I have just bought Rona Ross sun allergy and Prickly Heat Lotion...It was on another forum, I lived in spain for over 7yrs never got prickly heat..... Moved back to England had a baby and I get it every were but not on my face (thank god) I even get it on a sunbed it comes on the 4th day of either sunbathing or the sunbed........... I used Piz Buin allergy it use to have a purple label on the front, it didn't stop the rash but it didn't iche... but they have repackaged it and I find it dosen't work ........... I suffer with asthma, hay fever and take enough antihistamines to sink a ship so they dont work, I dont belive its caused with heat as I have horses and we show so always on the run dont get it than. I Like a tan but now getting were its so uncomfortable, I have had it now 25yrs.
Only just bought the Rona Ross so I am going to try it out on a sunbed .... keeping everything crossed that it works lol

hi all....am back from gran caneria and it was quite hot especially in the afternoons....and didnt get prickly heat this time....so last time was a one off I hope.....tweetie

When I was in Crete I got pickly heat really bad one of the locals cut a piece off an aol vera Catus and split did down the middle and rubbed in one my arms it was brillent stop itching and all the colour went out of it. now always use aol vera gel (you can get it in asda) very had prickly heat again. mind I now use aol vera gel , shower gel and anything that has it in when I'm on Holiday.

It really does work.

sorry for the spelling loose fingers ha ha . very should be never

I got heatrash on my chest for the first time in years and years yesterday (found I had it today)....not fair...I'm falling to bits Used witchhazel on it...but oucho.

Anything Aloe Vera based and cooling! Oh and cool showers to take the edge of things!

well, the little tablets worked on my recent menorca holiday, and i always use the aloe vera suncream and gel, and i didnt suffer at all

Hi all - just back from Spain - HOT i.e. 35-40 degrees. Daughter used Rona Ross Allergy Gel SPF 15 - no sign of the dreaded PH, for the first time she was able to go to the beach, swim in the sea etc. Previously she has had PH so badly that the sea is really painful. She made sure she showered when she came out of the sea, but forgot one day and she was still alright! Rona Ross has opened up a whole new world of hot holidays for us and realeased Liz for the misery of PH. It may be sticky, but who cares if it works? Thanks RR!!

Happy hols everyone - wish we were just going and not just been!

Hh

Hi,
I have been reading up this forum and it has been very useful. I too, always presumed that I have been suffering from Prickly Heat but now I am not sure - I suppose I should go to see my doctor and he can probably tell me?

I suffer with really bad prickly heat(if we assume that it is prickly heat and not something else) on the tops of my arms. It gets red + sore and tingly and itchy and it often leads on to a little scarring (patchy tanned skin).

I started suffering about 7 years ago when I was 16, I was going on two week holidays in the summer + 1 week holidays in October and suffered really badly to the point of making me cry from the pure frustration of the itching. My parents immediately got me using anithistamines, using them for at least 2 weeks (often up to 2 months) before going on holiday to try to build up the level in me, I took them every day, sometimes twice a day whilst away and they have never stopped me getting it. If I go away for a week the prickly heat (or whatever it is) starts around day 3/4 and then it doesn't go at all while I am away. If I go for two weeks (I haven't been on a two week holiday for 5 years!) I get very patchy sore skin and it spreads all over my arms and onto my shoulders.

One point to make though is that as soon as I have had a shower after a day in the sun on holiday the rash goes down, I don't get it in the evenings or in bed... perhaps it is a reaction to the UV? And as soon as I get on the aeroplane to come home it disappears totally just leaving really patchy skin.

I always used to use sunbeds before a holiday to help prevent burning but decided that I no longer want to use them due to the risk of skin cancer. I know that no medical professional will recommend sunbeds but my mum swears by them preventing her getting prickly heat - does anyone else agree? should I just have a few?

I am going to the Caribbean in November for 2 weeks and I am dreading getting prickly heat/heat rash. Last year I bought the cold spray for sensitive skin and they definitely cooled my skin helping me not to itch but the rash was bad and to be honest was so pleased to come home on day 7. I don't want to be this uncomfortable this year.

To prepare I have -
-Antihistamines - I will start taking them a month before I go.
- I have also got some calomine lotion for when the rash arrives
- Cooling spray, same as I used last year although I have bought Boots own one, I think I will invest in the magicaool prickly heat bottle - sounds like it works quite well.
- High factor sun cream. I am going for Boots Soltan this year with 5star UV protection. I have always used Nivea (Tried Piz Buin once but it made my rash worse) but wonder if I need a change"¦ maybe Nivea is not working for me?

I wonder if I should try to get the steroids or if vitamins or supplements will be of any use? Are steroids as good as people say? I read soemwhere about medicated heat powder too? Anyone ever used that?

I realise that everyone's skin is different so who know's what will work.

