Sock-line rash - I know there was a thread about this!

[Harambe]

Hi - just back. We had fun, but about half way thru the trip I developed a rash right on the sock line of both legs! Weird looking thing - not raised or itchy, or bumpy. Smooth, and bright red! Looks like a million busted blood vessels (I know - sounds gross but it's freaking me out!).

Anyone else get this, and how long did you have it!

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

It sounds like your socks were too tight around your leg. The elastic might be made from latex. Maybe you are sensitive to latex. Try Neosporin or Hydrocortisone cream to help it heal.

 

[kapica3]

I know a while back I read about how in parts of Disneyworld the pavement is made using recycled glass. I am pretty sure this is what I read. They were warning people who are very fair skinned of a rash like sunburn on only the bottoms of your legs where the reflection of the sun would cause more intense rays. Although I can't imagine that you would have been in shorts in January (i didn't check Orlando weather but I suppose it is long pants weather).

 

[Debbru]

Hi,

I know exactly what you mean because this happens to me every time I'm at Disney for more than 3 or 4 days. The first time it happened I went to a first aid station and the nurse told me it was a combination of sunlight reflecting off the pavement, all the walking, and lousy circulation. She said they refer to it as "old lady syndrome"! Oh my god, I was only 30 at the time LOL!!!

 

[Harambe]

OMG! I had a feeling it had something to do with being old! (And overweight!).

Debbru - how long did it take to fade away?

 

[bigtinkfun]

Sock Line Rash happened to me when I went in 2002! It just about drove me nuts trying figure out the cause! And trying to treat it.

The only thing I could figure was that it was the chlorine in the water at Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon (I practically live at the water parks!), but even that didn't make sense, because I didn't have the rash anywhere else, just around the area where my sock line was...

Wow! Thanks for the info about the recycled glass in the walkways. Who'd have thunk it, hunh?? From now on, I'll be alot more careful about sunscreening that area. I'm as pale as a ghost and I burn really easily.

It took about two weeks to go away when I got home. I used Aveeno anti-itch cream and hydrocortisone creams on it and it slowly went away.

 

[NotUrsula]

This is a real medical condition, and it's not really caused by sidewalks, tight socks, or age. It is an allergic reaction to solar radiation, called Polymorphous Light Eruption, or PMLE, aka "Sun poisoning." http://www.dermnetnz.org/index.html

It is usually caused by being suddenly exposed to much more solar radiation than you are used to; which means that at WDW, folks from more northerly latitudes are the most common victims, or folks who normally spend very little time outdoors. The most commonly-known occurrence of it is among Scandinavians who go on vacation in Spain, doctors on the Costa del Sol know it very well.

Once you have it, the only way to get rid of it is to let it go away on its own. Hydrocortisone cream helps the pain and itch a bit. Taking antihistamines and using a lot of full-spectrum sunscreen before getting exposed to the sun tends to be the best prevention, other than keeping all your limbs well-covered until after sundown. Some studies have shown that using a tanning bed for awhile before travelling to the sunny place will
help "harden" the skin so that it doesn't react to the ultraviolet light.

Women apparently get it twice as often as men, and most people who are going to get it get it for the first time in their 30's. The bad news is that once it happens, the odds of it happening again go way up. I got it the first time at 36, and I got it several more times until my dermatologist had me take preventative antihistamine starting several days before going on vacation. I haven't gotten it since I started doing that; Claritin is my med of choice.

BTW: Neosporin and creams containing benzocaine will make it worse, don't try that!

 

[phamton]

Mine was not sun allergy. I moved from south Texas (near the beaches) where there is plenty of sun.

It was also not heat rash as I got it at night at Downtown Disney on a cool night (no sun shining and no reflection off the pavement). I had not been swimming and had not changed detergent. I noticed my legs swelling a little bit and then felt a burning sensation. I tried antihistimines with no change.

Mine was from breaking capillaries caused by edema and then the impact of walking on pavement for a long period of time. It usually stops at the sockline because that is where the edema stops. It can't get past the elastic on the socks. The next time I got it, I was wearing light socks and the swelling and bright redness went below the sock line but stopped at the shoes. Support hose, expecially the kind that diabetics wear or the kind they give you in the hospital after surgery, will help with the swelling and keep the capiallaries from leaking blood under the skin.

It is very common with people who have been on their feet for a long time. Women tend to swell more because of hormones. Also avoid aspirin and ibuprofin because it tends to thin the blood and makes the capillaries leak more.

The rash isn't a ture rash because it is all under the skin. It is bright red and doesn't itch like allergies but may be hot to the touch and may burn somewhat.

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/dermatology/messages/30668a.html

 

[snuggles]

I've had it before too. No idea what causes it but it does go away after a few days. It's so werid looking isnt it?

