How to recognize and treat allergic contact dermatitis in children and adults
Injury of the skin by various chemical agents can lead to its inflammation. If these substances have allergenic properties, contact allergic dermatitis occurs, the symptoms of which are quite easy to recognize, but treatment is a difficult task.
Causes of allergic dermatitis
Prior to the appearance of allergic dermatitis, a simple contact form of the disease occurs when the patient comes into contact with the corresponding substance. Only repeated exposure to the skin of this substance triggers the mechanism of an allergic reaction.
There are more than 3,000 names in the list of allergenic substances capable of provoking the appearance of pathology. Most of them are metal ions, dyes, some medicines - things that easily penetrate through the protective barriers of the skin.
There are some substances that do not themselves cause dermatitis, but provoke increased sensitivity of the skin to sunlight. This condition is called photodermatitis, it occurs only on exposed areas of the skin (on the face, hands, neck, etc.) and manifests itself in the same way as ordinary allergic dermatitis.
Clinical signs
Manifestations of the disease are exclusively local in nature and limited only to the skin. The main symptoms of allergic dermatitis:
- skin hyperemia;
- her swelling;
- appearance of bubbles of different sizes with the following properties: filled with liquid; localized in the place of contact with the allergen; merge with each other; burst, forming large erosive wetting surfaces, often suppurate.
Symptoms of allergic dermatitis in children are identical to the symptoms of this disease in adults.
Diagnostic measures
Perhaps the most important element of diagnosis is the study of the anamnesis - how the disease developed, what the patient associates with its onset, what preceded it. Usually, the very fact of repeated contact with the allergen, after which the symptoms arose, is revealed. The period of their occurrence is usually 10–14 days. Often, the anamnesis indicates long-term work that occurs in contact with relevant substances.
Many patients experience intolerance to medicines during their lifetime - antibiotics, sulfonamides, local anesthetics, and others. Some patients also have concomitant allergic pathology or indications of dermatitis due to contact with chemicals in the past.
After studying the history and clinical picture, application tests are conducted. To do this, small amounts of possible allergens are applied to the skin in several places and the reaction to contact is studied. This allows you to accurately establish the provoking substance and determine the further course of treatment and prevention of the disease.
Treatment of allergic dermatitis
First of all, the patient should be freed from contact with the relevant substance. In the case of professional contact, it is recommended to change the field of activity, in the case of domestic contact, it is recommended to remove the allergenic substance from the home. Most often, such actions are difficult to perform, since allergies can be cross-related. In other words, the skin reacts not to one, but to several chemically similar substances at once.
In the acute period of dermatitis, cold compresses with water, decoctions of tannins, and Burov's liquid are prescribed to reduce the humidity of the pathological focus. At the early stage of the disease, the use of local agents containing glucocorticoid hormones is mandatory. Usually cream, gel, ointment for allergic dermatitis is prescribed 3-4 times a day, in case of a difficult course of the process, to improve absorption, the affected surface is covered with a sterile bandage after applying the drug.
For large skin lesions, along with local ones, injectable forms of drugs are also used: antihistamines (clemastine, chloropyramine, diphenhydramine) and glucocorticoids (prednisone, dexamethasone, betamethasone, etc.). When signs of infection of dermatitis foci appear, it is preferable to take combined drugs containing a hormone, an antibiotic, and an antifungal agent. If local therapy is ineffective, or if the infection has spread over a large area, it is possible to prescribe antibiotics in injections.
Allergic contact dermatitis is a difficult disease to treat because it is often impossible to avoid contact with an allergen. The website Dobrobut.com recommends treating it only with specialists - a dermatologist and an allergist - and in no case self-medication.
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