Anybody Seen This Before? Stick With Me For A Few Sentences, Please...

[ever onward]

Yesterday morning I woke up with a rash above the middle of my upper lip. Throughout the day it spread further side to side, and more showed up just under my bottom lip. This wasn't particularly surprising; I have somewhat sensitive skin and do get the inexplicable rash once in a while.

 

Then last evening I was reading and writing in a journal, and I caught myself smoothing the metal cap of my pen across the skin above my lip (which I stopped doing instantly because it made my rash itch like crazy).

 

And then it hit me: The night before the rash showed up I had been writing with my very first Nakaya--and I had rubbed its Urushi across my skin exactly where the rash formed. (I hope this is not completely weird. If so--sorry. Apparently I'm weird.)

 

Well. Does anyone have any idea if gently washing the outside of my Nakaya would preclude this from happening again? I don't intend to *purposely* do this to myself in the future, but I guess I'm realizing it's a habit. I'm also worried that I might get a rash on my hand, too, in time.

 

Any thoughts or wisdome someone can share?

 

Thank you,

eo

p.s. And thanks to those of you who read past the first paragraph.

[Nashten]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxicodendron_vernicifluum

That seems to be what you're looking for.

Similar to poison ivy in toxicity/rash making abilities.

[wallylynn]

what he said.

 

" The sap contains the allergenic compound urushiol, which gets its name from this species' Japanese name urushi (漆?). Urushiol is the oil found in poison ivy that causes a rash."

[ever onward]

Hm. Thank you.

 

"Once [urushiol is] hardened, reactions are possible but less common."

 

Sigh.

 

So....I guess cleaning the pen won't make much difference.

 

[ever onward]

http://www.urushi-kobo.com/rash!.html

 

Oh my. Seven DAYS later the redness will go away? And my case looks worse than that one. (Sorry for the TMI.)

 

Oy. I'm glad I work out of my house.

 

eo

Edited June 7, 2013 by ever onward

[lunareclipse]

I recall reading that urushi can take many months to fully cure...I'll look for a proper reference. I understand that's part of the reason the Tame-Sukaski pens appear lighter & show the base color more over time.

 

Perhaps once the urushi on your pen has cured further, it won't tend to cause a rash anymore? I certainly hope that'd the case! I'll follow up if I can find more on the subject.

 

I have a couple of Nakayas, and they haven't caused any rashes. Perhaps your pen was more recently manufactured than mine were when I bought them. Even now, mine are still visibly curing...

 

My blue ascending dragon Nakaya pen has lightened noticeably since I purchased it a year ago, so the darkest color is a now deep teal (rather than nearly black).

 

My new Chinese Pond Turtle tame-sukashi pen, purchased about a month ago (though I don't know when it was produced - it does have the new feed) has areas of black with just the slightest hint of green. I expect these will lighten over time, like the urushi on my dragon pen did.

[dorothynotgale]

Thank you for posting about this. I'm severely allergic to urushiol, and now I know not to buy those pens. Ever.

 

I hope your rash gets better soon. Hydrocortisone cream and calamine lotion might help. If the bumps pop, wash it off FAST and don't let the fluid touch any other skin, or it will spread.

[ever onward]

I recall reading that urushi can take many months to fully cure...I'll look for a proper reference. I understand that's part of the reason the Tame-Sukaski pens appear lighter & show the base color more over time.

 

Perhaps once the urushi on your pen has cured further, it won't tend to cause a rash anymore? I certainly hope that'd the case! I'll follow up if I can find more on the subject.

 

I have a couple of Nakayas, and they haven't caused any rashes. Perhaps your pen was more recently manufactured than mine were when I bought them. Even now, mine are still visibly curing...

 

My blue ascending dragon Nakaya pen has lightened noticeably since I purchased it a year ago, so the darkest color is a now deep teal (rather than nearly black).

 

My new Chinese Pond Turtle tame-sukashi pen, purchased about a month ago (though I don't know when it was produced - it does have the new feed) has areas of black with just the slightest hint of green. I expect these will lighten over time, like the urushi on my dragon pen did.

 

 

Thank you--I did find a reference (after getting the first responses here) to curing and its relationship to rashes, and that a) rashes are less likely once the urushi cures, and it can take some time for the urushi to cure. One person said s/he'd found that it cured more quickly in humid rather than cool environments (which seems non-intuitive to me). I'm comforted that at least this will go away eventually. I was NOT keen on the idea of selling my first (and then possibly only) Nakaya.

 

My pen was freshly made, I think--I had to wait about two months for the next Naka-ai to be availablel at nibs.com.

 

Oh, I envy your beautiful turtle & dragon pens. I'm sure you love them.

 

Rash or no, having a Nakaya in hand for the first time has definitely whetted my appetite for more. But for me each purchase would be a months-long saving process and moratorium on buying other pens...but I'm thinking about it anyway. Maybe I'll save in two streams, one being a longer time and higher monetary goal so I can get one of those dragon or turtle or cat or raden pens. Are there any frogs or lizards? I'm into frogs and lizards.

 

Thank you for posting about this. I'm severely allergic to urushiol, and now I know not to buy those pens. Ever.

 

I hope your rash gets better soon. Hydrocortisone cream and calamine lotion might help. If the bumps pop, wash it off FAST and don't let the fluid touch any other skin, or it will spread.

 

Thanks a lot. My husband got me some cortisone cream and it is what's keeping me sane today. And ugh, the bumps may POP? Disgusting.

 

Well, just so you know: I do understand, as lunareclipse said, that CURED urushi doesn't have this effect. Then again, there's always that one case that doesn't follow the rules....I

 

ciao,

eo

Edited June 7, 2013 by ever onward

[Sasha Royale]

Thanks. This is good to know and store for future use. One can be sensitive to

so many things on industrial surfaces. I will be more careful.

