Jacuzzi Exposure

I have never really liked jacuzzis. At the end of a long day of skiing, a favorite winter sport of choice in Montana was to get a bunch of people together to soak in the hot tub, jump into a snowbank, and then hop back into the tub. There are a lot of reasons why this didn't appeal to me, not the least of which is that I find jacuzzis, well, disgusting. Add freezing my ass off before jumping into a pool of germs - no thank you.

Thursday of this week I had a patient who had "bumped his shin", developed cellulitis which abscessed and subsequently turned into a stage III wound needing debridment, packing, possible plastic surgery. The medical interpretation of the cause of his abscess was "lower extremity trauma followed by jacuzzi exposure". Wondering if this is a common medical problem*, I did a little research and discovered another ailment known as hot tub rash (pseudomonis folliculitis), a bacterial infection of the hair follicles.

So, the next time you're thinking about your relaxing afternoon at the spa, think again.

It is a fairly common medical problem. Typically, people with compromised immune systems or poor circulation, or healthy people with an open sore, can be exposed to staph and other strange things in that large, steaming petri dish of relaxation. Professional athletes, fearful of MRSA, have began to take extra precautions around shared jacuzzis.