It can be allergic or contact. In any case, it is good to use the most appropriate products to avoid tormenting the skin.
Crisis or no crisis, with the summer, the time for more or less exotic trips and trips out of town comes for almost everyone, regardless of age.
The undoubted enthusiasm of discovering new places and the pleasure of indulging in more relaxed rhythms of life in natural environments can, however, be accompanied by unexpected annoyances, perhaps not serious, but enough to ruin the serenity of the moment.
One of these is contact dermatitis that can appear after accidentally touching allergenic or irritating substances, particularly widespread in the plant world. There are also other types of dermatitis, each of which has different causes. Let’s see them summarized in the following table.
| Type of dermatitis | Causes |
|---|---|
| Atopic | Allergic reaction of the whole organism that manifests itself through the skin (other allergies are often associated, such as hay fever, asthma, urticaria or food allergies). It has a hereditary component although the cause is not yet fully clarified |
| Seborrheic | Impaired activity of the skin glands that produce sebum |
| By contact | Contact with irritants, such as detergents and detergents, cosmetics, animal saliva, metals such as nickel, latex |
The causes and characteristic symptoms
Contact dermatitis can be allergic (i.e. based on a particularly pronounced skin immune reaction against substances that are not dangerous for the body) or irritative and linked to the damaging action on biological tissues of specific synthetic or natural compounds.
In both cases, the skin symptoms appear shortly after contact with the irritant or allergen (or within 24-48 hours in the second case) and are almost overlapping. The most typical include redness, burning, itching and swelling in the affected skin area, sometimes accompanied by the appearance of small blisters and pain.
In natural contexts, manifestations of this type can develop after touching stinging plants or breaking their branches or leaves, letting the sap, latex or characteristic resins escape. This is the case of nettles, fig, elderberry, cacti, ivy, euphorbia, hyacinth, peony, buttercup, hellebore, clematis, lily of the valley, poinsettia, just to give some examples.
Symptoms of irritative dermatitis, as a rule, arise regardless of individual sensitivity. The tendency to allergic reactions from contact is, however, more subjective and the substances that can induce them extremely variable from person to person, therefore less predictable.
In some cases, more or less marked sensitization reactions can also derive from the combination of the presence on the skin of a natural substance (for example, essential oils, citrus extracts, etc.) or synthetic (topical drugs, anti-acne creams, preparations against wrinkles, etc.) photosensitizing and exposure to the sun: in these cases, usually, dermatitis takes the form of a more or less intense solar erythema.
Useful precautions
If it does not affect very large body surfaces and is not located in areas where the epidermis is very delicate, an occasional episode of contact dermatitis is not a medical emergency and does not involve significant problems, even if children or the elderly are affected.
What matters is to intervene immediately in the correct way to appease irritation, inflammation and itching and avoid rubbing the skin, in an attempt to get relief. The result would be, in fact, exactly the opposite, namely an accentuation of the discomfort and the further risk of facilitating the onset of wounds and infections.
Whether contact dermatitis is triggered by a natural or synthetic compound, the first fundamental action is to remove the offending substance, with a wash under running water, performed in such a way as to avoid extending the area affected by the irritation.
After drying gently, corticosteroid-based creams can be applied for one or more days to reduce inflammation, itching and burning, depending on the intensity and persistence of symptoms. If burning and itching are very intense, cold compresses can help reduce discomfort.
To obtain greater relief and promote the restoration of skin balance, it is also advisable to apply highly moisturizing, protective and emollient creams of pharmacological quality.
The ideal is to focus on formulations containing lipids similar to those naturally present in the epidermis (ceramides) and humectant and emollient substances (panthenol, coconut oil, shea butter), able to promote the regeneration of the dermoepidermal barrier, also making the skin more resistant to potentially harmful external agents.
This type of creams are also very useful to prevent further sensitization. However, it should be remembered that the best defensive strategy against contact dermatitis, both allergic and irritative, is to avoid or, at least, reduce as much as possible contact with irritants and allergens.
Therefore, when you are in meadows and woods you should avoid touching plants whose characteristics you do not know, while in everyday life, at home or in the workplace, you should always wear gloves and / or suitable protective clothing when handling compounds at risk (detergents, liquids and irritating or corrosive powders, latex, nickel, solvents, glues, etc.).
Joycelyn Elders is the author and creator of EmpowerEssence, a health and wellness blog. Elders is a respected public health advocate and pediatrician dedicated to promoting general health and well-being.
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