Playa Cough / Playa Lung ?

[LazaDave]

I was doing fine through the whole week but Sunday night I got pretty dehydrated, my throat starting getting really sore and it's gone downhill from there. On the drive home the cough started getting raspier and deeper.
My carmates suggested that every chance I get, I should take long hot showers to try to clear it out. I've been doing that and hydrating like crazy to the point that I'm finally pissing clear, but it's still lurking about and my voice is damned near gone.
Anybody have any tips on how to speed the healing process? I'm not wild about the idea of going to the doctor if I don't have to, so I'm open to any alternative suggestions.

Thanks!

[TheJudge]

I've had something similar almost every year out there. For me, the dust affected my voice to the point where it got deeper. It was a little hard to talk, I coughed a few times, and it was gone after about a week of being home.

But if you're concerned, talk to your doctor. It couldnt hurt.


-Judge

[Slappy]

Same here!!! Couldnt really talk until today. And it still seems difficult! Seems to be getting better on its own. Maby another day or so to be back to 100%.

[TimberNala]

This was my first time and the dust bothered me from the start. I cut the bottom of my Tshirt off and soaked it with water and tied it around my head covering my mouth and nose. I too had the deep cough, but it made breathing more bearable. I felt fine after a few showers at home. GOOD luck to you.

[TheJudge]

All you really need is a good bandana. A gas mask is lovely when the dust is blowing for more than a couple of hours, but if its a passing dust storm, a bandana is just fine.

Personally I use a boonie hat and a moroccan headwrap. Its thin material measuring 2' x 6'. Tie it behind your head, wrap it around your mouth and nose and seal it with the hat. Throw on a pair of military goggles and you are good to go through the nastiest of dust storms. Plus when you wet the headwrap, the evaporative cooling keeps your head cool for hours.

[chloe_dancer]

i was a jackass and ran around w/ practically no dusk mask ...and i suffered nose bleeds, a sore throat, and there is crap in my lungs still. i have been using this nose spray called "ocean" the last 2 days, and my nose is healing nicely. i have been eating good and taking steamy showers and that is helping my lungs. i will definitely bring a dusk mask nexy year, higher spf stuff (15 WAS NOT cutting it) and i will bring spf lip balm so my lips don't look like they went thru a cheese grater. also can i tell u how hard playa dust is on the feet! vinigar/water foot baths help sooooooooo much! happy healing!

[Halo Joe]

> vinigar/water foot baths help sooooooooo much!

Lemon juice and water is even better, and helps you avoid that just-pickled smell.

[PJ]

I wonder how many people that get scratchy throats, massively booger'd noses, etc., happen to have caught a cold? Surely suffering through a cold while out on the Playa on a dusty year can only make the cold's symptoms worse.

[Julie C]

Damn, I got the most nasty rash and had my eyes almost swell shut from the dust storm on Sunday and all the dust blowing around on Saturday, did that happen to any one else?? My doctor told me that it was very similair to what the soldiers on Desert Storm experienced. Or was it the killer mushrooms we took Friday and Saturday?? (of course I didnt tell the old doc that when he asked me if I ate anything different HAHA) Anyway thank gawd "doc-in-the box" was open on Labor Day, they fixed me right up...anyone else have the same thing happen??

[TheJudge]

i was a jackass and ran around w/ practically no dusk mask ...and i suffered nose bleeds, a sore throat, and there is crap in my lungs still. i have been using this nose spray called "ocean" the last 2 days, and my nose is healing nicely. i have been eating good and taking steamy showers and that is helping my lungs. i will definitely bring a dusk mask nexy year, higher spf stuff (15 WAS NOT cutting it) and i will bring spf lip balm so my lips don't look like they went thru a cheese grater. also can i tell u how hard playa dust is on the feet! vinigar/water foot baths help sooooooooo much! happy healing!

I just love newbies.

[III]

>I just love newbies.

now you know why i like having *you* along on camping trips.

heh.

[redhot]

Next year, all my dust masks are going into zip locks. I used them frequently, but the inside surface seemed to be coated with dust. Other than having a big clot of dust in my nose, I wasn't too bothered by it, the heat seemed to get to me more this year though. I used saline spray as needed though, also plenty of eye drops. Had to change contact lenses this year unlike past years...

Drinking plenty of water seems to help the most...

[chloe_dancer]

MENTAL NOTE TO SELF.....I WILL SPEND LESS TIME AND MONEY ON ****GOODIES***** AND MORE ON SERIOUS SUPPLIES LIKE DUST MASKS AND VISINE!!!!! I HAVE HEARD THE PLAYA GODS SPEAK!!!!

