Hangman's Look

[Lou]

Ok, it appears I am developing a dislike for my latex neck seal  Every time I wear my drysuit the reaction around my neck gets worse.  Last weekend I wore the suit for 3 days in a row and here I am, 8 days later with still the remains of dry skin and....er....well light scabbing I suppose!

Now, on the third day I tried KY jelly but I am not sure if it just didn't work, or if it was too late by then.  Maybe I didn't use enough but I was worried about make the seal too slippy on my neck and getting a leak?

Seeing as i have another 2 day diving weekend coming up this weekend with the guys at Swanage, does anyone have any cunning plans to help?  I am fed up with the guys on the shop floor sniggering and comments like "enter the gimp!".

Cheers all

Lou

[John Gulliver]

KY Jelly DOES work, at least for me, but you need to appy it liberally and from the very first dive if you are diving in a drysuit several days in a row. If I forget, I also get a bright red "noose mark" on the front and sides of my neck – very embarassing! Don't worry about it making your neckseal leak. It won't.
PS Have fun in Swanage.

[Fiona]

<font color='#0000FF'> oo er, I use non perfumed baby talc, try that otherwise I think you need to stretch your neck seal.

Fiona

[MATTBIN]

I saw Scott off DiveFun use a very thin stretchy underseal under the neck seal that wasnt latex. It was a stand-alone buy from a dive shop sort of thing. Slip it over your head slip the dry-suit on over it, might need to adjust the dry-suit seal to be a bit looser. So I'd suggest getting one and trying it before trimming the suit seal.
Dont know where he got it from, drop him a line via his website
www.divefun.co.uk he's very approachable.

Matt

[Lou]

Hi Fiona

It isn't a &quot;fit&quot; thing so my seal doesn't need stretching. &nbsp;It is more of a sensitivity to the latex, quite common apparently. &nbsp;With me it started off as a red line with some slight swelling, like a slap mark. &nbsp;Now when I get it it looks like a lovebite around half of my neck....most embarassing as John said! &nbsp;It is also *very* sore.

Matt, was it a neoprene &quot;adaptor&quot; or what? &nbsp;You'd think it would make the neckseal leak, putting something under it. &nbsp;I have been thinking that if the worst comes to the worst I might have to change my neckseal to neoprene. &nbsp;I would rather keep the latex though, hence trying to find something to work.

Lou

[MATTBIN]

Lou
it wasnt at all thick like neoprene, much thinner, wasnt it called sharkskin or something in the old days of semi dry suits.
I didnt actually see him wear it on a dive.
Matt

[Dr Stevil]

<font color='#0000FF'>THis might not be much help but the same happened to me recently, got really bad drysuit rash which lasted for more than a week. but it was a one-off (so far), hadn't happened before then and I've been using the suit for a couple of years now, quite odd.

Is this a new suit or new seal for you? does it fit my example? has it occurred before now and if so with the same suit/seal?

It could be some kind of biological blip which might not reoccur frequently. Latex sensitivity is well documented, not sure if anti-histamines would help, plus AFAIK most AHs are knwn to make you drowsy. Might be worth asking a diving medical referee of e-mailing &quot;Scubadoc&quot; for suggestions
HTH
Steve
Scubadoc link

[MATTBIN]

Boots do AH that are non-drowsy, plain white i.e. no colours &nbsp;and good for al sorts of sensitivities.

Matt

[John Gulliver]

As Lou says, it's got nothing to do with fit. Nor does talc help. I always talc my seals thoroughly with Simple (pure talc). I still get it. It MAY be latex senstivity, which as Steve says, is well documented, but I don't seem to get hand eczema from wearing latex gloves for dirty jobs. I haven't tried antihistamines as ALL antihistamines make you drowsy, whatever the manufacturer says (take a pharmacist's word on that!), although some are a lot worse than others. Whatever the cause, KY Jelly does solve the problem. As you say, Lou, it starts as a red wheal, gets worse after every dive, and is an open sore after 3-4 days.
Never go down without KY Jelly &nbsp;

[MartinS]

Lou
What you are after (I think) is advertised in May's copy of Diver mag - in the what's new pages, there's an article about a neck seal that goes inside your existing seal to prevent leaks. This might be what you're after - no promises though!
HTH
Martin