Can someone be allergic to ocean water?

Hi Christina,

That does sound scary.

First, I hope you took your son to see his doctor after this happened. What did the doctor say?

Second, it's very unlikely to that your son is allergic to sea water, according to information I found from the Amercian Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI).

It could be that there was something in the water. Was he stung by a jellyfish?

There's also a strange reaction known as "seabather's eruption." According to studies cited by AAAAI, seabather's eruption is a rash that happens after someone is exposed to ocean water and usually covers the area of the body covered by the bathing suit (although children may have reactions all over). According to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine, the rash may be caused by an organism that may be too tiny to see, but will eventually grow into an adult sea anemones called Edwardsiella lineata. Some sea anemones can hurt people with poisonous stings, but I'm not sure if this particular anemone does that. In any event, the researchers suspect that the tiny larval stage of this anemone may be what causes the rash.

According to the studies, there's very little that can be done for the rash and it usually goes away on its own in about 12 days.

Either way, when you're dealing with a child, don't take any chances. Talk to your doctor about what happened and how your son is doing now. Your doctor may be able to help you with tips for avoiding this again. If you still have questions about allergies, you may want to get a referal to an allergist, who can do allergy testing to help figured out if your son is allergic to fish or shellfish of any kind -- talk to your doctor about the possibilities and the best couse of action for your son.

I have had the same reaction to sea water since I was 14 years old.  I get a very red, very itchy rash with little white bumps under the skin.  If I wash off the sea salt with fresh water it usually takes around 30 minutes for the burning sensation to fade and then within an hour the whole thing is over.

I know people say you can't be allergic to sea water, but I can't pin point anything else it could be.  I've tried going in seas all over the world - Atlantic, Indian, Pacific, Caribbean, Arabian seas, all with the same affect. I'm certain that each and every time it can't possibly be jellyfish or 'something in the sea'.  It's defintely sea salt.

More recently I have started reacting to foods with sea salt in, as more and more food has replaced normal salt with sea salt for the so called health benefits.  As soon as I eat something with sea salt in (by accident as it's not been labelled as sea salt!), my lips sting and start to swell.  Naturally, I stop eating it straight away and rinse my lips with water. I therefore wouldn't like to predict what would happen if I carried on eating it.  Once the sea salt has been rinsed off it is normally around 40 minutes later that the stinging stops.

To those people who say 'an allergy to sea salt is very unlikely'.....I look forward to your response!

I developed "face" allergies when I was around the age of 12. I went on holiday abroad to a hotel which had a salt water pool. I was alright for the first few days but then for some reason my face started stinging and started to swell as my parents didn't know what it was I just washed my face with normal water and kept out of the salt water as I was going home the next day. By the time I got off the aeroplane I couldn't see out of my eyes because my face had swollen that much. The doctor was called out and she prescribed me zertec for the swelling and some non perfumed moisturiser (aquas cream). The zertec pills made me really tired but once the swelling started to go down, the skin on my face started to shed like a snake. Once all that damage skin peeled off I was fine again.

I still have the same reaction with salt water no matter where I go (I have been to so many different countries and it is all the same) I hate it as I cant join my friends and family in the water sport events or go snorkelling or swim with dolphins etc. If you do find out anything more please let me know! I have also posted my question on here so hopefully someone will come up with an answer!

I hope your son grows out of it.

omg! i thought i was the only one with that kind of reaction to the ocean water!

i pretty much have the same reaction on my face. i found out when i was about 16 or 17. it was a red rash and it itched! after putting fresh water on my face it takes a few min. for the rash to go away and a few seconds for the itch to go away. recently (this summer that passed) i put sunblock on my face and got no reaction to the ocean water. maybe the sunblock will help your son. doesnt hurt to try.

Hello Everyone,

I get similar reaction in the salt and also fresh water. My skin gets blotchy, extremely itchy, swells up, gets bumpy and it takes about half an hour for this reaction to subside, once rinsed off. I went to see a dermatologist but she was unable to come up with any reasonable explanation. I am 32 years old female, and this problem started about 10 years ago. I don't have any food allergies.

Well...it is so good to know I am not crazy.  I have had the same experience of red blotchy skin and itching so bad I start to freak out.  The last time we went scuba diving it was horrible.  As soon as I got out of the water the reaction came on strong and I basically took a shower with baby shampoo and a fresh water hose on the back of the boat.  Everyone on the boat thought I was nuts!  My reaction seemed to be worse with sunscreen that is why I had to use soap on the boat.  

I have found that if I use NO personal products (no lotion of any kind anywhere on my body before exposure) and I rinse my skin with fresh water & mild soap immediately after leaving the ocean I can avoid any serious reaction.  My husband is a physician and he can't come up with any reason why this is happening to me.  

On another note, I am trying a gluten free diet since I seem to be gluten intolerant.  I am not sure if this will help but it has improved many other aspects of my health and perhaps it will help with this allergy too.  Good luck to everyone!

We went to daytona beach and my daughter first time to ocean went in and with in mintues came out crying saying her skin was burning and all red. Took her back to hotel showered her off and 30 min later she was fine. Next day same thing happened but worse. So your son is not alone. And she now is afraid to go back to the beach.

I just came back from the doctor, hugely disapointed to see how little everyone knows about this. 

