Allergic contact dermatitis is a skin condition that causes inflammation due to exposure of skin to an irritant. Only people who are naturally oversensitive to certain chemicals suffer from allergic contact dermatitis. Usually the symptoms occur in just one or two days after getting exposed to the allergen.
This type of skin disease occurs less frequently than the irritant contact dermatitis, but very often it is difficult to determine the difference in the two of them because a similar kind of rash appears in both cases.
Contact dermatitis results as a reaction that brings itching, redness and burning when the skin comes in contact with an allergen. It can also be caused by a general irritant like acid or a cleaning agent, laundry detergents, nickel present in jewellery and perfumes. Due to a large number of substances that people come in contact with daily, it could be rather difficult to determine what caused the contact dermatitis.
Causes of contact dermatitis:
Many substances can cause contact dermatitis. More common among them are the latex gloves, epoxy resins, perfumed soaps, colognes, perfumes, fabric softeners, irritant plants or smoke.
Symptoms and prevention of contact dermatitis:
Some of the most common symptoms for contact dermatitis are given below:
- Itching that may occur during non-season including areas of ears, toes, chin and the underbelly. The skin in these areas turns red and causes rashes or papules. This can be prevented by not touching the area that gives the trigger. Wash your hands with soap and cold water. This could inactivate or totally remove most of the offending substance, if done immediately on exposure. If the blistering develops on the skin, it is helpful to apply cold moist compresses for about 30 minutes and three times each day.
- To rid yourself of contact dermatitis, it is worthwhile to apply emollients that moisturise your skin and give a soothing feeling and hydrates the skin. Even if you do not have any skin disorder or eczema, this can be used every day. You could apply this on your body just after you bath.
- Contact dermatitis can be well prevented just by avoiding any sort of contact with the substance that causes it. If at all there is a contact, the material should be cleaned immediately with soap and water. If there is an ongoing exposure, try wearing protective clothes and gloves. Barrier creams can be applied to prevent poison ivy and epoxy resins from skin contact.
- Another method for preventing contact dermatitis is the corticosteroid medications which help reduce inflammation. It is however, advised not to overuse these medications, because it may result in a troublesome skin condition. In severe cases, the systemic corticosteroids may also be used to reduce inflammation.
Contact dermatitis is the skin inflammation that is very often the result of a contact with an external substance with your skin. Can the cause of contact dermatitis be fully avoided? If yes, the condition settles in a week or so. In other cases, it helps to minimise exposure to prevent recurrence.
