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Friday, November 7, 2014

What's New in Skin Allergies? D-Day for Skin Deep Allergies

Being itchy and scratchy all over is one of the worst things to experience.  Symptoms interfere with sleep, work, and your life.  Scratching can leave your skin scarred and damaged.   Many of my patients come to me with difficult to treat rashes.  They've gone from doctor to doctor and treated with topical steroids without anyone finding the cause of the itch.

 Did you know on an average day we are exposed to over 128 chemical in our personal care items (shampoo, cosmetics, deodorants, etc)?  These rashes are called allergic contact dermatitis.  Over 14.5 million people have chemical allergy & many of these are children!  I love trying to find the cause of why my patients are itching- it is one of my favorite puzzles to solve.   Anyone who's read my blog in the past knows I often write about these allergies- shellac allergy, formaldehyde resin allergy, and; methyldibromo glutaronitrile

Chemicals like preservatives and additives in our products trigger difficult to treat rashes like lip, eye lid, and foot rash.   I do extensive chemical & environmental allergy testing in my office in the hopes of identifying the trigger for the itch.  This is a huge win in any of my patients care.  Avoidance of the offending chemicals can lead to complete resolution of the rash- without medications.  Common chemicals that cause contact dermatitis include fragrance, cocamidopropyl, formaldehyde, nickel and so many more.  

Today, I attended D-Day for Skin Deep Allergies and Patch Testing a full day conference put on by the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology in Atlanta, Georgia.  The room was filled with over 100 other Allergists/Immunologist just as excited as I am about finding the cause of a rash.  
I'm spending the entire weekend in Atlanta at the College's meeting and will bring my expanded knowledge base back to New York to help my patients.  
  • Why do my lips itch?
  • What's the cause of my foot rash?
  • How much nickel can I eat if I'm nickel allergic?
  • What's the cause of eye lid rashes?
  • Why am I itchy all over?  
Stay tuned- I'll be writing more on these and other topics I learn at the American College of Allergy Asthma, and Immunology's 2014 conference!

Need help with a difficult to treat rash?  Suspect you have contact dermatitis?  Call the office 212-679-3574 or click Gramercy Allergy & Asthma to schedule an appointment.

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