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RUBBER ALLERGY

Is anyone else allergic to rubber products and if so how do you deal with it?????????
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So what type of shoes do you wear?  I have a rubber/latex allergy and have a heck of a time finding shoes that will keep me warm and or dry during the winter.  
any suggestions would help... Thanks!
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I am trying to find rubber-free socks for a teenager.  He does not want ones that come up to his knees.  The only pair I have found on-line thus far cost $19 for 2 pair!! That's a little steep, to say the least!  Has anyone found anything more affordable?

ccm6006
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Avatar universal
My son is allergic to rubber accelerators (MBT & Mercapto Mix), also found in adhesives and other parts of shoes and other products.  Kamik makes sandals and boots that do not contain these chemicals.  Possibly Crocs original clogs, as well.  I have not yet found sneakers or regular shoes.
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What do you do about the rubber in shoes and the latex in the adhesives in shoes?  I can wear crocs, but do you recommend any other brands?
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i am severly allergic to every form of strechty rubber, elastic, and latex. after a while u learn to deal with it the best way suited for your eviroments. i dont carry an epi pen around with me yet.. but i am waiting for the refferal from my doctor and also waiting for him to refer me to get a medical alert bracelet. most people with rubber allergies say they got it from prolonged exposer to the chemical compounds of rubber and elastic. but me, this is just one of the many allergies passed down to me from my father.. i have dealt with it my whole life.. it is so severe that i dont even have to have direct contact with it to break out in what looks like 3rd degree burns, water blisters, the body part that touched it swells up to 3x its mornla size and i become extremely tired nauses and dizzy.it could be somthing someone touched with a latex glove or a bloon more then 2 hours ago and the minute my skin makes contact with it instantly am itchy. i can smell any type of rubber as soon as i walk in a room it is in. i have always carried benadryl and anti-itch cream around with me everywhere i go. the one time i didnt have it with me my friends and i were at a football game and my friend brought me a hotdog from the consession stand and about 2 minutes after having finished the hotdog i couldnt breath and my throught swelled shut. the lady at the booth had been wearing latex gloves. my friend called an ambulance and my mother and i was rushed to the er where they preformed a trak. my mom didnt get to the hospital till a few minutes after they traked me and so the people in the ambulance didnt know i was allergic to latex and had gloves on when the preformed the trak and couldnt figure out why my wind pipe crushed the tube they had put it.. i went with out oxygen for 4 minutes and was less then 2 minutes away from being pronounced brain dead... so no matter how well you deal with this type of allergy, your always gonna be paranoid about it..
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681148 tn?1437661591
I read a different post of yours speaking about shoes.  Yikes, I'm glad I don't have the severe skin problems from shoes!  But, have you tried to find work shoes that don't have rubber soles?  I still avoid rubber like the plague, because it will burn my skin, too, and being around products made from rubber will make me nauseous and cause me to have an asthma attack from all the off-gassing.  At the pet store, I stay away from the dog toys area, because too many of the toys are made with rubber, not just the tennis balls.  

Tire stores and the tire sections of the big warehouse stores are a big problem area for me, too.  I don't drive, and in one neighborhood I lived in before there was a tire store that I had to walk by that was a problem for me in the summer time when they would leave the big bay doors open.  The heat from the sun only served to intensify the smell of the rubber, which made me nauseous every time I had to walk by.  I learned to avoid walking that route in the summer time very quickly.  

I avoid anything and everything made of rubber or latex (pretty much the same thing).  If something looks suspiciously like it might be made of latex and doesn't specify that it's not, say like a bulb syringe used for saline washes for example, I simply won't buy that item.  Bathmats meant to go inside of the tub are usually made of rubber.  I actually found one made with some kind of plastic material.  My shoes and slippers I have for home are not made with rubber soles.  I have some Speedo beach shoes that I use while wearing socks.  They're just made with some kind of hardened plastic.  

If I can get close enough to do the sniff test to find out for sure if something is silicone or rubber, I am usually confident that I am avoiding rubber.

I don't know about you, but I am severely allergic to band-aids, even the so-called hypoallergenic kind.  So, I'm a lot of fun for lab technicians and doctors, because I always have to speak up about band-aids, too.  About half of the time they're ready to use the latex tourniquet or use latex gloves and use a band-aid when they're finished.  Sometimes it's not a big issue, if I'm in an office that is strictly latex-free.  Band-aids are usually made of latex, but I'm also allergic to the adhesive used on band-aids.  So, when I get a blood draw, I make sure that they use either guaze or cotton balls and either paper tape or that plastic perforated tape that is easy to tear across the perforations.

I don't know a lot about men's dress shoes, but don't they make hard-soled dress shoes for men without the rubber and latex anymore?  I have a different issue when it comes to dress shoes for women, because obviously those don't have the rubber/latex issue involved.  My problem is getting any that actually fit properly and are comfortable enough to wear for many hours.  I'm not one of those silly vain women wearing the crazy looking high-heeled stillettos.  Not me.  I would end up breaking an ankle or something in those things.  But, there are options for women that don't involve high heels and are still dress shoes for office attire.  And, manufacturers just don't get it that wide feet still come in small sizes.  

Obviously, tennis shoes are out of the question, since most of the outer soles are made with a certain amount of latex or rubber.  I've never had a major issue with this, because I won't wear any that have a lot of off-gassing smell to them.  Plus, the stupid things are so expensive that it's next to impossible to even buy a new pair of tennis shoes these days.  Not when manufacturers ask for an arm an a leg for their shoes.

I wonder if people should start writing to the manufacturers requesting them to make shoes without rubber and latex insoles and outer soles.  It's not like rubber and latex allergies are so rare these days.  Otherwise, why would there have to be latex-free gloves available in doctors' offices?

But, manufacturers don't get a lot of things.  They often get so focused on the bottom line that they forget about the people buying and using their products.
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