The first time I got an allergic reaction after going in the water and sunbathing was 4 years ago. Since then, I have been on many beaches without reacting to the sea or the sun. last week I went to Northern Italy and the reaction came again. It mainly starts 3-4 hours after I leave the beach and it stays generally for 2-3 days. I gets kind of blotchy, but it mainly itches, to the point where I have trouble sleeping. I stays in the back and in sensitive areas such as breasts and upper thighs. 

The doctor gave me a menthol cream, but I still don't know what I have... cortizone barely calms it and after-sun makes no difference. 

Let's hope for more studies on the subject, as it is an incredibly unfortunate type of allergy.

I live on Greek island and have never had problem before BUT last 4 times I've swam in the sea I have gotten out and am covered in red bumpy rash all over my body and feel a little shaky.  After about 30 mins the rash dissappears - I usually shower with fresh water.  This also happened once at home when I was working up a sweat in the garden and even once when I took a fresh water shower at home - HELP, I live by the beach and CANNOT stop swimming in the sea.  What can I do ???

I have had an allergy to "ocean water" since I was a child. Growing up we thought it was sun poisoning. I don't burn easy but as long as I didn't get in the water, I didn't break out. After being in the water as an adult for a long period of time snorkeling, I had a severe reaction. I break out in huge blisters around my mouth that itch like you can't imagine. This time it broke out across my entire top half of my back too. I went to the doctor for something else and he flipped out saying it was an allergic reaction to something in the water. His explanation was there are so many chemicals put in the ocean that it would be impossible to designate what is causing it. Now if it gets on my skin or face I itch immediately and my skin gets blotchy. I was in the water for about 30 mins. the other day (just standing waist deep) and broke out. Plus I began to have high anxiety for two days. I should have known though because I had an allergy to citrus fruit that reacted the same way. However I have over come that with medication.  That was a rare allergy that has become more recognized recently. The ocean water one is now starting to surface more too. Hopefully we will get more answers soon!

Hi, my dad hs been breaking out in these hives from the ocean water a fresh cold pool water and sometimes even climate changes it itches and is red and sometimes he feels like passing out. I was wondering if there is anything he could take for this before he goes swimming or sometimes even outdoors.

Thanks

My daughter is 15 months old and I took her to the beach for the first time couple of days ago in Maine.  She was in the water for 10 minutes and after 5 minutes of getting out, she started getting hives all over her legs.  Her legs were more exposed to the water than her top part of the body.  since she has excema, we thought ocean water may help her, but we thought she had allergic reaction to ocean water due to her shell fish allergy.  we washed her with bottle water and gave her benedryl and hives went away in 10-15 minutes.  One of the post said one has allergic reaction to the sea salt.  Perhaps I should try not using the sea salt for my daughter as well.

I just figured out that only my lips are allergic to the sea water. This has happened years before when i went to the gulf but i thought it was the sunblock.   I Went  back this year with no sunblock lotion at all!  I went swimming in the gulf of mexico and my lips started burning.  I didnt have sense enough to go rinse them off immediately with fresh water so now they are swollen and i have tiny blisters on my upper lip. The bright side is that they dont itch, but the swelling lasts for a week and here are the stages:  swelling and tiny blisters, blisters dry up and the skin tightens, scaley skin falls off and then its over (thank God).

I am glad to know that I'm not a freak of nature!  About five years ago, out of the blue, I started breaking out in hives for no apparent reason - this lasted for over a year and finally stopped, but ever since then, I have bad reactions to sea water (doesn't matter where I go).  I break out in hives on my body, and my eyes swell up like golf balls - it really sucks, especially since I love scuba diving. 

Wish we could figure out what the cause is, because doctors know nothing.

I seem to notice the same with my 11 year old daughter. We have been going to the beach for years.  I thought the reaction she had was to new suntain lotion.  It is definatley someting with the salt water and sand.  I always end up giving her cortizone cream or a little benadryl. She said it itches really bad. My son is allergic to shellfish and he doesn't seem to have a problem.  I am concerned why she has been having problems.  It is nice to know we are not alone. I thought we were the only ones!!!

Many food vendors are now utilizing "Sea Salt" instead of iodized salt because of a stronger flavor as well as generally being healthier. Unfortunately, and this may help with an answer to your question... but Sea Salt has "Marine Copolymers" attached to it, or in more common terms, "Microscopic Shellfish". This might account for the superficial allergic reactions on his legs. Is he by chance allergic to shell fish? It doesn't take much, if injesting this salt to set off a reaction.

I have also noticed that when I swim in the ocean, I get extremely itchy hives.  I never really thought much of it until last year. 

I purchased a lotion from Bath and Body Works that contained seaweed extract for toning the skin on the thighs.  After one use, my legs broke out in the worst rash that turned into horrible bruises.  I looked like someone beat me up.  I returned the product to the store for a full refund. 

Then a few months later I went to Rocky Point Mexico and swam in the ocean and got the rash again but no bruising. 

So now I am very cautious about using products that contain seaweed extract as I believe that is the cause of my allergic reactions.  I especially do not eat sushi as it is wrapped in seaweed.  Who knows what kind of reaction that could cause, but I don't want to find out.  I'm just staying away from seaweed and keeping benedryl close by. 

When i go to the beach and get in the water my stomach becomes red and rashy and it itches could be simalar i started having these reactions about 2-4 years ago my grandmother used to do the same thing now she litterly gets sick and nauseated. usually once i stay out of the water a while it goes away.