Allergy To Polyamide?

[tearinghair]

I've been getting itchiness and a raised rash just below the knee where my sock tops stop. The sock material is apparently 100% polyamide. Is there any link between this and latex? I need to know as I'm due to have an operation in the next few months, and a latex allergy might cause a problem; though it could just be a side effect of any one of the three medications I'm currently taking, all of which list itchy skin as a possible complication.

[bednobs]

if you are allergic to the socks, why is the rash confined to one small area? Buy some different socks made of something else and see if the probem persists

[Sqad]

It could.....it may not be the cause.........but it might.
What are your 3 medications?

[tearinghair]

ibuprofen, ranitidine, and remedeine forte which I think is a combination of codeine and paracetamol.

[tearinghair]

it's the reinforced area at the top of the socks, bednobs; if I wear the same type in ankjle length the same problem occurs. The point is, is there something in the socks which is akin to latex - because I can certainly change (and have changed) the socks but I need to know whether to warn the hospital not to use latex gloves.

[Sqad]

Well it's not your drugs and Bednobs makes a good point, but i still think that contact dermatitis is a good shout.
Contact the hospital.

[tearinghair]

Thanks Sqad. No immediate rush as there's a long waiting list.

[Buenchico]

The following is probably no more than an irrelevant anecdote but I'll post it anyway - as it just might be relevant to you:

Many years ago, my mother mentioned to me that my father had been getting lots of rashes and itchiness on his legs, just at the top of his socks. She put it down to having recently switched to using a biological washing powder and hoped that going back to a non-bio product would resolve what she took to be an allergy problem. However that didn't seem to make a lot of difference and my father's mystery problem continued.

It was several months later, when I was visiting their house, that I realised that the problem had started at a far more significant moment than when simply changing washing powder; it was when they'd moved house. So I took a very close look at the carpet in their living room and found that it was heavily infested with fleas (which had presumably been introduced by the previous owners' cats). All it then took to solve my father's problem was to spray the carpet with flea killer.

As I wrote above, that story probably isn't relevant in your case but if you've got a cat or a dog it might be worth spraying your carpets with a suitable pesticide, just in case!

[tearinghair]

Thanks Buenchico. I do have two cats, but I'm fairly sure that this wasn't flea bites - it was one long raised itchy area round the whole of the leg. But I have some spray so I 'll give the carpts a going over.