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Embarrassin Hot Tub Itch


Chloe

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Hi all,

I am new to this whole hot tub thing so bear with me. :)

We got our hot tub at the end of September. For the first few weeks I was fine. Loved it!

Then, all of a sudden I broke out in with the Hot tub rash.

My husband is diligent in checking all the levels.

He even drained the tub and cleaned it all out etc...........

I went back in and broke out in the rash again plus...and here's the embarrassing part, my nipples dried out and became EXTREMELEY itchy.

To the point it kept me up at night. They burned and itched actually.

Again, the chemical levels were perfect and it looked crystal clear.

Well, for a couple of weeks I couldn't go in because I had a surgery.

When I was healed enough, I went back in and lo and behold, the itchy nipples again. AGggghhh!

Didn't get the bumps so bad this time but I showered after I got out.

We are on a Bromine system. The dealer suggested we try a Lithium (chlorine) shock.

A woman at work told me her daughter had a problem too and swithched hers to Chlorine.

Can anyone tell me if they have had a similiar problem?

Any suggestions?

Any help is greatly appreciated because I really miss my hot tub.

Thanks,

Chloe

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Hi all,

I am new to this whole hot tub thing so bear with me. :)

We got our hot tub at the end of September. For the first few weeks I was fine. Loved it!

Then, all of a sudden I broke out in with the Hot tub rash.

My husband is diligent in checking all the levels.

He even drained the tub and cleaned it all out etc...........

I went back in and broke out in the rash again plus...and here's the embarrassing part, my nipples dried out and became EXTREMELEY itchy.

To the point it kept me up at night. They burned and itched actually.

Again, the chemical levels were perfect and it looked crystal clear.

Well, for a couple of weeks I couldn't go in because I had a surgery.

When I was healed enough, I went back in and lo and behold, the itchy nipples again. AGggghhh!

Didn't get the bumps so bad this time but I showered after I got out.

We are on a Bromine system. The dealer suggested we try a Lithium (chlorine) shock.

A woman at work told me her daughter had a problem too and swithched hers to Chlorine.

Can anyone tell me if they have had a similiar problem?

Any suggestions?

Any help is greatly appreciated because I really miss my hot tub.

Thanks,

Chloe

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I use bromine too. I always shower after being in tub. If you do have a rash, you probably should be seen to determine if it is an allergic rash or if it is caused by pseudomonas bacteria. Do you shock your spa on a regular basis?

Yes, we shock it on a regular basis. Especially after we get out.

My husband bought a different brand of shock at one point and we thought that may be the problem.

Thanks

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Chloe,

I'm not a Dr. (but I play one on the Internet <heh>) it sounds like hot tub rash (you mentioned bumps) However there are other causes like allergic reactions. Someone else mentioned an older post and it may help. You may want to switch from bromine to chlorine and you may want to investigate a mineral filter. Take a minute to look through this overly complex post realizing you are only interested in a portion. If you don't understand the different types of spa sanitizing, simply put there are several types and they are incompatible. You must start fresh and not change mid stream.

http://www.poolspaforum.com/forum/index.ph...pic=9956&st

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Might be silly, but have you checked pH? I just had a problem with pH (granted it was my pool and not my hot tub), but perhaps that could help.

This is where I got my test strips: www.microessentiallab.com

HI,

Yes we did check the PH

It was normal but we did notice the Alkalinity was up there.

Our Bromine level has dropped significantly and I tried it out Thursday night.

No red bumps, not too much itch.

It was only a 20 minute soak. I'll try her again this weekend.

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Hi All,

Well, my hubby and I decided to give the Eco One system a try.

Today, we drained the tub, used swirl away, etc...etc.....

We are just trying now to get the PH down a little. At 90 degrees, we add the Eco one bottle

We are going to use Dichlor as our sanitizer.

I am getting rid of the Bromine all together.

I will let you know how it goes!

Chloe

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I too experienced the red bumpy itches after hot tub soaking. I am a dichlor, chlorine shock once a week type user. I shower after every soak. I finally came to the realization it was the heat (and water?) so I have come to the conclusion that I can only soak every other day, and only for 15 minutes. I still get them, but very minor compared to the time I was soaking twice a day for 20 minutes at a time.

So it may not be an allergy, it may not be a bacteria, it may just be the way your skin reacts to the heat.

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  • 3 weeks later...

My wife tends to get an allergic reaction to just plain hot water. She has eczema and it will flare up when she soaks too long in any type of water that is hotter than about 98F.

Could be that the water isn't the problem but it is just your skin's sensitivity to heat...

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You could be hypersensitive to bromine. If the levels are running at the high end of the range, you may find that lowering the amount of bromine helps -- we got a bit itchy when the level was maxing out before we got a floater that allowed more secure adjustment.

It's also possible your skin is just plain drying out. I get similar symptoms in the winter when the air is very dry with or without hot tub use. Diligent use of moisturizer makes a big difference (but shower it off before tubbing and reapply afterward).

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi, this is my first time on the forum.

I too suffer from Hot tub itch.

We got our hot tub July '07. I basically lived in it for the month of August. Then, developed 'The Rash'. When I go in for only a half hour, I suffer for almost an entire month. I get red itchy bumps all over me, that eventually turn into itchy scabs. From start to finish, it sometimes takes one whole month for me to get brave enough to go back in.

I am the only one in the family with this problem. Even my 3 year old grandchild has no reaction.

We maintain the tub regulary and get the water tested fior everything, and do a shock treatment weekly. Our hot tub dealer has us on a 'Carefree Boost' which I believe is Chlorine based ???

Someone I know has a hot tub as well, but maintains his with a Bromine chemical. He is away for a few weeks, but when he returns, I am going to try out his tub to see if I have a reaction, then if not, we may switch to his products.