 

[phamton]

I just did some reading on the sun allergy that Not Ursala mentioned. My rash is nothing like that. The sun allergy causes blisters and lesions. Mine is completely under the skin and the skin itself shows no trauma. My skin is smooth and no sign of hives, blisters, small bumps, or lesions. Under the skin is it is bright blood-red, not anything like a true rash.

 

[Harambe]

Yes phamton - that's exactly what mine looks like - no bumps, just all under the skin! And the bad part is that the bed at AKL, altho it felt comfortable, left me with a back ache - so I took lots of Advil! Oh boy - probably the wrong thing to do!

Even today - it looks like it has faded a bit.

Thanks for making me feel better! I thought that it was going to be a permanent thing!

 

[dgaston]

I had a red rash (no bumps, just discoloration) that stopped above my sock line. We stopped in at First Aid in Epcot, and they said it was due to sunlight reflecting off the concrete. They advised that hydrocortisone wouldn't improve it, and to be sure to spend some time in the pool or in cool water. Also said women were more prone to develop it.

 

[Debbru]

Hi Harambe,

It gradually fades away after I'm home and not walking so much after a week or two. And yes, mine is definitely not a bumpy, itchy rash, but rather the "broken blood vessels under the skin" look.

 

[Kristi1357]

Thanks for posting this! This happens to me during every single Disney trip and I never had any idea what it was. At least I am not alone.

Kristi

 

[NotUrsula]

Sorry about the mis-read; I missed the part about the blood vessels. PMLE can be smooth, though it is usually lots of tiny pinpoint bumps; my dermatologist tells me that blisters and lesions are rather rare, at least among Americans.

There are a lot of folks who post here about a rash on the legs and say that they have gotten the "glass in the sidewalks" spiel from WDW first aid. While intense reflections would worsen PMLE in the region of the ankles, I don't think it would have any effect on edema at all. PMLE tends to be insanely itchy and burns very badly, though water immersion does tend to soothe it somewhat.
With PMLE, the skin usually looks uniformly red, with the bumps a slightly darker shade.

So, it looks like there are two distinct "Disney leg rashes"; if you have little bumps and lots of pain and itching, it's probably PMLE from the UV exposure, but if you have a distinct cut line from socks, no bumps, and a blood-vessel speckle pattern, it's probably edema from walking much more than usual.

 

[phamton]

I think you are right, Not Ursula. There are probably many different rashes. The one I get doesn't itch but burns just s little. It fades away in a day or two as the blood is reabsorbed.

I thought it was funny about what the Epcot first aid said, because they told me the same thing. I had gotten the "rash" the night before at downtown disney. The next morning we went to Epcot so I stopped at the first aid station to ask them. They told me the reflection thing too and gave me some ointment to put on it. I showed them that some of the rash was below the sockline where no sun rays could have reached and told them I got it at night. They had no answers after that.

I've had heat rash before which I usually get on my chest. Heat rash is bumpy and itches terribly. I've also gotten sunburned more times than most as I have blonde hair and fair skin and it isn't that either. It is bleeding right underneath the skin. The reason is doesn't look like a bruise is it is not deep under the skin but exactly beneath the skin so we see the blood. It does fade away to light yellow within a few days and then disappears completely.

 

[YangYang]

I, too, have been a victim of the Disney rash. I don't wear socks so I don't have a sock line but I do get blotchy red areas on my lower legs. They burn and if I scratch them they will begin to itch. On my last trip to Disney, I had lost 75 pounds and wasn't bothered by it at all. I attributed that to the weight loss. It would make sense that it was related to circulation since I am sure my circulation improved as a result of the weight loss. Of course, the last trip was at Thanksgiving so the heat might contribute to it as well. I'm going back in April so we'll see how I do then (and hopefully will be 100 pounds lighter!)

 

[phamton]

I'm glad you mentioned the weight-loss. On RADP they said the rash effects those with the 4 F's: fat, forty, fair-skinned, and female.

I'm female and have fair skin but not fat and I'm over 40 But I do tend to get a little swelling in my feet and hands though after a full day at the theme parks.

 

[Harambe]

I'm so much a "4 F's", I'd say I'd have to get promoted to a "5 F".

Today, the rash is still thee but has faded about 80%.

I am starting Induction tomorrow with DH - and boy, is this a wake-up call!

 

[phamton]

I'm glad it is fading. I know the first time it happened to me I thought it might be permanent. Since I already have some spider veins and they don't go away, I was afraid this would be permanent too.like spider veins. Luckily is fades in a few days.

Since moving to Orlando we hit the theme parks (WDW and Universal) almost weekly and so I have gotten "the rash" numerous times. I haven't been wearing shorts the last few months and still get it with jeans on so that blows the sun reflection theory, at least for me. But now I can recognize the signs before it happens (it starts with sudden slight burning feeling in my legs.) When I feel it coming on, I get off my feet and elevate them for awhile and don't take aspirin or advil for a few days before going to the parks. I've been rash-free for a month now.

Bev