Culprit
Member
I've seen this discussed here before, but didn't want to hijack other threads. I did, however, want to post this for general awareness in case another forum member is searching for data points on this topic.
My 22 month old daughter woke up last Wednesday with an allergic reaction rash/welts over much of her body - especially her stomach, legs, and armpits. No fever, and no respiratory impacts.
After my wife and I brainstormed what foods and such she was exposed to the previous day, the only new thing we could come up with was red oak sawdust. I was planing some rough-cut oak to size in the garage while the kids played in the driveway. When I was done, dripping in sweat and covered in sawdust, I went out to stand in the drive and talk with my neighbor for a while. My 22 month old is afraid of the neighbor's German Shepherd and asked me to pick her up and hold her. I held her on my hip in the crook of my arm facing me. Often when I hold her like this, her shirt rides up and her belly rubs against my shirt. I pick her up under her arms, and the insides of her legs wrap around my waist. Those are the exact areas where the rash/welts were the worst and most concentrated. They continued to get worse over the course of the next 3 days until it covered her whole body. But at the same time, the first areas that were affected were getting better and clearing up as new areas became affected. Really weird - like a wave, like ripples spreading from the point of origin. We changed her sheets, washed her lovey blankets, and parked the minivan in the drive and took her out the sliding doors on the back deck to get in the car so she hasn't been in the garage since. The pediatrician put her on an oral steroid and Benadryl. She has an appointment with the allergist later this week. The poor girl has been miserable. She has scratches where she was itching and scratching so bad. We're thankful that it is over, and hoping for a concrete answer from the allergist appointment this week so this can be avoided in the future.
I was aware of some people having respiratory irritation to breathing sawdust from (usually) exotic hardwoods, but I have never heard of people having a contact dermatitis reaction to coming in contact with the sawdust on their skin. After poking around on the web, it seems that this type of skin reaction to oak is documented, but not very common. I posted this on another forum that I read that is targeted towards woodworking in general, not pen turning specifically, and got several responses from people who have experienced the same thing.
Are any of you allergic to certain species of sawdust coming in contact with your skin? Have any of you seen an allergist for it, and what did the doctor say? We have an appointment for our daughter later this week, but I'm curious to learn what I can in the meantime.
It is possible that this is just a random case of hives and not related to the sawdust exposure, but based on the rash pattern the first morning she woke up with it, I really doubt it. The rash matched exactly the areas of my daughter's skin that were in contact with my sawdust covered shirt, hands, and arms.
Semper Fidelis,
Joshua
My 22 month old daughter woke up last Wednesday with an allergic reaction rash/welts over much of her body - especially her stomach, legs, and armpits. No fever, and no respiratory impacts.
After my wife and I brainstormed what foods and such she was exposed to the previous day, the only new thing we could come up with was red oak sawdust. I was planing some rough-cut oak to size in the garage while the kids played in the driveway. When I was done, dripping in sweat and covered in sawdust, I went out to stand in the drive and talk with my neighbor for a while. My 22 month old is afraid of the neighbor's German Shepherd and asked me to pick her up and hold her. I held her on my hip in the crook of my arm facing me. Often when I hold her like this, her shirt rides up and her belly rubs against my shirt. I pick her up under her arms, and the insides of her legs wrap around my waist. Those are the exact areas where the rash/welts were the worst and most concentrated. They continued to get worse over the course of the next 3 days until it covered her whole body. But at the same time, the first areas that were affected were getting better and clearing up as new areas became affected. Really weird - like a wave, like ripples spreading from the point of origin. We changed her sheets, washed her lovey blankets, and parked the minivan in the drive and took her out the sliding doors on the back deck to get in the car so she hasn't been in the garage since. The pediatrician put her on an oral steroid and Benadryl. She has an appointment with the allergist later this week. The poor girl has been miserable. She has scratches where she was itching and scratching so bad. We're thankful that it is over, and hoping for a concrete answer from the allergist appointment this week so this can be avoided in the future.
I was aware of some people having respiratory irritation to breathing sawdust from (usually) exotic hardwoods, but I have never heard of people having a contact dermatitis reaction to coming in contact with the sawdust on their skin. After poking around on the web, it seems that this type of skin reaction to oak is documented, but not very common. I posted this on another forum that I read that is targeted towards woodworking in general, not pen turning specifically, and got several responses from people who have experienced the same thing.
Are any of you allergic to certain species of sawdust coming in contact with your skin? Have any of you seen an allergist for it, and what did the doctor say? We have an appointment for our daughter later this week, but I'm curious to learn what I can in the meantime.
It is possible that this is just a random case of hives and not related to the sawdust exposure, but based on the rash pattern the first morning she woke up with it, I really doubt it. The rash matched exactly the areas of my daughter's skin that were in contact with my sawdust covered shirt, hands, and arms.
Semper Fidelis,
Joshua
