Wood allergies

[Birdbow76]

You can get a steroid shot in the hip that will take care of allergies for about 6 months. It makes your system not overreact to allergens. I get one every spring and it's a game changer.

[wood carver 2]

I’m waiting to get an appointment with an allergist. The steroid shot is something that I will ask about.
Dave.

[dbeaver]

Hey guys just approaching this from perhaps a slightly different angle. And its just food for thought.

Allergies are an immune response and immune function is deeply tied to your quality of living, i.e. stressors of any kind including diet, other illness, sleep and mental load.  Theres no one thing at fault most often but a very complicated set of systems and interactions.  It might not be easy but can you think back on your general quality of health when these allergic responses began?  How have you been since otherwise, can diet or sleep be looked at, could total body inflammation be reduced to give the immune system a rest from being overreactive? these are some questions to think for yourselves.   My wife is a nutritionist(which has gained me some new perspective)  she has all sorts of extreme allergic reactions, but depending on the totality of circumstance and her ability to maintain wellness her reactions to known allergens will change.

[Kirkll]

Hmmmmm..... "A nutritionist with all sorts of extreme allergic reactions...."   Does she have a degree in this field? or was it an acquired title?

I'm a firm believer in a good balanced diet, but i'm not big on vitamin supplements myself, but many folks swear by them....

[dbeaver]

her lifetime battle with allergies and eczema has driven her to this profession. shes credentialed with a degree and is board certified with the NANP, just completing required 500 hours with accredited mentorship cohort.  Its as much physcial and chemical mechanics taking place inside of our complex biological system just like the physics in the bows we build, and theres a balance in optimizing them just the same.  You be surprised as i see you assume nutrition is a field of supplements.  The old lady's preferred angle of approach is through eating animal based proteins and fats, as wild as you can get, to maintain the benefits of fat stored vitamins which metabolize far better and without loss than the supplements often found in plant formats that must be converted. I know this is an allergies post but i stand by there being nuance to inflammation attacks.

[Kirkll]

her lifetime battle with allergies and eczema has driven her to this profession. shes credentialed with a degree and is board certified with the NANP, just completing required 500 hours with accredited mentorship cohort.  Its as much physcial and chemical mechanics taking place inside of our complex biological system just like the physics in the bows we build, and theres a balance in optimizing them just the same.  You be surprised as i see you assume nutrition is a field of supplements.  The old lady's preferred angle of approach is through eating animal based proteins and fats, as wild as you can get, to maintain the benefits of fat stored vitamins which metabolize far better and without loss than the supplements often found in plant formats that must be converted. I know this is an allergies post but i stand by there being nuance to inflammation attacks.

Excellent info... Trust me... I assume nothing in life my friend.... I ask questions and learn. My daughter is a practicing doctor in Psychology. 10 years of schooling and residency before getting licensed. So to say i'm open minded would be an understatement.   Our bodies are unbelievably  complex organisms with  different physiological and psychological characteristics depending on the individual. I highly respect the studies of both.... I'm just a stupid old carpenter / bowyer myself.    Kirk

[wood carver 2]

Thanks for your input guys. What you both just wrote rings true with me and is a big reason why I get into arguments with my doctor. She acts as though everyone came off a production line and we’re all the same. Fortunately, I rarely see her. When I get an appointment at the clinic, I usually see a registered nurse, who I like a lot more. She treats patients as individuals and listens to what I say.
I have an appointment with an allergist in a few days. Hopefully he’ll work with me to find a solution.
Dave.

[Roy from Pa]

IPE tore me up years ago and messed up my immune system.
Then purple heart did me in again 2 years ago.
I still get rashes not even being around wood.

[wood carver 2]

One thing I have learned is that once you become allergic to one type of wood, it won’t be long before you start to notice that other woods are beginning to bother you.
Epoxy is another sensitiser.  Avoid getting it on your skin. Even a little bit. It has a cumulative effect.
Isn’t it fun getting older?
Dave.

[Roy from Pa]

Isn’t it fun getting older?

Ole Kenny M says it's fun and he's an old bugger:)

[Kirkll]

I'm going to be 69 in a couple weeks.... Some days i don't feel a day over 40..... It's those other days that i'm not fond of, and i creek like an old rocking chair.

A seriously big one to stay away from is getting acetone on your hands. Getting any type of solvent on your bare hands isn't advised, but acetone is a bad one. I've washed my hands in lacquer thinner for years wiping off epoxy. but i use gloves a lot more now. The stuff really dries your skin out, but i've had no other effects with that.

[Roy from Pa]

Yup Kirk.
Ole Kenny's been dried up for a while too:)

[garyschuler]

Yeah Woodcarver. Those oily woods kick my butt for years. Finally said to heck with it. The smooth-on epoxy literally puts me over the edge, I get itches and rashes. Can’t literally touch any part of my body for days, or I develop a rash. Even if I get sone on my clothes, and wash them several times, I still get a rash at those spots. I work a lot with Myrtle wood and so far so good and it smells nice. I wear face masks and have vacuum system going, anytime I am turning or sanding and have air filtration system on. I have worked in dusty, smoky, enclosed areas most of my life with some nasty chemicals thrown in. I’m sure it is a combination of those and the years that add to the issues. Protect your lungs Guy’s. It sucks to be down to one.

[wood carver 2]

I first noticed that it was pau ferro that made me itch a few years ago, but lately it seems like walnut gets me stuffed up and sneezing. Problem is that I have literally tons of walnut. It’s manageable as long as I take care to use my air filter and dust collection and shower as soon as I’m done with it. Walnut isn’t an oily tropical wood, but it has something in it that bothers me. I know that walnut trees put some kind of toxin into the soil around them that keeps most other plants from growing nearby.
Dave.

[wood carver 2]

Kirk, I’m just as guilty when it comes to cleaning up with thinners, although I don’t do that anymore. Sometimes convenience overrules common sense.
Dave.