I've had my pool 40 years and I haven't done this before, but during a SLAM, I was a little careless in pouring in 10% liquid chlorine and splashed some on my hand and failed to wash it off. I thought I'd share what has happened, so you'd know what to expect in case it ever happens to you.
Obviously, you don't want this to happen to you. Maybe I'll make it a habit to always dip my hands in the pool after applying chemicals. I probably won't start wearing gloves.
As always, I was kneeling down on the pool deck to pour a half gallon out of a 1 gallon jug. Above the return inlet in the deep end, I reach out about 18" to pour it. Normally, I let the gallon jug down into the water so the lip of the jug to the surface is maybe one inch or less. Very little chance of splash back. The pool water supports the gallon jug so it is very little weight.
I don't recall exactly why it happened. Probably it was a full jug and I didn't let the jug down into the water as far as normal before I tipped it to pour. What I do remember is that when it happened a blop of water splashed up and hit the back of my hand. My reaction was a mild "Oops". I finished pouring in the chlorine (slowly, probably a couple of minutes). Then I capped the jug and dipped it in the water to rinse it.
I had forgotten about the Oops. There was no burn or pain of any kind.
An hour or two later, I noticed I was scratching the back of my right hand. I looked but couldn't see any sign of a mosquito or flea bite. No, I hadn't gotten into poison oak or ivy. I couldn't figure it out but it was so minor that I didn't think about it much. There was no obvious mark on my hand, and I had totally forgotten about my Oops.
The next morning (12 hours later), that area was still itching and I still didn't understand why. Still not a real concern. Maybe it was beginning to show something, but I figured that was due to my scratching.
It wasn't until the afternoon (18 hours or so) that I started to get concerned and tried to think what it could be. That's when I remembered my Oops. I recognized that I most likely failed to dip my hands in the pool to wash it off as soon as I got done pouring the chlorine.
By that evening (24 hours), the back of my hand was getting a bit puffy but not seriously. The next morning (36 hours), the puffiness was growing across the back of my hand. I tried some out-of-date Cortaid we had but it didn't seem to help. At the urging of my wife and daughter, I put some freshly cut aloe leaves across the back of my hand and strapped them on with some flexible wrap and tape around my hand.
That evening (45 hours) the swelling was to the point of stretching the skin a bit (the back of my hand has pretty loose skin, and that looseness was now taken up). Still not too bad, but beginning to hurt just a little. I was glad we had the bandage on so the swelling didn't stretch too much. It did spread a little, to the base of my thumb and down toward the crease at my wrist. I did take some ibuprofen for inflammation. But by about 50 hours, it seemed the swelling was starting to lessen.
The next morning (60 hours), I took the wrapping and aloe off. The swelling was mostly gone. The skin is not damaged (no blisters). I have a dime-sized red area with a couple of small other red spots.
Yeah, dumb mistake. I don't expect to do it again. But, thankfully, damage has been minimal.
Obviously, you don't want this to happen to you. Maybe I'll make it a habit to always dip my hands in the pool after applying chemicals. I probably won't start wearing gloves.
As always, I was kneeling down on the pool deck to pour a half gallon out of a 1 gallon jug. Above the return inlet in the deep end, I reach out about 18" to pour it. Normally, I let the gallon jug down into the water so the lip of the jug to the surface is maybe one inch or less. Very little chance of splash back. The pool water supports the gallon jug so it is very little weight.
I don't recall exactly why it happened. Probably it was a full jug and I didn't let the jug down into the water as far as normal before I tipped it to pour. What I do remember is that when it happened a blop of water splashed up and hit the back of my hand. My reaction was a mild "Oops". I finished pouring in the chlorine (slowly, probably a couple of minutes). Then I capped the jug and dipped it in the water to rinse it.
I had forgotten about the Oops. There was no burn or pain of any kind.
An hour or two later, I noticed I was scratching the back of my right hand. I looked but couldn't see any sign of a mosquito or flea bite. No, I hadn't gotten into poison oak or ivy. I couldn't figure it out but it was so minor that I didn't think about it much. There was no obvious mark on my hand, and I had totally forgotten about my Oops.
The next morning (12 hours later), that area was still itching and I still didn't understand why. Still not a real concern. Maybe it was beginning to show something, but I figured that was due to my scratching.
It wasn't until the afternoon (18 hours or so) that I started to get concerned and tried to think what it could be. That's when I remembered my Oops. I recognized that I most likely failed to dip my hands in the pool to wash it off as soon as I got done pouring the chlorine.
By that evening (24 hours), the back of my hand was getting a bit puffy but not seriously. The next morning (36 hours), the puffiness was growing across the back of my hand. I tried some out-of-date Cortaid we had but it didn't seem to help. At the urging of my wife and daughter, I put some freshly cut aloe leaves across the back of my hand and strapped them on with some flexible wrap and tape around my hand.
That evening (45 hours) the swelling was to the point of stretching the skin a bit (the back of my hand has pretty loose skin, and that looseness was now taken up). Still not too bad, but beginning to hurt just a little. I was glad we had the bandage on so the swelling didn't stretch too much. It did spread a little, to the base of my thumb and down toward the crease at my wrist. I did take some ibuprofen for inflammation. But by about 50 hours, it seemed the swelling was starting to lessen.
The next morning (60 hours), I took the wrapping and aloe off. The swelling was mostly gone. The skin is not damaged (no blisters). I have a dime-sized red area with a couple of small other red spots.
Yeah, dumb mistake. I don't expect to do it again. But, thankfully, damage has been minimal.
