Does anyone get a rash from the hops plants?

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jmd1971

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Hey All,

I've been growing hops for probably 3-4 years now & noticed that every time I touch the vines, I get a rash. Anyone else experience this? The prickly stems touch my skin & I have red welts on my skin. No big deal but just curious if anyone else experienced the same thing...

JD
 
Hey All,

I've been growing hops for probably 3-4 years now & noticed that every time I touch the vines, I get a rash. Anyone else experience this? The prickly stems touch my skin & I have red welts on my skin. No big deal but just curious if anyone else experienced the same thing...

JD

I touch my vines all the time and have never run into my rashes. Does it touch your arm or your hands? I only touch it with my hands and I know that the skin is tougher then the arms.
 
Touches my hands & arms. Doesn't bother my hands but I get my arms all up in the vines to re-twine them down as they grow like crazy. I end up with red welts for the next few hours. Again, no big deal - just interesting. I am not an allergic kind of guy so am surprised & never heard of the vines caused rashes....
 
Touches my hands & arms. Doesn't bother my hands but I get my arms all up in the vines to re-twine them down as they grow like crazy. I end up with red welts for the next few hours. Again, no big deal - just interesting. I am not an allergic kind of guy so am surprised & never heard of the vines caused rashes....

I get the same thing. I have noticed in the old pictures where the hops were all picked by hand everyone has their sleeves rolled all the way down even though it looks like they are boiling in sun. Seems to me a lot folks are a little sensitive...???
 
No problem here, even after sitting in a huge pile of bines last fall when I was stripping cones.

If you're only allergic to the bines, consider yourself fortunate. You could have been allergic to what goes in the beer :(

Cheers!
 
The first time it happened to me I was out working with them on a very hot late Spring day. Lots of compost, lots of thinning, lots of weeding and lots of beer . . . without a shirt. A sidearm would wrap around my neck while I wasn't paying attention and when I pulled away, slice. After many more slices and beers for the next few hours, I was ready for a shower. When the hot water hit my back . . . well, it wasn't fun. When I was done, I looked at my back in the mirror and it looked like I'd gotten 40 lashes! Those little climbing hooks are comparable to running a very sharp hacksaw blade over yourself. Limit the amount of beer and pay a little more attention - unless you like that kinda stuff. I guess some folks do you know!
 
when I sit and trim back extra vines, I get some stinging and slight rash like stuff on my legs and arms like you do. I don't think it's an allergy, but a kind of chaffing from the spiney stems. so, yes others experience the same.:mug:
 
Yes!!! The hooks on the vines make a mess of my wrists. I wear gloves and now long sleeves, too.
I usedta get welts fully 1/8th inch tall.
I'm NOT a MD, but one might consider a cortisone cream.
I had a similar preexisting condition for which I was prescribed triamcinolone acetonide cream, which requires an Rx, but, in my experience, is more effective. You might mention to your physician your requirements.
 
Yes here too! Only once though... Really hot day, my arms were sweaty, and I was pulling weeds from around the bases of the bines. Ended up with a bunch of little red blistery looking things on my upper forearms. Didn't itch or anything, just looked weird.
 
Ill echo the same as the others above. Ill sometimes get some irritation if a bine or sidearm rakes across my arms. It will leave a mark for an hour or two. My first harvest, i was in short sleeves and didnt wear gloves... A mistake not repeated the following year.

I actually acquired my initial crowns from a brewer who had a reaction to the oils and irritation on his arms. It was so intense that he felt he had to get rid of the crowns. I was the beneficiary.
 
I get a rash/cut-like marks on my arms anytime I touch those prickly things! I have a couple of plants that I train (over an arbor, for example), and my arms are a mess from them. Luckily, they heal fast- almost as fast as the plants grow!
 
Dang, me too and I feel like an idiot for not realizing before now that it was the hops that were causing my skin irritations.
 
It's normal. As stated above, it is usually worse when it's hot and your pores are dilated. I don't have any allergies that I know of, however on a hot day I get a rash as well. I learned to pick hops while wearing a long sleeved shirt.

beerloaf
 
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