Parents Chalk?

[Swiftli]

Has your child ever had a reaction to the chalk? And/Or are there different brands of chalk with certain chemicals in them?

After practice last night, the girls came out of the locker room and told me my DD was crying and she had a really bad rash. I went in and found her just frozen...crying. I looked at her and all over her especially the back of her legs..from her leo line to her ankles was red and inflamed.

I asked what happened and she said after bar rotation her legs started hurting. She went thru beam rotation next and they started stinging. Next floor she said she got through fine. At the end was conditioning...with the final station being the bar area for pull ups and such.

The only thing I can think of was a combination of dry winter skin, chalk and finally mix in some sweat and she was like a fire ant.. She had trouble putting her clothes on almost like a sunburn.

I just made her shower when we got home and put some Eucerin lotion on her (along with some TLC). This morning her legs look normal and I just noticed some redness on her cheeks..I am guess that is from wiping away the tears with her chalky hands.

Has this happened to anyone? Not sure if I should take her to the doc or not. I just felt kinda helpless last night that I couldn't fix it right away

 

[bogwoppit]

For a mild allergic reaction you can always give over the counter benadryl. It is an antihistamine and will reduce the rash etc. You could also give an oatmeal bath, Aveen o sells on ethat is very handy.

If this happens again I would take her to the doctor quickly, second allergice reactions can be worse thatn the first.

Advise her to be more careful around the chalkbucket, my girls tend to avoid it as they have asthma. Our coaches keep the chalk from being played with and also vacuum a lot to keep the dust in the air down. Also tell her you want to know the minute this happens again, advise the coaches as well as they should be aware that this could happen.

 

[Emma's mom]

Wow! Emma's hands are awful this time of year when she uses the chalk. She does not break out all over like your dd, it is just her hands. It sounds just like your daughters. They are bright red, and she says they burn. She actually said last night it was like a sunburn. Emma's is definitely a contact reaction. We do not notice it as much in the summer. My theroy..... during school Emma is constantly using hand sanitizer. Add that to her dry winter skin and its a mess. Emma keeps lotion in her grip bag. We lotion her up before practice, and immediately after bars she washes up and applies lotion.
I agree with Bog though since your dd's is all over, you might need to check into it further. Good luck!

 

[flippersmom]

Wow, sounds painful.

DD has very dry skin, always worse this time of year. She luckily has not had any problems with chalk.

Hope she doesn't continue to have problem. Did they recently put in new chalk that might be different in some way? You might want to check with the gym.

Hope she is feeling better.

 

[emandelsmom]

Allergy-yes

Emma coughs when there is a lot of chalk in the air. She has not broken out, but she tends to avoid chalk. Her's was worse when the newest team members got into the chalk with their young high school age coach wasn't watching and played in it. By the time my girls got there it was COVERED in chalk. Now, those little gymmies understand how to use chalk and things have been better. Emma does have ecema. If she is covered in it, then it will irritate it.

Hope your little one feels better soon.

 

[gym law mom]

The chalk used by gyms is a very benign substance. It can be an irritant for kids with asthma or upper respiratory problems. If your dd had very dry skin and got alot of chalk on her then tried to rub some off before going to beam, that could cause an irritation or as another poster mentioned something like contact dermatitis. This is not a true allergic reaction. Her complaints of pain and stinging sound more like some type of irritation. Next time she has chalk on her legs, arms---have her go to the bathroom and gently wash it off. I've seen my gymmie just run her already rough/dry hands down over her legs after bars to get the extra chalk off.

Yes, this time of year my gymmie complains of her hands "burning" after doing bars. Her hands are dry, skin is tough. I remind her to pumice every night. No lotion on the hands since that will encourage rips.

As suggested by others if it happens again, make a trip to the doctor.