| That is an interesting thought Dave. When I said you need to let the rash get air, I meant once it has blistered, because it needs to dry up to heal once it is over the oozing stage. P.I. can get really ugly and messy when it oozes. If kept bandaged constantly, it will heal more slowly (gauze and band-aid pads are not air-tight but will slow down the drying out process). Now, say you were exposed to P.I. and know it, so you tape up the whole area BEFORE you get a rash, in theory will it prevent getting the rash and subsequent blisters? I am not sure. I doubt it has anything to do with air exposure as the cause, because the reaction occurs beneath, not on top of the skin from the absorbed oil. Perhaps it is the tension on the pores of the skin being covered with the tape, so no rash can actually erupt? Maybe the adhesive in the tape somehow absorbed or displaced the urushiol in the skin cells? Would this mean the tape prevented the rash? Maybe a delayed reaction is coming soon? Or, could it be there just wasn't any urushiol there in those areas to cause a rash in the first place? It would be very interesting if someone did a study on this so we could get answers to these questions. Thanks for your ideas :) |
