Fashion Allergies& Medication

Types of Skin Allergies

The word eczema is occasionally interchanged with another skin allergy situation; dermatitis. Eczema is actually an superior type of dermatitis with more serious results.

 

Allergic contact dermatitis

This skin allergy reaction occurs when the skin touches an object or stuff that it is allergic to. The indication (a rash or itch) usually occurs within 30 minutes after touching the object. Inflammation of the skin can occur and the skin must not be injured or covered with anything when this happens.

Eczema

A skin condition causing a red rash and itching on the skin. Eczema skin symptoms can cause a lot of discomfort and the disease is most likely to affect children. Eczema affects approximately seven in a thousand people and most of these patients are children aged between two months and five years old.

Eczema is a form of dermatitis in an advanced stage and can cause blisters and scabs and oozing liquid from the skin. A cure for eczema must be gritty by a doctor and experimenting with over the counter treatments that offer relief is not advised when the situation has been diagnosed, especially not with children. Conventional allergy therapies seem to have no to little effect on eczema.

Hives

Skin hives are a type of skin rash that is usually risk-free. Caused most of the time by an allergy this rash looks like circular raised welts on the skin that can go red and itchy. The hives will show up in batches and can appear all over the body. Hives can be different in size, ranging from very small to a few centimetres in diameter.

Diagnosis of Skin Allergies

Skin allergies are typically diagnosed by inspection for skin rashes, the appearance of skin infection and itchy skin on the usual areas of the skin being mainly the face and chest but possibly also other areas. The doctor will probably check your family record with you to find out if any other relatives have the same problems. He will also review the following with you:

    * Your diet, to make sure that there are no food allergies involved.

    * Allergic tendencies (do you have more sensitive or allergic reactions).

    * Prescribed drug intake that may affect the skin.

The doctor could make a decision to perform a blood test for skin condition called a radio-allergo-sorbent test (RAST. A small amount of your blood is taken after which the blood is mixed with the suspected allergen. Antibodies developing in the blood are a sign of a skin allergy.

To further determine your diagnosis a skin lesion biopsy might also be performed during which a small piece of skin is removed and examined in a laboratory, where it is tested for symptoms of skin allergies.

Claritin, Zyrtec or Allegra? You might be thinking,

But, if you're thinking these antihistamines are all the same - well, they aren't. Depending on the allergic condition being treated, the age of the person, as well as other underlying issues (such as pregnancy), the best choice of antihistamine might be different. So, instead of thinking that these medicines are all the same, learn more about each one of them and figure out which choice is the best for you.