Finally, I think this started for me when I starting taking the pill. Perhaps that has something to do with why I get it?

Finally, I think this started for me when I starting taking the pill. Perhaps that has something to do with why I get it?

There's a really good chance that they are connected - your oestrogen levels can have a huge effect on how sensitive your skin is to exposure to sunshine. The fact that your rash disappears so quickly once you are out of the sun suggests that it isn't a case of prickly heat but of photosensitivity. If that is the case then antihistamines will help relieve the itch but won't prevent it happening and sunbed usage might actually make it worse.

In their Soltan range, Boots do one specially for sun sensitive skin (it comes in white bottles instead of the orange ones for their standard range) and it comes in a wide range of SPF ratings as well as being rated 5 star for UV protection. I've used it successfully for years and wouldn't use anything else now. The higher the factor the more it needs rubbing in but it's worth it - as is using more than you perhaps expect.

However, yours does seem to be a very severe case so I would urge you to go and see your GP about this. They can refer you to a consultant dermatologist who can conduct a whole range of possible tests for you that will help them determine what causes this reaction and the best way of preventing and/or treating it. Be warned that they will tell you that the best protection is to avoid sunbathing and NOT to try and acquire a tan but even they will acknowledge that that is not always possible.

On the whole dermatologists take the view that a tanned skin is a damaged skin and that not only does it increase the risk of skin cancer but perhaps more importantly for those of us with any vanity -tanning will make your skin much more prone to wrinkling as you get older. So, if they tell you to try and prevent exposing your skin to the sun take consolation in the fact that you'll be preserving your complexion and will look younger in your old age. That's what I keep telling myself! But despite using nothing less than SPF 35 even when spending the day under a sun umbrella and SPF 50 when I have no other option than to be out in full sunshine, I always come back from Cuba with a tan, albeit not a very deep one. This time I even did so despite actually spending 4/5 days out my two weeks indoors as a result of being ill!

SM

Hi All

I used the Steroids for my holiday back in July - The Doctor prescribed 8 per day - lowering dose each day.
It is the first time I have been on holiday in 15 years and not suffered - however when I started to lower the dose by day 7 (2 a day) I started to get PLE a bit - but heh I was going home then so not a problem I had to get referred to a skin specialist for the Doc to give me them and am going next week so will keep you posted as to what they have to say

I notice that antihistamines seem to come in two versions each with a different active ingredient. Which ingredient should I be looking for?

Many thanks

I buy the ones with cetrizine,didn't know there were different ones.

I used to suffer quite badly with prickly heat and it was definitely at it's worst when I was on the pill.

However, I found that if I avoided anything with perfume in it - ie, no deoderant in the daytime, certainly no perfume on my skin, no perfumed soaps or shower gels (Simple Soap or Neutrogena was okay) and if I put any "smelly" stuff on of an evening I had to make sure I showered on getting back to the accommodation at night and again in the morning before going out in the sun.

Some good antihistamine on a standby basis always came in handy too!

I suffer from allergic rhinitis and now take 5mg of antihistamine on a daily basis and have found that my allergic reactions to mosquito bites are also kept more at bay since being on the antihistamine. I take cetirizine hydrochloride and I live pretty much in all year round sunshine since moving abroad 7yrs ago.

Shell
Limassol, Cyprus

Thanks to you both. I'll look for the Cetrizine ones. I think the other ones have Laratadine, or somthing like that.

For Cetirizine Hydrochloride - I buy mine online from Chemist Direct uk website and get them posted to me at a fraction of the price of buying over the counter.

A pack of 30 tablets (10mg) gives me 60 days supply at 0.59p a packet. As I have to take antihistamine everyday now, it's a great saving.

holiday 08 was fine with homeopathy tablets but 09 and 10 they did not work. last year i got the rash really bad on my chest and legs but only on the second week. i'm sure its a build up of the suncreams blocking the pores. strange thing was that i was using an ordinary cream when it first came up so i quickly sprayed the areas with the calypso dry oil spray and the rash practically went away before my eyes!
today i went into holland and barrett to ask about beta carotene and they hadn't heard of this being good for prickly heat only that it is a skin protector. they said it would be good to take anyway but also recommended i took quercetin plus vitamin c. they said it works as an allergy prevention so therefore works like antihistamine would. i bought both as they said i could take the 2 together and shouldn't need antihistamine.she also said as i'm a smoker the lower dose of beta carotene is ok. anyone else heard of these?
don't go way til july but will report back.

I read in a magazine about Boots Soltan Sensitive Hypo-allergenic SPF sun cream as being good for preventing the prickly sun allergy.

Has anyone tried this product? If so, do you have any feedback please?

Thanks

Personally, I wouldn't use anything else since discovering it - I find it extemely effective for sun sensitive skin but this is not the same as prickly heat and I'm not sure from your post which one you are asking about.

SM