What is Contact Dermatitis Effects and How to Treat It!

What is Contact Dermatitis? It may be that you went out to a park to rest a little and lay on the grass, discovering in a few minutes a reaction on your skin. Being in constant contact with the grass worsens your condition and you end up returning to the house with supremely irritated skin. What is this? As it is a form of eczema that occurs from contact with allergenic elements and cause annoying irritation.

Not everyone reacts to the same allergen, so contact dermatitis attacks specifically according to each person. It’s time to know how you can fight back this condition depending on the type.

Irritative Contact Dermatitis:

As explained with the initial example, this type of eczema comes from contact with an allergen and can worsen with prolonged contact. To begin to control this it is necessary to know exactly which element triggers the irritation. Some examples are:

• Detergents

• Limpid

• Soap

• Bed sheets

• Wool

• Smoke

• Sweat

• Rough fabrics

• Perfumes

• Stress during exercise

• Overexposure

How to Control It?

As soon as you can identify the cause of this type of dermatitis, you should avoid it. There are some elements that cannot be completely avoided such as sweat and stress that occurs during exercise, since they come hand in hand with daily activity. One of the ways to control outbreaks is to stay hydrated, wear comfortable and loose clothes to be cool. In addition to taking these measures, you should investigate possible treatments that may benefit you. The same principles apply to babies, for example a wet diaper, soaps, lotions etc., can trigger a reaction that can be avoided with proper care. Change diapers regularly, use hypoallergenic creams and mild soaps contribute to healthy and irritation free skin.

Allergic Contact Dermatitis:

This type of contact dermatitis is a bit more complicated, since it is produced from a chemical reaction inside the skin triggered by an allergen or an external substance. With this type of dermatitis it becomes more difficult to identify which element has caused a reaction, since you are exposed to millions of possible allergens daily. In addition to this, the allergen only produces a reaction when there is ANOTHER reaction such as stress or hormonal fluctuations. In this way, even if you do not suffer an outbreak with direct contact, it can occur when you are at home or at work. It is for this reason that it is more complicated to know precisely the allergen that is affecting you.

How to Control it?

It is possible to control outbreaks while at home or at work using a HEPA air filter, making sure it can purify the air in your home. The maintenance of these filters is important, so clean them regularly.

“To complement the function of the filters it is important to clean your house and eliminate other possible allergens at least twice a week”.

If what affect you are specific brands of soap, detergent, creams etc., it is obvious that you have to replace them for relief. The reactions can also occur from certain medications and can be even more severe. Fortunately they happen quickly so identifying the cause of the reaction is done almost immediately. As for food, you must discover the allergen through a trial period to be able to eliminate that food from your diet. You can even make an appointment with a specialist to have specific tests to determine the allergens that affect you.

Treatments:

As you can tell, it is impossible to hide from absolutely everything around you, nor to control every element around you. Even controlling the allergens that cause outbreaks, exposure to an item that is beyond your control is inevitable. That is why there are several treatments to calm your condition and eliminate the outbreak. In the article Treatment for Atopic Dermatitis the two types of therapies available, the standard and the complementary ones, were explained. The standard consists of any medical method such as ointments, bandages, prescriptions etc., and the complementary one is all that is achieved with natural remedies for relief and prevention. The best way to an effective recovery is to combine standard and complementary therapies. Also available is the e-book  Goodbye Eczema  that contains recommendations and suggestions regarding treatments, diets and techniques to improve the health of skin affected by dermatitis.