Urticating hair resistance?

[Spider-man 2]

I am not sure you have had yours long enough. I really didn't start to notice the increased sensativity until I had mine over 4 years. I noticed in your profile that you have only had yours since 2003, which is no more than about 2 years. Perhaps you will be fortunate and not experience any problems, but I wouldn't be surprised if you became more sensative in a couple more years.

Guess only time will tell...

 

[shogun804]

for some reason on the rare occasion i have one of my avics out for pictures they sometimes crawl over my hand and stuff like that, and it seems that i get a mild reaction to them but nothing terrible.

 

[Snipes]

any ideas why it would get worse as time goes on? That seemed contrary to what i would think so that kinda puzzles me.

 

[CreepyCrawly]

any ideas why it would get worse as time goes on? That seemed contrary to what i would think so that kinda puzzles me.

Yeah, that's what I'd thought too. Most of the time people build up a resistance to things that irritate them, but it seems that for some reason these bristles work the opposite way. I probably wouldn't have ever really believed it if that's not exactly what happened to me. I think it would be very interesting to find out why it seems that people become more bothered by them as time goes by.

 

[bagheera]

any ideas why it would get worse as time goes on? That seemed contrary to what i would think so that kinda puzzles me.

Allergic reactions are a medical mystery. Sometimes they just go away without treatment. Sometimes repeated exposure causes increased sensitivity and massive reactions in some people while others continue to be immune. I have outgrown most of my childhood allergies, while acquiring a few new ones.
Go figure!!

 

[Ultimate Instar]

Stan Schultz recently posted that the urticating hairs have irritating chemical compounds on them. I would guess that developing an allergic reaction is due to repeated exposure to those chemicals.

Karen N.

 

[Spider-man 2]

Stan Schultz recently posted that the urticating hairs have irritating chemical compounds on them. I would guess that developing an allergic reaction is due to repeated exposure to those chemicals.

Karen N.

Wouldn't the body build up an immune resistance through over-exposure or repeated exposure in a case like this? Doesn't quite make sense for the human body to get worse and worse though repeated exposure. It's kinda how the body can build a resistance to the same strain of a cold if it reenters the body after the first exposure to it.

 

[Snipes]

exactly. Thats how i can pick nettles without gloves. My body has become so used to it, the poison is no biggie. I actually have heard that allergies get worse the more u r exposed to them, but what causes allergies? Is repeated exposure wat causes them? I have no idea, but it is still very interesting.

 

[Ultimate Instar]

The immune system is not a well-understood part of the human body due to its complexity. Your body needs the flexibility to adapt its defenses to new invading organisms but still be able to recognize its own cells. Unfortunately, sometimes it screws up and you get allergic reactions or autoimmune diseases. You can develop allergies when you repeatedly expose the body to mildly inflammatory compounds; at least it starts out as mild and then progresses to something more serious. For example, beekeepers have been known to develop allergies to bee stings after several years. On the other hand, like you pointed out, you can eliminate an allergy by repeated exposure to small amounts of the compound. If you can figure out what causes one but not the other, you'll get the Nobel Prize for Medicine.

Karen N.

 

[Jmadson13]

hrmm I seem to have no problems with U hairs on any of my T's but some of the larger ones. A similar experience happened to me but it involved a five inch something B. smithi and the shopkeeper was itching maniacly within minutes but I felt no ill effects

 

[Jasonic]

I really never get nailed that bad. (slight redness, a little itchy)
But my girlfriend has.

I would think the victims body hair has something to do with it. I have body hair on my arms, and it seems to have made it harder for the hairs to touch my skin, therefor less visible reaction.

I will say that my reactions have generally become more dramatic over time however.

odd for sure

-j

 

[Charnoble]

Me

Yeah, I am a lifelong suffering of many allergies and much asthma. I have anaphylactic reactions to many things. Some triggers I have had since birth, a lot I have developed through constant exposure. Like Beef, ate it all the time, now I can't eat it withought shooting myself full of epinepherin *sad, I miss beef*. Since my allergies are like 1 in 1 million bad, or a lot worse than most of the planet (so bad I am on the disabled students program at my school =) I stand out and a lot of people tell me that I should just expose myself in small amounts and build immunity. This is a common misconception that pisses me off more than anything (almost as bad as people say "maybe your imagining it", well if they were only there when my lungs collapsed). Allergies are an immune system disease, meaning that the immune system isn't doing the best it could do. That is probably why the whole building up immunity doesn't work - because it isn't working .. . anyway people can have it to lesser degrees than others and some non-at all. I am expecting to start rashing up some day from my T, but until then I am being extra careful to not expose myself the those hairs. I need to prolong my non-allergicness. Another note, reactions to allergens can also decrease with less exposure, so there is hope! I use to be allergic to cats and dogs, I got them out of the house and got a rabbit later. Now I am not allergic to cats and dogs but now severely allergic to rabbits! Oh, my life is great. Enough said, have fun with your scratching I will join you shortly!

