Monthly Archives: October 2022

Types of Skin Allergies

Skin conditions can be difficult to identify. Is it hives or dermatitis? A breakout or infection? Since rashes should be treated in a specific way, if you are unaware of what you have, you could be making it worse. Regardless if it is minor nuisance or an epidermis nightmare, there are ways that you can soothe your skin when you know what you are dealing with.

With the majority of skin conditions, you might have a genetic predisposition which is why you have them. Allergies cannot be exacerbated by stress because they can be emotional, like meeting your future in-laws, or they can also be environmental like an allergen.

Before going to an allergy center, it helps if you know the types of skin allergies.

Eczema

This is medically known as atopic dermatitis and its characteristics are red, dry, splotchy, crusty, cracked, or flaky skin, and it can emit fluid if you scratch it. Normally, it is clustered around your elbows and knees, but it can appear on your skin anywhere. That is why you will also find eczema on your neck, arms, and legs.

It affects one in fifty adults, but it is most common in children.

Hives

Hives are skin inflammations that are triggered when your immune system releases histamine. This will cause the small blood vessels to leak, and it causes your skin to swell. The swollen deep layers of the skin are known as angioedema. There are two kinds of urticaria, chronic and acute. Acute urticaria happens after you eat a particular food or you encounter a certain trigger.

Contact Dermatitis

Contact dermatitis has the same symptoms as eczema, and it can be a scaly or blistered red rash, depending on the cause and its severity. Normally, the rash has a distinct border.

Contact dermatitis can appear after you get exposed to an allergen or irritant, and it is a common rash because of external factors. Normally, allergens cause a blistered, shiny, and itchy rash while the irritants can be scaly, dry, or less itchy. It will appear hours to days after you get exposed.

Seborrheic Dermatitis

Similar to dandruff, seborrheic dermatitis is a fungus that normally crops up in oily areas like the face, scalp, back and upper chest.

Based on a study, it is very common and affects about 12% of the general population and 70% of infants during the first three months of their life. It seems to be caused by yeasts that belong to the genus Malassezia.

Angioedema

Angioedema is swelling in the skin’s deep layers. Most of the time, it is seen together with urticaria. Angioedema can occur in soft tissues like the eyelid, genitals, or mouth. Angioedema is known as “acute” in case the condition will last only a short time like minutes to hours. Acute angioedema is commonly caused by allergic reactions to medications or foods. Chronic recurrent angioedema happens when the condition keeps on returning over and over. It normally does not have any cause.

Rosacea

Rosacea will cause redness and thickness on your face, normally clustered in the center. Flushing, stinging sensation and small pus-filled pimples are common signs of the condition, which is normally confused with an acne breakout.

Psoriasis

Psoriasis will cause patches of thickened skin, most of the time, scaly flakes on your skin. It is normally found around your feet, elbows, palms, and knees, and you can also have psoriasis on your scalp.

Other symptoms are scales, aside from rashes. About 20% of people with psoriasis also experience psoriatic arthritis.

You can contact an asthma doctor Germantown MD if you are experiencing skin allergy to get the best treatment.

 

How to Fight Fatigue from Allergies

If you are suffering from allergy fatigue, you are aware that it can be frustrating because you have to deal with sneezing, itchy eyes, and a runny nose.

There is another common symptom you might not think is associated with allergies: fatigue.

An allergy specialist will tell you that allergies can make you feel tired for different reasons, which include allergic reactions. Other indirect factors like difficulty sleeping, which might also make you feel fatigued.

Either way, it would be important to identify the reason behind your allergies so you can stay away from triggers. The doctor will help you identify what can cause symptoms, together with a recommended treatment to alleviate them. Read more about it now:

Know What You Are Allergic to

If you want to treat allergies, you should know what you are up against.

An allergy test helps identify substances that can trigger allergic reactions. These substances, which are called allergens, can be the things you are breathing in, touching, or eating.

A skin allergy test involves exposing the skin on your back or arm to small amounts of allergens to find out what you react to. These tests are normally done in one sitting, and you will get results immediately.

Blood allergy tests can check for allergens and it is useful if you are taking medication that interferes with the results. It is also effective in case your doctor thinks you have a severe reaction to a small amount of allergen.  

Allergy Shots

If over-the-counter allergy medications do not help you enough, the doctor might recommend allergy shots or injections that help reduce allergic reactions.