Someone has also told me about a hydogen peroxide (?) solution for hot tubs that is supposed to work. Has anyone tried this.

When we bought our hot tub we renovated our deck as well. The total cost of tub plus plus was over $16,000.....I am beginning to think that I will never get to use it.

Can anyone help me or give advice?????

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Welcome to this forum! How often after you did a fresh refill of the hot tub did you first experience hot tub itch? Beachcomber Care Free Boost is Dichlor, which is chlorine PLUS Cyanuric Acid (CYA) (they are bound together in a single chemical). For every 10 ppm of Free Chlorine (FC) you add with this product, you also increase CYA by 9 ppm. Over time, the CYA can build up and make the chlorine less effective. Also, how often were you adding this product, how much were you adding each time, and how large is your hot tub?

I don't think the problem is the chlorine. It's either too high a CYA level or not frequent enough chlorine addition (i.e. letting the FC get to zero) or something unrelated to the chlorine such as heat or pressure (irritation) from the jets. Bromine won't fix any of that except perhaps that a bromine feeder will give more continuous dosing so less chance of forgetting to add chlorine or not having enough sanitizer -- but some people have skin sensitivity to bromine directly (and it smells different).

Richard

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  • 1 year later...
Welcome to this forum! How often after you did a fresh refill of the hot tub did you first experience hot tub itch? Beachcomber Care Free Boost is Dichlor, which is chlorine PLUS Cyanuric Acid (CYA) (they are bound together in a single chemical). For every 10 ppm of Free Chlorine (FC) you add with this product, you also increase CYA by 9 ppm. Over time, the CYA can build up and make the chlorine less effective. Also, how often were you adding this product, how much were you adding each time, and how large is your hot tub?

I don't think the problem is the chlorine. It's either too high a CYA level or not frequent enough chlorine addition (i.e. letting the FC get to zero) or something unrelated to the chlorine such as heat or pressure (irritation) from the jets. Bromine won't fix any of that except perhaps that a bromine feeder will give more continuous dosing so less chance of forgetting to add chlorine or not having enough sanitizer -- but some people have skin sensitivity to bromine directly (and it smells different).

Richard

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  • 1 month later...
Hi all,

I am new to this whole hot tub thing so bear with me. :)

We got our hot tub at the end of September. For the first few weeks I was fine. Loved it!

Then, all of a sudden I broke out in with the Hot tub rash.

My husband is diligent in checking all the levels.

He even drained the tub and cleaned it all out etc...........

I went back in and broke out in the rash again plus...and here's the embarrassing part, my nipples dried out and became EXTREMELEY itchy.

To the point it kept me up at night. They burned and itched actually.

Again, the chemical levels were perfect and it looked crystal clear.

Well, for a couple of weeks I couldn't go in because I had a surgery.

When I was healed enough, I went back in and lo and behold, the itchy nipples again. AGggghhh!

Didn't get the bumps so bad this time but I showered after I got out.

We are on a Bromine system. The dealer suggested we try a Lithium (chlorine) shock.

A woman at work told me her daughter had a problem too and swithched hers to Chlorine.

Can anyone tell me if they have had a similiar problem?

Any suggestions?

Any help is greatly appreciated because I really miss my hot tub.

Thanks,

Chloe

We had the same problem. My wife has eczema and I just got a rash. We tried chlorine and she couldn't use it. I still got a rash. We clean everything and switch to Eco One it was better but our tub smelled of fish. We found a product on a eczema web site for tubs call Aquafinesse. We have been using it for about 18 months now and we both love it. She has had fewer problems with her eczema. When we first changed over to Aquafinesse wow you should have seen the stuff that came out in our filters for about 2 weeks. The dealer we bought it from told us this product would clean up the tub and did it ever. We have had our tub now for 4 years and the last 18 months have been the easiest and cleanest of all. The water always looks great and smell good. Not like fish or chlorine. We have gotten all of our friend switched over after they soak in our tub. I would give it a try.

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  • 9 years later...

I know it has been a long time since you posted this, but I bought a tub about 4 months ago and loved it for about 2 months then I had the same issue you described. I'm a man and have reluctantly tryed my tube after waiting several weeks to get over itchy nipples that I try scratching off my body. One night soak for 30 minutes and it comes right back. No problem while in tub, shower as soon as I get out, lotion up and about 2 hours later it starts. Sorry for this long story, just really want to know if you figured out what was causing your issue?

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It would be great to hear from the OP on this (very old but still relevant) issue,  but with that acknowledged let me offer a clarifying question and additional comment.  While the symptoms you and the OP describe appear to be water quality/contamination and improper maintenance related it is also good to find out if you have any allergies or sensitivities.  In addition to seeking medical advise you can establish some things experimentally. Here's the question.  Do you experience any such symptoms if you were to use a public pool ?  If not, then I'd suggest you have a water problem. 

Some do have sensitivities to properly maintained halogen sanitizers (chlorine and bromine)  but these are relatively rare.  When water is balanced, properly sanitized  and free from biofilms the vast majority of us see no issues.  I have learned some hard lessons myself regarding brand new spas but fortunately for me I have not faced what you have.   The thing I  would  do in your situation  (in parallel with seeking medical advice)  is a full blown decontamination and purge.  There's just no substitute.   I say this because biofilms adhering to the pipes and vessel walls  are known capable of harboring some very nasty bacteria that can make  people sick. In your shoes I would not rest until made certain to rule this out

All the best.  I'd like to see you get to the bottom of this!  I'm afraid to say that your situation sounds very familiar:   your spa was probabky delivered with biofilms contamination present (mine was), or you may have made some innocent mistakes in water maintenance .  You may very well save the day and reclaim your spa with a good purge and decontamination. 

 

 

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