Me,
Charnoble

P.S. I am not a doctor so anything is subject to being wrong and it is early in the morning.

 

[cloud711]

im a newbie and i want to be prepared if something like that happens. what should i do if ever i was flicked with hairs?

 

[Code Monkey]

Psa

If there is one tip I could give the new keepers, it is NEVER work with your new world species' tanks without gloves and NEVER handle them except on the rare occasion you feel the need to give a demonstration.

I've been exposed to urticating hairs for well over 20 years. When I was an adolescent I got a mild itch at the most and never worried about it. Now I'd wish I had worried about it and took precautions to avoid exposure. I am so sensitive now that I can't even do something as minor as fill and change out water dishes with tongs without picking up enough airborn hairs to have hives if I don't wear latex gloves. Bottom line is that I now have to wear latex gloves for doing anything in the spider room and I'll still sometimes wind up with a red ring where the gloves stop and the stray hive on my arms or the back of my neck where a single, tiny airborn hair landed.

As an example of how bad it can get, last weekend in a feat of human stupidity I decided to wash out a couple of kritter keeper type enclosures that were already emptied and maybe half a dozen water dishes. I figured since the job was so small that I'd skip "wasting" a pair of gloves, oh stupid mind.

I wound up with extremely swollen hands with hives on them and hives on my arms where water droplets landed. The hives faded within 24 hours, but my hands continued to burn and itch for about four days.

---------

Although the comments about the spottiness of allergies getting better or worse is true in the general, I believe that urticating hairs are probably one of those things like mosquito bites: technically you might find some small percentage of people who never become allergic, but the overwhelming majority of humans do become allergic because of the nature of the proteins involved. If you're not bothered by the hairs now and you continue to not take precautions, you will almost certainly be bothered by them one of these days.

 

[cryptly]

im a newbie and i want to be prepared if something like that happens. what should i do if ever i was flicked with hairs?

Wash the area where the hairs are. Have a tube of hydrocortisone cream near by just in case you have a more severe reaction to the hairs than mild itching.

I've found that those sticky rollers used to remove lint and pet hair from clothes works well with getting irritating hairs off the skin.

 

[cloud711]

my g rosea is still small about one and a half inches long from head to abdomen. it is small and fragile is it capable of flicking hair on me? or only the adults can flick hairs?

 

[cryptly]

my g rosea is still small about one and a half inches long from head to abdomen. it is small and fragile is it capable of flicking hair on me? or only the adults can flick hairs?

They can flick hairs at any size, but I've noticed less of a reaction from the smaller ones than the larger ones. I'm not sure why. The smaller size can't kick as far, or maybe kicks less hair?

Do as Code Monkey says if you're worried about a bad reaction to the hairs, or worried about developing a severe reaction. Wear long sleeves and gloves, and use long tongs rather than reaching into the tank with your hands.

 

[Code Monkey]

my g rosea is still small about one and a half inches long from head to abdomen. it is small and fragile is it capable of flicking hair on me? or only the adults can flick hairs?

Nope, slings, juveniles, sub-adults, etc. can "hair" you. That little teeny tiny dark patch of hair you see on the 2nd instars of NW tarantulas? It's urticating hair.

 

[Code Monkey]

Wear long sleeves and gloves, or use long tongs rather than reaching into the tank with your hands.

Correction: wear gloves and use tongs. You'll stir up enough hair even with tongs that your hands that are in the vicinity of the open tank will get a nice dose.

 

[cryptly]

Correction: wear gloves and use tongs. You'll stir up enough hair even with tongs that your hands that are in the vicinity of the open tank will get a nice dose.

That "or" should've been "and". :wall: I fixed that now. (must remember preview post!!!)

Thanks for pointing that out.