It has been almost 5 years since I thought I had overcome Grover’s Skin Disease. It first began to show up in October, 2011 – 7 years ago. I had begun to suffer from a terribly itchy skin rash on my upper chest.
Grover’s Disease has no known cure. There is very little research done to cure it since it is not life-threatening. Doctors are still not even sure whether to call it a “rash” or a “disease”. However, if you are one of those unfortunate people to contract this problem, it can cause you extreme itching and affect your sleep.
History: After previously battling Grover’s for 3 years, trying everything from OTC meds, creams, dermatologists, prescription meds, and even Chinese medicine … with absolutely no success, I applied seaweed powder directly onto the open sores. 
I would make a paste while taking a hot shower and apply it directly to the rash. The salt in the seaweed powder was a bit painful, as you would expect from applying salt to an open wound. However, it was a “good” pain. After rinsing off the paste and drying, the pain and itching went away for ~ 4-6 hours. After doing this for 6 months, the itching disappeared entirely and then eventually the rash by 2014.
See the history and photos of my journey from 2012-2013:
Seaweed Part II – Grover’s Skin Rash By Richard Lentz
Seaweed Part 3 – Grover’s Skin Rash Itching by Richard Lentz
Seaweed Part IV – applying to itchy bites by Richard Lentz
Seaweed Part V – Final Report on Grover’s Skin Rash – by Richard Lentz
However, a week ago the rash began to return. Nightmare. Grover’s was back. I thought I had defeated it. You can see by the photo above, the red spots on the upper chest area. The itching slowly had become worse along with my response by scratching it.
So I have gone back to the only solution I know that has worked for me: I take a very hot shower, spraying the rash with water as hot as I can tolerate. I turn off the water, sprinkle some seaweed powder onto my hand, add a little water and make a paste. I then apply the paste to the site, wait 5 minutes and wash off with hot water. After 2 days, the discoloration from the rash has not gotten any better or worse. However, the itching has disappeared for most of the day. I now repeat this again at night before going to sleep.
I expect that the rash itself will slowly begin to disappear over time as it had before. I actually do not care how it looks as long as it does not itch. So hopefully, now after 5 years since my last flare-up, I will get it back under control.
When all else fails, it is time to immerse myself in some real saltwater off the coast of the Caymans. No matter what else ails me, it all seems to go away while under water. This fellow below is in the family of Grunts, which I believe to be a species called White Margate. I am sometimes better at photographing them than at identifying the actual species. When photographing pelagic (fast-swimming) species, you have to be fast with the camera and have the settings close if you are doing this on “manual”. Not an easy thing to do when everything is changing and the subject of the picture is trying to swim away.
