very VERY itchy. Hang in there until you no longer itch - maybe around 2 minutes. The hot water triggers the natural antihistamines in your body. This solution works for up to 6 hours - it made me completely itch-free even when clothes rubbed against the welts.
I asked the pharmacist what they had for sea itch and he gave me a cream that helped kill the lice (which are buried under you skin). It was around $15 and took 5-6 days to stop the itching. I told the pharmacist I wanted the $100 type of cream that would stop the itching immediately and they said there was no such thing, you just have to itch for 5-6 days.
Also, if your sea itch comes from salt water, don't use fresh water to rinse off - it makes the little buggers burrow deeper in your skin.
Forgot to mention, a friend of mine would take a hair dryer to work so that when the hot water relief wore off she could "top off" the heat treatment at the office, then take another shower after work.
I greased up 'the girls' for my English Channel swim. Someone who knew what they were talking about told me to do so the day before. So I did even though I never had on any of my long training swims with not problem at all (there's my mistake). I jumped in off the boat to swim ashore to start my swim....and my 'right girl' slid out and refused to stay in. So 'she' stayed that way the whole swim to France.
I was advised for the North Channel not to put loads of Vaseline on...only chafing spots....as the tentacles of jellyfish will stick to it and continue to fire off venom. This was from someone else who knew what they were talking about and that advice paid off 😊
LOL, I had the exact same experience, and when I got to work on Monday a co-worker told me there was a picture of my girls on Facebook. Total freakout ensued, but this prudish woman just meant a photo of me in my swimsuit, slightly chilled, on the return boat.