What it's like being allergic to water
By Fiona Cameron // 大象传媒 The Social contributor
Growing up I enjoyed taking ridiculously long and hot showers but when I turned sixteen this very rapidly became a thing of the past.
Around this age, I began to notice that showering was now becoming a painful experience. Within fifteen minutes of showering my skin would begin to feel like it was on fire and incredibly itchy. I would also be covered in these red splotches called Hives where the water had made contact with my skin.
Five years later and I now know that my condition is called Aquagenic Urticaria.
My Bizarre Allergy!
Fiona Cameron has a mild form of Aquagenic Urticaria.
Aquagenic Urticaria—more commonly known by its informal name ‘water allergy’—is the name given to the condition in which those affected have a reaction when their skin comes into contact with water. If you haven’t heard of it before don’t worry you’re not alone!
Long hot showers are a thing of the past for me.
Aquagenic Urticaria is an incredibly rare allergy, while it’s difficult to provide a completely accurate figure of recorded cases, an article published by the 大象传媒 in 2016 revealed that the Anaphylaxis Campaign believes that there are: “35 known cases in the entire world” , talk about rare!
Unfortunately, due to how rare the condition little funding has been provided to research the condition and therefore it is unknown why some people develop the condition or what exactly causes the reaction. Until more research is done there is little that can be done to ease the symptoms other than limiting contact with water and if possible taking antihistamines.
Personally, I am only affected by warm to hot water which means that showering, sweating and kissing cause me to breakout into hives. However, unlike many of those who suffering from the condition I’m actually quite lucky because I only have a mild form of the condition and therefore I have not had to change aspects of my lifestyle to accommodate the condition.
For those who with more severe reactions however, this can lead to major lifestyle changes. In some extreme cases, people with the condition cannot leave the house if it rains because of the severe reaction it will cause.
Also, in order to reduce showering, many maintain short haircuts and limit washing their hair to once or twice a week. In this respect, even though I’m allergic to one of the fundamental aspects of life, I’m still able to live a normal life which I definitely don’t take for granted!
