Skin allergies are surprisingly common, though many people don’t know how to do more to try to minimise their suffering. However, you can treat your skin allergies instead of just dealing with it. Here are 5 ways to treat your skin allergies, regardless of their cause. We’ll also tell you when it is necessary to seek professional medical advice.
Avoid Contact
If you know what you’re allergic to, the simplest solution is to avoid contact. If you’re allergic to cats or dogs, letting them sleep in your bed may leave their dander in your bed and cause you contact dermatitis from that prolonged contact. If you’re allergic to latex, your latex memory foam mattress may be to blame. It may take trial and error of removing things from your life to see if that is the cause, but if the symptoms go away after you remove a particular item from your life, you’ve found a solution.
Cool It
If you’ve already developed an allergic rash, one of the best ways to treat it is to take a cool shower or apply a cool compress. This reduces blood flow and thus inflammation in the area. Don’t take a hot bath, since that can irritate as well as dry out your skin.
Afterwards, gently pat the area dry. Do not rub or you’ll risk aggravating the symptoms or even infection in the broken skin. You can soak the area in a cool bath with oatmeal; this eases inflamed skin, unless you’re allergic to gluten.
Apply Topical Medication
You can try to take oral allergy medication to try to treat a rash, though topical treatments will work faster. Whether you want to use over the counter anti-itch cream or topical allergy medication, you can apply one or both types of medication to the itchy area. If this isn’t sufficient, you may need a prescription medication. You can contact a clinic like the London Dermatology Centre for an evaluation and recommended course of action.
Don’t Aggravate It
You’ll make things worse if any rash is subject to abrasion. Don’t wear tight clothes over an area that’s already irritated. Try not to sit on an area that’s inflamed. Don’t wrap heavy bandages around an area that’s broken out. A loose damp dressing is the most you should consider doing.
Give Your Skin a Break
Sometimes the reaction is due to beauty products or skin treatments we’ve used at home. One of the best ways to treat the issue after the initial outbreak is to take a break. While retreating to familiar skin products is one possible solution, the better solution is to stop using any skin care products for a while, especially in the affected area.
Now your skin can heal, and you don’t have to worry about A, B, and C potentially fuelling the rash after it was triggered by D. Another benefit of this approach is knowing that you can’t make it worse if the beauty or skin care products you use may react badly with the treatment for the rash.
All these tips should help you keep a minor allergic reaction under control. However, if symptoms persist or aggravate, then it would be a wise choice to contact a specialist as soon as possible.