itching from chloraprep surgical scrub

I am also having reaction,had surgery 6/15 and rash started on 6/16, PS.BS and PCP not sure if antibiotic was causing rash but rash is localized to surgical scrub area, it did spread to my face and my eyes swelled up.Here is the real kicker,no one cleaned me up, I came home all orange,this is the worst part of my recovery right now.

 I am taking benadryl,but that only knocks me out<. I am going to send my husband out to get me some cream.

I had UMX,right side,my surgeon said they used chloraprep.I was orange from my neck,down chest and down my right arm. It is so bothersome i had to take a xanax today to calm myself down.I am going to call them in the morning to see if there is anything else I can try, already using liquid benadryl,benadryl lotion and gold bond extra strength.

Skin prep, blood etc should normally be washed off after surgery before you wake up, so you get to see a nice clean dressing and no gore. That's in an ideal world. Also, Chlorhexidine comes in various formulations, alcoholic, aqueous, cream. ointment, and you would not normally choose to use an alcoholic preparation on damaged skin unless the alcohol is essential for added antisepsis. Would have expected interventional radiology to be used to clients with delicate skin. Sorry you had a rough ride. However it is a useful substance, so maybe at a later date you could try a patch test without alcohol on some undamaged skin?  Especially as you had it before with no ill effects.

Had appt with PS yesterday, removed 2 drains(5 days out) yahoooooo !!! Still have 1.He took pics of my reaction,was def from chloraprep, has affected my incision,redness,irritation.You can see the stop lines(where they stopped the prep)up my neck across my stomach under my arm and doen my arm.He says they mandate him using it to reduce infection but he has NEVER had any infections.He says that sometimes it is harder to see if you have missed a spot with it and they leave it on because it keeps fighting after surgery but the reaction does not usually show up until pt is discharged and is home.It has def complicated my recovery, I cant get my first fill for another 10 days and it wakes me up during the night itching. There is an advantage of the incision being numb so I don't itch that while sleeping, if not for that I can't imagine the havoc.

My PS said same thing when he discovered I had the Chloraprep reaction....."no one EVER reacts...!"  Before they saw the rash, they initially thought it was reaction to antibiotic and gave me new rx. The rash looked like a shirt on me...from under my chin down to by wasitline, ugh.  NP at PS office told me to try bendrayl which helped but made me a little sleepy...I was lucky it started to clear a bit after several days....

I had a lumpectomy and reduction (oncoplasty) on 9/19/16. chloro prep rash started about 1 week later (surgeon thinks it was chlorprep because, as others have mentioned, the rash occurred where the prep was applied - neck, shoulders, chest and stomach). I was given a 5 day course of steroids but it still didn't get go away. I was then given a very strong topical steroid cream to use twice a day but that's also not working. The itchiness is unbearable and I'm now itchy everywhere, arms, legs etc. Dermatologist has me on12 day steroid. Monday is 4 weeks from surgery and 3 weeks From start of rash. Ugh

Great idea, ksusan. I have my port accessed at least once a month, and my skin has gotten more sensitive. When I get home from an appointment, if I see a rash from a cleaning solution or adhesive, I take a picture. When I show it to the nurse the next time, that picture is worth a thousand words. A photo helped us figure out that chlorhexadine cleaner was the reason the area was staying red too long, and we found an alternative. Sas encouraged me to have that sensitivity noted on my chart.