This is also called immunotherapy, and the shots work by introducing your body to small amounts of the substance that triggers your allergies.

Over time, your time is going to get used to the allergen, which helps you control symptoms.

Low-histamine Diet

Since histamine is broken down by your liver, supporting the liver using bitter cooling herbs like Andrographis, dandelion, and artichoke leaf is a crucial consideration. A diet that is low in histamine helps you during allergy season. The main elements of this diet are excluding foods with high histamine and promoting histamine release, and the addition of nutrients that act as natural histamines.

Take Allergy Medication at Night

Antihistamines are an effective and common way to control allergies, and modern allergy medicines are less likely to cause drowsiness compared to older ones. However, some people might still feel tired after they take an allergy pill, especially if they have not taken one recently.

If you need help reducing drowsiness and becoming more alert during the daytime, you must take your antihistamine in the evening instead of in the morning.

Consistency is key to reducing drowsiness caused by antihistamines – the longer you take a daily medication, the easier your body can tolerate side effects.

Not all antihistamines are for daily use, so you should talk to the doctor before you start or change allergy medications to make sure it is good for you.

Neti Pots

A neti pot or container you use to rinse nasal passages helps relieve allergy symptoms.

You should fill the device with distilled water and salt in order to create a saline solution, then you need to use it to clear out allergens and mucus in mucus membranes.

Neti pots help relieve runny nose, congestion, and other symptoms, but if you are feeling tired, it can help you take allergy medication at the same time.

You can find allergy doctor Manassas VA anytime if you are suffering from fatigue because of your allergies to get proper treatment.

Psychological Impact of Food Allergies

Food allergies could impact the patients’ emotions through direct and indirect mechanisms. The direct mechanisms can include central nervous system effects from the biological mediators released when you have an allergic food reaction. Indirect mechanisms can include the stress of living with food allergy like avoidance of food preparation and controlling the fear of potential consequences when you ingest the food.

You can go to an allergy specialist doctor and find out more about indirect effects that can also be mediated through family members, like the stress of the parent on the child. Since food allergy is increasing in children and adults, it has become difficult to study, and sometimes symptoms can be misinterpreted because food allergies are normally patients with psychological profiles.

Bullying

Aside from feeling anxiety, those with food allergies can go against bullying. One out of three children gets bullied for having food allergies. The rate is pretty high, and the research suggests that people are not always aware of this. A study has found that about half of parents and children who have food allergies do not know that their child experience school bullying. This can be shocking to parents.

Bullying also affects adults because of food allergies. It can range from eye-rolls, microaggressions, and derisive tone of voice.

Impact on the Parents

There can also be gender differences regarding how parents handle their child’s allergies. The responsibility for allergy management mainly falls on moms. There is mixed evidence if this material leads to marital strain or it can actually help greater family cohesion, but it affects the psychosocial well-being of moms can be heavier.  Moms might feel responsible when it comes to controlling triggers, with the need to carry the idea that they might have to face unexpected reactions.

Reactions from People

The major frustration of parents include not having enough public understanding, not wanting to accommodate, inconsistent information about treatment, and mislabeled products. Food allergy impacts the general public’s perception, and it can influence how food allergy is managed. For example, if a patient thinks that their friend’s belief in asking about the ingredients is unimportant, they might do the same. Sometimes, children may experience harassment and teasing due to food allergies, and some have reportedly smeared with the allergic food. Some adults say that their allergies have been disregarded by others, and they have faced a lack of understanding as well.

Building Connections

Getting help is not simple all the time. it can be difficult to find mental health professionals who can understand food allergies. It is important to teach individuals how they should support people who have food allergies and to show clinicians how anxiety issues can be spotted.

A counselor can help connect people with professionals who are sympathetic toward people with food allergies.

In other countries, getting support can be difficult. There are a couple of mental health resources mainly for people who have food allergies. People will mainly use resources that support the anaphylaxis campaign.

Daily Life with Food Allergy

Of course, my interest in this area comes from personal experience. Psychologists have observed the gap that goes on between empirical research and their experience as parents who have children with allergies. People will feel fortunate that there is already clinical training to hone the experience of researching more about the psychological effects of food allergy.

Friendships

Food allergies can impact social life, and part of this is being mediated by the confidence of allergy sufferers and them being taken seriously and carefully managed.

You can talk to an allergy clinic Germantown MD if you need to know more about the psychological effects of food allergy.