Swimmer’s Itch Making An Unwanted Splash In North Dakota Lakes

I have to be honest, I've heard of swimmer's itch before, but I wasn't quite sure what it was.

I found out the hard way recently, after a swimming excursion in a popular lake. This lake is crystal clear, and worrying about microscopic organisms is not something you would normally think of.

I've also been swimming in this lake for over a decade and have never had any problems.

I've always made a practice of showering the moment I get done swimming in a lake or river. Doing my best to detour any hitchhikers who may have decided to take a liking to my body.

Despite that, a couple of days later, I had a layer of what looked like pimples all over my torso, arms, and legs. Even a couple on my face.

After a quick search online, it was pretty obvious, I had my first case of swimmer's itch.

Thankfully, swimmer's itch is not contagious. It can't be passed on from person to person.

According to the Mayo Clinic, swimmer's itch occurs due to a reaction to tiny parasites in the water that burrow into your skin while swimming in lakes or rivers. Swimmer's itch is most common in freshwater, but can occur in saltwater too.

The parasites that dig into your skin can't survive in people, so they soon die, and you are left with a pimple-like bump on your skin. They are often very itchy, like the chicken pox. That wasn't the case with me, as I barely felt them.

I told one of my co-workers what latched on to me at the lake, and he sent a link to a North Dakota forum on Facebook, where people were sharing similar stories.

Lake Metegoshe, for example, has had a serious outbreak of swimmers' itch the last couple of weeks. Other lakes that were mentioned include Strawberry, Brush Lake, Lake Isabel, and Spiritwood Lake. I'm sure there are many more.

I've also heard that the glacial lakes area of northeast South Dakota has been experiencing a rash of swimmer's itch cases this year.

What do you need to do once you are infected with swimmers' itch?

Most of the time, swimmer's itch clears up on its own, again, according to the Mayo  Clinic. It may take a week or so for the pimples to fade.

You only need to seek medical attention if these pimples fill full of pus and become infected. This would usually be caused by overly scratching the bumps.

According to some of the comments on Facebook, you can help lessen the itch by applying Dawn dish soap on the outbreak.

If you want to lessen the chance of getting swimmers' itch, you can apply waterproof sunscreen before you go in the water, according to some sources.

Overall, just another lesson in life that really wasn't that big of a deal, but I'm still not a fan of any parasite using me as a host.