Skin allergy to hay (me not my horses)

[ToTheNines]

I carry flakes of hay under my left arm, and pick up the flakes with my right hand. I just got a load of 100 bales of hay, and about the same time, the inside of my left arm and back of my right hand are swollen, red, and itchy. At first I thought it was insect bites, but I did not notice anything biting me, and it seems to get worse after I feed.

Has anyone had a skin reaction to hay? It is coastal bermuda from the local feed store.

[Rubyfree]

I have a terrible contact allergy to hay and sorry to say, it's gotten worse over time. I wear long sleeves and gloves, and if I accidentally touch any I use cortisone cream liberally. If I've been especially sensitive recently, I'll take a benedryl immediately before haying. The rash is as you say- inflamed, irritated, and diabolically itchy. At first it would subside on it's own within a few minutes, but now it would stay for days if I didn't treat it.
I have noticed I don't seem as sensitive to alfalfa- go figure.

[MrWinston]

Try carrying the flakes of hay in a muck basket. It keeps the floor clean as well.

[CatOnLap]

long sleeves?

when we are haying, we go and buy oversize men's long sleeved cotton work shirts to protect our arms for that reason. I don't know anyone whose bare arms will not break out in a scratchy rash after loading a hundred bales of hay into a loft.

It may also help to lubricate the skin with a non allergenic moisturizer prior to handling small amounts of hay- the cream will help prevent the scratches which get the allergens into your skin. My farrier is allergic to hay and he takes a Benadryl when starting out in the morning to prevent a reaction. Not sure if that would help when you're actually handling the stuff.

[Desert Topaz]

I get big red welts from hay. Heck, I get big red welts if I scratch my arm with my fingernail (yes, my skin is incredibly sensitive and this is with allergy meds.) If I'm moving hay around I always wear long sleeves, pants and gloves, no matter what the temperature. Generally, if I'm really careful I can carry a flake to a stall, but I have to make sure I just hold it with my hands.

Each grass is different/a different allergen so you could have no reaction at all to one type and be in misery from another.

[dmalbone]

If you've not ever had this problem with your hay before I might suspect hay mites (which you would NOT see). Our vet think we had a big problem with them here fairly recently. My horse had a horrible allergic to reaction from some unknown source with full-body hives followed by respiratory issues and stocking up. All of this bloodwork was fine... lungs fine, heart fine... the only thing left was allergic reaction. In the meantime we were all getting teeny bumps that turned into big welts all over our bodies. She said shes had horrible infestations at whole huge barns and it was miserable for all the horses and people.

I'm just plain allergic to hay and get welts, itchy, little red bumps when I'm carrying it ALL of the time, so you might just be allergic, but has it always been like this? We started getting bitten all over the rest of our body as well so watch out for that also.

[bludejavu]

I am allergic to certain types of hay although I haven't narrowed down exactly which types it is or perhaps it's a certain weed that is in some hays - I don't really know. But whatever it is, I will itch all over if I don't take great care to handle it carefully. Typical square bales of hay don't bother me but in the last two years we've gone to feeding round bales of horse hay and peeling it off the roll by hand to pass out to our horses. I've had so many violently itchy reactions that I've gotten really careful now. Quite a few times I had to come in and take a shower it was so bad.

[JWB]

Everywhere it pokes you it is essentially "injecting" everything on the hay under your skin, ala Dr's allergy prick test....

So if you've got an allergy to dust, grass, mold, etc, you're going to react. Most people will. I don't have problems with nice T&A or timothy but mostly because it is generally too thick to poke me... Alfalfa, coastal, peanut hay - I cover up to carry that stuff around.

[chai]

I have the same problem, even when I take a flake of grass hay out to my horses in short sleeves. I just live with it and douse my arms with cool water if it gets too uncomfortable. It is very annoying.

[imnotclever]

Everyone uses laundry baskets at the barn where I board to transport flakes of hay from the feed rooms to the horse stalls. It works perfectly! I'm horribly allergic to orchard hay. I usually still sneeze for 5 minutes after I go near the stuff, but I tend to avoid rashes when I use the laundry baskets.

[Kneigh]

Dmalbone - what did you do to get rid of the mites?

[myhorsefly]

I was told, by my feed store, that the mites occur in older hay. I've found this to be true.
EQyss Micro-Tek Gel works great for stopping the itching on your arms (and your horse).