DSS Seawater/Sunscreen allergic interaction?

[BradfordBrontesaurus]

I've been researching (googling?) around this issue but am thinking I'm going to have to see a dermatologist at this rate unless anyone else has come across this. My DSS2 on holiday last year for the first time seemed to get a red allergy type rash on his legs when he went into the sea but not when he went into the pool. He didn't get it on his arms or upper body which made us think it was something to do with the sunscreen because he wears a long sleeve rashie so his legs (and obviously a bit on his face) are the only large areas covered with sunscreen. None of the rest of us had any issues (because my first thought was that there might be some algae/chemicals etc in the water) so presumably it was just something specific to his skin.
We went to a pharmacy, explained the issue and the pharmacist confirmed this often happens (more so with kids prone to eczema which DSS2 is not) and provided an alternate sunscreen that seemed to resolve the problem. I'm now looking to stock up some more sunscreen for all the kids... And it's all in Greek on the tube... And I stupidly didn't think to ask the pharmacist at the time about what was the active ingredient (or rather the active ingredient to avoid).

Has anybody had this skin reaction that seems to be specifically to sea water and have sourced a sunscreen that doesn't irritate the skin?

Me 🙋🏼‍♀️ haven’t yet found a sunscreen that doesn’t leave me looking like I’ve been sandpapering my legs after going in the sea, so I’m watching with interest.

I get that as well.

have sensitive skin anyway but the combination of sun, heat, sea water and suncream makes me break out in a very very very itchy rash.
rash vests don't work for me either (I suspect because they get quite warm).

Me too! It's soooo itchy! Watching with interest.

Have you still got tube. Can you google translate

to your question about type of sunscreen - ironically I react worse to the sensitive kind. my guess is that it traps the heat more.
at home we use a nivea one that is not sticky (beach something) that I can tolerate for some time.

Rinse the saltwater off as quickly as possible and always taking two pairs of shorts down to the beach. When one pair gets wet. Rinse legs. Then dry properly. Then put dry shorts on. Dry wet ones off in the sun. Repeat on a loop.

Its the chafing and wet clothes that add to the agony.

@whenwillthemadnessend I do, but it's in Cyrillic script so difficult to enter into the search bar 🙁

@greenacrylicpaint that's the other thing sometimes the sensitive ones can still be problematic - I might have to do a trial on his legs each day of different types 😂

So far I've found that one should probably avoid (esp. for kids) avobenzone, oxybenzone, octinoxate, octocrylene, and octyl salicylate which rules out chemical sunscreens and might mean mineral ones instead?

I am prone to bad suncream rash. I found Boots Soltan the absolute worst for my skin. Cheaper ones seem fine for me- Wilko's, Asda, Aldi, Lidl I've never had a problem with.

Re the Greek text- maybe pop a picture on the chat with the title 'can anyone please translate some Greek for me'.

@magaluf1999 yes!!! It was especially bad where his swim shorts had contact with his skin 🙁. I'll try the rotational approach.... Gunna take a LOT of persuasion to get him out of the water for the swap over 🤣🤣

Would taking the tube to a pharmacist here be of any use do you think? They might recognise active ingredients (although the Cyrillic script does make this less likely I guess) or know how to find out.

it’s unlikely to be Cyrillic if you bought it in Greece. It’ll be Greek. Post a photo of the ingredients list on here and I will tell you what the active ingredients are.

Running boxers under the swimmers (we buy them in decathlon) they are tight to the skin but breathable so we find it stops the rash. Also anti histamine every day and for a week before. Finally dettol soap seems to calm it.

Where is gets really bad a hydrocortisone cream can calm it down, just use it sparingly and for no longer than seven days I seem to remember.

That's what the pharmacist gave me in Malta.

I also find the sprays rather than creams quite good as they are lighter on the skin.

Cutting the net out of swimshorts helps. Or if you can encourage trunk style. The smaller the trunk the less chance of friction!