This is a little personal, but......Does anyone out there (particularly paddlers with medical training) have experience of bad excema (dry flaky skin) being brought on by paddling?
This is totally new to me, but after a five day river trip my hands have been sore, with flaking skin and not just in areas where the paddle rubs. It's worse after I get wet, so going paddling doesn't seem too good for it.

My wife (who is a doctor) thinks I've got a fungal infection brought on by prolonged wetness.

So not the most glamorous topic to post up, but would be interested if other paddlers have had a similar problem and if so, what helped?

thanks

The water quality where you paddle may be bad. If there is tons of bacteria in the water and you are in it for days, it will eventually be absorbed by the skin, which is probably the main cause.

I get really dry, cracked hands/wrists every winter. As a kid it was diagnosed as a fungal infection once, I got some cream, and used it until it went away, but it comes every winter.

If I run and get sweaty it cracks and theres evidence of blood in the cracks it's that dry at the worst times.

I used to have flaxseed/fish oil tablets and they helped for a while, but either my body got used to them or the placebo wore off.

This last winter I just about had no symptoms. The difference was that I cleaned up my diet a lot and started to be a lot more health conscious about what I ate.

If I were you I'd get checked out properly to see if it is a virus/fungal that can just be killed once. But if it's only been caused by a 5 day river trip, it could also have something to do with what you are or aren't eating for those 5 days (probably compounded by being constantly wet).

Not sure if this helps in any way, but just some food for thought from someone who has had similar issues in the past.

Thanks for the comments; good to know I'm not the only one!
Its improving with the use of a couple of anti-fungals and moisturising creams, but test will be how it looks and feels after paddling.