Hi erez,

> this is becoming more interesting. I, too, vote for the latex gloves. I'll
> be very disappointed to know I got all this mess from the thing that's
> supposed to protect me from the nasty stuff.

When I first started having problems my dermitologist told me it was the gloves, He said it is more likely to be the powder but latex is also a common cause of problems, He said "if you get a rash when you use a condom, you'll know it's the latex". I read a few research papers on the subject and found that the powder (some sort of silicon based subst), was first used in gloves because it was thought to be non-bioreactive, fairly important with the risk of some falling into a patients wounds when the surgeon changes gloves during surgery. However, when a lot of patients suffered complications after surgery, some were opened back up, and in some cases "huge" amounts of this powder was removed from abdominal cavities etc. It is now considered to be highly bioreactive and use of powdered gloves has been banned in all hospitals in this country (Australia). So to protect ourselves from "nasty stuff" we've been coating our hands with other "nasty stuff".

> I use them alot when @ work, so I would like to compare my symptoms with
> yours:

> what i got is a dry little reddish skin @ the finger tips of my right
> hand, & also on the face of the hand, between the thumb & the
> index finger. it doesn't itch or ache or nothing. I use powdered latex
> gloves.

> is it familiar ?

Mine starts with a lot of little blisters between the epidermis and the dermis (deep under the skin) on a finger tip or two, they usually get a little itchy and in a few days the skin on top goes dry and hard, cracks and then flakes off leaving raw patches underneath. I use a cortisone cream a couple days a week, if you use it everyday it stops working. If you don't do something it can get much worse and take longer to control. I once had to undergo regular xray radiation treatment to get it under control.

> just to put things in the proper scale: I don't think any of us got this
> dermatitis because of his kayak. even when we use gloves, it's for.... one
> hour or so @ a time, & that's only on days we work with epoxy. it's
> very short periods. on the other hand, if a thin layer of epoxy dries on
> the skin, I'm not sure how long it stays there.

I'll get a reaction from the gloves if I wear them for a few minutes. remember to wash your hands as soon as you get the gloves off, but don't wash them to often or this will add to the problem by drying out your skin, it's a good idea to use some sort of lotion to put the oils back in your skin.

> so the chances are: you got it from the epoxy, or from the gloves you use
> in your working place.

> the doctor did recomended to me the thin cotton gloves under the latex.

Cotton under-gloves are good, but if you get sweaty hands the cotton will soak up the sweat and the powder, leading to greater contamination. You really need to wash the cotton gloves often and only use them if they are dry. With all the posts about cold weather building I guess this wouldn't be much of a problem for you guys.

I spent a lot of time building my boat, a few weeks ago I wheeled a kayak that I built myself, down to the local boat ramp on a cart I built myself, then I paddled it with a paddle I built myself. I've never experienced anything quite so fulfilling in my life. If this means I've got to put up with sore hands, then I'll take the sense of fulfillment and the sore hands everytime.

Hope this helps,

Paul.