Hi Medelina,

You're not alone. Other people on the site have experienced unexplained rashes after swimming in the ocean or otherwise being exposed to sea water.

Unfortunately, as far as medical research goes, there doesn't seem to be any such thing as a sea water allergy.

According to the Amercian Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI), sea water or salt water allergy is unlikely, but the reaction may be something known as "seabather's eruption," a rash that happens after exposure to ocean water and usually covers the area of the body covered by the bathing suit.

The rash may be caused by an organism that may be too tiny to see, but will eventually grow into adult sea anemones. Some sea anemones can hurt people with poisonous stings. Researchers suspect that the tiny larval stage of the 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. Talk to your doctor about what happened. 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 something else is causing the trouble.

Good luck!

jack

5/24/09 4:09pm

Hi there. Your answer seems to be correct as for my case. I recently went to go swimming at the beach about a week ago and after 2 days, itching all over my body began to occur. It's been a week now and the itching has finally subsided but I still experience itching in my arms specially on the wrist area. By the way, it occassionally comes and goes....Hope this goes away sooner. Is there something I should worry about? thanks

JB, Editor

5/24/09 7:14pm

Hi Jack! It you are at all concerned about the rash (especially if it gets worse or recurs) see your docotor.

dree

6/16/09 10:21am

I just came back from the doctor's about the same problem and she could not help me at all, except say that I should proctect from the sun AND shower right after bathing in the sea... she gave me a soothing menthol cream and that was it...

Abb

8/ 8/09 8:48am

Thanks for the interesting opinion! I was recently in Portugal and Spain, first days were perfect, I did some swimming in Porto and it was all ok with my skin. But then in Spain (costa del Sol) after swimming and a nice day in sun my skin reacted with a terrible rash, facial area was the most affected part, also the palmar surface of both hands. Also i noticed it became worse in heat(of course i avoided sun, that's what everyone thinks is the cause...), so in the night and evening it went down. So it's interesting that my skin was ok after the first times I was in Porto, but reacted so bad just after a swimm in Spain. Maybe the little anemones are only angry there :)

Hi, this just happened to me too!  After spending the weekend on the Costa Brava, Spain, my chin was swollen, red and covered in zillions of white puss filled spots.  It happened 12 years ago in Belize too.  I live near the sea and swim here without any problems. I don't have any other allergies although my facial skin is quite sensitive.  It seems to be going down now, 2 days later, but still pretty unpleasant.

I used to be an avid consumer of seafood until about three years ago when within a matter of days i developed an allergic reaction to fish and subsequently all seafood. In recent months, this has gotten worse to the point where my tongue tingles and swells, my throat tightens and my sinuses clog. Now i believe that i am having a reaction to the seawater. On my last two visits to the beach,  i came with reactions similar to those experienced after eating seafood. Is this for real? Where will it end?

its true, it happened to my girlfriend two days back and hasn't got any better, she is off with her parents on a holiday and is unable to see a doctor at the moment, her face and arms have been affected, red, swollen and has white spots. Can anybody tell me what she should do??