[Friendly Jen]

I happen to be highly allergic to playa dust so I often get Playa Cough/Lung as well as some other unhappy symptoms. My proceedure is as follows.

Allergy relief eye drops as needed (My eyes swol shut sometime on Friday/Saturday and this was the only way to solve it)

Heavy Duty Dust Masks (The ones that cost 5$ or two of the 1$ ones)
I wear these when I sleep, durring storms and often while I am just walking down the street where dust is often kicked up.

Zip Up your tent! To limit the ammount of dust you are sleeping with.

Saline nose spray. AND lotion the inside of your nose.

When you get home:

Hot Showers, sleeping on stomach, I use my inhaler and take a decongestant, Sometimes cough syrup, Once you get a decent nights sleep and the decongestant kicks in you should be able to cough up the phlegm without it feeling like someone is kicking you in the stomache.

Despite all of these precautions some of us will still have these problems every year....

[crimbopple]

Was getting a cold (or allergies) on the drive out. By Tues. nite I could speak not a word out loud. I took it as another sign from the universe. Quiet is the new loud. I made up a set of whistles to call my burners to me. Not having a good yelling voice on the playa puts you at a serious disadvantage. Whew. Innovation is key. If necessity is the mother of invention, I am McGuyver's Mother.

Hope everyone's playa lung vanishes sooner, rather than later.

And apologies to my brother, who caught my friggen cold. But, as an older sister will be wont to say, (cue whiny mom-speak) "Maybe you shouldn't have burned the candle at both ends." What the fuck am I saying? OF COURSE HE SHOULD HAVE! Wish I could've!

[BUCKZERO]

O.K. .... Alkalai is bad for your lungs!!!! Sounding like a drunk carney(no offense DPW) is seperate from your lung issues(try some tea and at least 10oz. of astroglide). Kidding aside, if your sensative(i.e. asthma, alergies) listen to the last few posts, I was not a candidate for such subtle remedies. In 97' I came back from the playa with a hack that didn't go away... a week, two weeks and I went to the doc for the big guns. A nice script for antibiotics and some prednizone(fairly mild Steroid) will cure yer illness. My experience with this problem was only that year. If it's a yearly thing, invest in a good resperator, Dust masks do very little. Good health. btw, get proffesional advice.

P.S. see ya in BRC, I'm the guy toting the oxygen tank and still experiencing "ROID RAGE"

[TestesInSac]

Came back healthy as a horse this year. Less booze, etc and more water are general keys. Paper dustmasks help during the day, but sleeping in dust can catch up to you quick. The evap cooler in my dome put moisture in the air and took dust out of it. Gonna do that again next year.

[dj big E]

lmao just finishing my last dose of z-pax hi dosage antibiotic for respitory infections. They prescribed me at hospital fri lmao.cant wait till nekt year .i luv that dust i still wear sandles every year two something about cracks in my feet makes me feel like i earned it luv you all dj big "E"

[beatsoul]

my playa lung is STILL lingering - I very well may go to the doctor

I attribute it this year to only wearing a very sheer bandana over my face during the dust storms - AND - working the ice truck at Arctica.

IF YOUR GONNA BE SLINGING ICE 'INSIDE' THE ICE TRUCK - BE SURE YOU KEEP THE DUST OUTTA YOUR LUNGS.

ok bye

[Kinetic]

After reading this thread I think I'll get off my rear and get to the doctor for a Z-pak and / or Prednisone. It's been 2 weeks plus and I'm still feeling like crap and can't breathe right.

Must be all that plutonium and uranium dust that landed on the playa and got blown around on Sunday.

[dj big E]

lmao z-pax yes prednizone no antibiotic yes steroid no trust me brother lmao dj big "E" p.s. the beuty of Z-pax is it's once a day for five days and works for ten lungs feel brand new now lmao.

[PJ]

Must be all that plutonium and uranium dust that landed on the playa and got blown around on Sunday.

Or maybe all that time you spent in the JOTS, breathing.

Remember: every time you smell a fart, you're inhaling sub-micron particles that came out of somebody's butt.

[Kinetic]

I didn't spend much time in the JOTS, but while on the subject they were a thousand times cleaner this year than last. Plus I was in Kidsville where the Gorilla kid was...I cautiously got in, then got out of there.

I was sick but I slept it out and didn't need the JOTS much.