I don't put my pens to my face, but I can dream of "pen chewers" biting poison ivy pens.

 

As a matter of practice, all new acquisitions are wiped thoroughly with a soapy solution

and rinsed. (I don't know where it's been.)

 

Last weekend, I enjoyed some cream of crab soup. It was wonderful. I spent the next

three days with hives.

[arcadeflow]

This is horrible, those pens should come with a warning. I hope cleaning them can stop this problem.

[lunareclipse]

Regarding Nakayas with frogs or lizards...They do make a frog stopper and a snake stopper (in place of a clip), and you can have them set with gemstone eyes! You'd have to special order the pen, though, either from Nakaya directly or through Classic Fountain Pens.

 

I'm not aware of any frog or lizard designs on the barrel, but I'm definitely not familiar with all of Nakaya's models, either. They will do custom work...they might make one for you if you ask.

 

I'm a real fan of their Tame-Sukashi pens; the teal-colored urushi on the on the ascending dragon & the green on the pond turtle design are really gorgeous. You could ask if they'd do a frog peg for you in one of those colors.

 

Hmm, maybe add some water and lily pads, cattails or reeds, and some raden fireflies flitting about...could be a really cool design ! Top it off with a green-eyed frog stopper and there you go!

 

Can't hurt to ask !

 

They're working on a pair of customized pens for me right now, so I know for sure they do custom work, though I didn't ask them to rework the actual barrel design, except for some added writing. I started with two piccolo raden pens, and added a dragon stopper w/ emerald eyes to one, and a turtle stopper w/ emerald eyes to the other. They're adding a classic Lao Tzu quote, "Loving someone deeply gives you strength" to the turtle pen & "being deeply loved by someone gives you courage" to the dragon, using Chinese characters.

 

You could ask them about a custom pen and what it would cost - would be a pretty neat thing to save up for!

 

Of course, that's assuming you don't have a reaction to the urushi once it's fully cured...!

[ever onward]

As a matter of practice, all new acquisitions are wiped thoroughly with a soapy solution

and rinsed. (I don't know where it's been.)

 

You know, I usually do this, too, as a matter of course, but for some reason I didn't even think of it with the Nakaya. I guess I was distracted by its beauty.

 

Oh--and there are bits of rash showing up on my hand, now, too. Much smaller and less virulent-looking than on my face, but it's definitely red, bumpy, and intermittently itchy. Great.

 

[ageleris]

I am so grateful for this series of posts. It explains the rash I have had for several months.

I got my first Nakayas, a long Kuro-tamenuri and a portable Aka-tamenuri, about 4 months ago and have been using them regularly since. About 2 months ago I developed significant problems with itching most prominently in my hands, but also often in a more generalized fashion including my face and trunk. The affected areas would itch a lot. Rubbing or scratching them produced a blistery rash that looked like hives. I have never had anything like this before except with poison ivy. I saw an allergist who desicribed it as "physical urticaria" for which he had no explanation at all.

After reading this series of posts I looked down at my hands and realized that the most severely affected areas for my itching and rash are precisely in the distribution where I hold my pens in my right hand. I have my answer. I am allergic to the urushi. I do hope that as the urushi cures this will go away. In the meantime my Nakayas are in for a vacation.

[MisterBoll]

Wash the affected area with chamomille tea. This should help.

[ever onward]

ageleris,

 

I'm sorry to hear that. I've been wondering if cleaning off my hand after using my pen would keep the rash away. I had to send my pen back for re-tuning, so I can't test this yet. What a bummer. I hope our pens cure quickly.

 

 

MisterBoll,

 

Thank you--I will try that. I also read that Quercetin, a supplement for people with allergies (paraphrasing what I read) can help. I'll try both.

 

Thanks, all.

eo

[Fabienne]

Oh, what a horrible thing! Getting something you want only to have it cause trouble for you. I got poison ivy for the first time in 2009. It took two full weeks to heal...those reactions are long lived. Nothing really helped to lessen the itch, just don't scratch it. That can set it off, as it did me ...it got FAR worse as I scratched! So don't scratch.

[dcwaites]

Puts new meaning to the term 'Poison Pen Letter'. Sorry, couldn't resist...

 

I don't know if they have showed up in the States, yet, but in Aus we have recently had a number of different ointments and creams based on Pawpaw (Papaya) on the market. They are far more gentle than cortisone creams, and your skin can't get addicted to it.

 

Yes, it's true, if you use cortisone cream on your skin for too long, some people's skin can get addicted to it. It's then a bugger to get off it. Just imaging your skin going cold turkey.

 

If it was me, I would use the cortisone to knock the inflammation on the head, and follow up with the pawpaw cream until it has all gone away. But that's me.

[ever onward]

Thank you, Fabienne & dcwaites.

[hari317]

One positive conclusion of this thread maybe that now I know for sure that Nakaya uses the natural Urushi for their pens.

[dorothynotgale]

Oh, what a horrible thing! Getting something you want only to have it cause trouble for you. I got poison ivy for the first time in 2009. It took two full weeks to heal...those reactions are long lived. Nothing really helped to lessen the itch, just don't scratch it. That can set it off, as it did me ...it got FAR worse as I scratched! So don't scratch.

Poison ivy allergy (or the equivalent) is nothing to mess around with. I eventually had to give up a job I enjoyed, a very well-paying landscaping job with medical benefits, because I was just using those benefits to cover steroid prescriptions every time I got within 50 yards of the stuff. And you're absolutely right, scratching just spreads the toxic fluids around to other spots on your skin.