Postflight Rash and Skin Sensitivity Following a Year-Long Spaceflight Mission

Abstract

BACKGROUND: While skin conditions are commonly reported in flight on the International Space Station (ISS), postflight skin complaints have generally been limited to foot sole sensitivity upon reloading after landing. In this case report, we describe the postflight skin findings in NASA’s first year-long crewmember.CASE REPORT: The crewmember was a 51-yr-old astronaut who spent 340 d in space on this mission. His in-flight course was unremarkable except for medication use for congestion, likely secondary to microgravity-induced fluid shift and elevated CO2 levels on the ISS, and an episode of contact dermatitis from electrodes for an experiment. He had a nominal landing in Kazakhstan. During his direct return to Houston, approximately 10 h after the Soyuz landing, he developed erythema and skin sensitivity in gravity-dependent areas. The skin findings persisted for 6 d and were successfully treated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, gabapentin, hydrotherapy, and massage.DISCUSSION: While vascular, allergic, and immunologic causes cannot be ruled out, we hypothesize that a prolonged lack of skin stimulation over the course of the year-long mission led to the crewmember’s postflight rash and skin sensitivity. Previous studies have demonstrated alterations in cutaneous receptor feedback in the sole of the foot in spaceflight and, therefore, it is plausible that skin in other parts of the body can undergo similar changes if they are not stimulated as they normally would be on Earth. More work will be needed to better understand this phenomenon and test potential mitigations.Law J, Gilmore S, Kelly S. Postflight rash and skin sensitivity following a year-long spaceflight mission. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2020; 91(7):604–607.