Allergen alert

Different modern lifestyle patterns affect our health in different aspects physically, psychologically, and socially. As another World Allergy Day goes by this year and we assess the allergy scenario around us we find ourselves surrounded by plethora of allergens which have increased manifold and the number is ever rising year by year with man-made allergens now dominating the list of potential harmful agents. There are now about 9 million agents in our immediate environment that can act as allergens (agents causing allergy) to the skin. Skin allergy occurs when these allergens bind to carrier proteins in our skin and present them to the immune system of the skin and the body.

Sometimes, however, an allergen gets the best of our skin, causing a reaction. This is because of the hyperactive behaviour of skin immune system and its failure to differentiate a friend from foe due to the unique ability of allergens to bind to our skin carrier proteins.

There are various types of skin allergies, contact dermatitis, airborne dermatitis, occupational dermatitis, chrome dermatitis etc.

Be careful

Symptoms can include a rash or hives, or swelling, itching, and cracking of the skin. Our hands, arms, neck, and face come in contact with so many substances every day that they are the most common sites for an allergic skin reaction, but no part of our anatomy is immune.

Irritating itch 

Itching is the most common symptom in all suffering from skin allergies. Itch sensation happens when skin is irritated. The ordinary reaction to an itch is to scratch. What follows after can be a mess. The more you scratch, the more you damage your skin and the nerves just below the surface of the skin. The skin and nerves become increasingly inflamed, which only results in more itching thus creating a vicious itch-scratch-itch cycle which finally can lead to a more severe and chronic condition known as Lichen Simplex Chronicus.

Silent allergies

Sometimes the allergies do not manifest with these usual visible signs and symptoms on skin and these can be more dangerous. In such cases, a person occasionally might feel his/her skin suddenly turning warm, slight flushing, a slight prickly sensation around the nose, heaviness around the eyes, early fatigability, mentally a person suffering from silent allergies can get agitated at the smallest of things.

New allergens 

While the skin care product and cosmetic markets have grown exponentially, evolving into multibillion dollar industry, few people know whether their skin is actually being benefited or harmed via the usage of these products.Everyday new beauty and cleaning products are now being blamed for causing skin allergies.

 (Dr Sharma is a Chandigarh-based dermatologist)