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Counter Contact Dermatitis with BioHeal
Avoid Skin Irritants and Allergens that Cause Eczema and Dermatitis
Antiperspirants and Deodorants
Laundry Detergents and Dryer Sheets
Contact Dermatitis is an allergic reaction to irritants like poison ivy, metals and harsh soaps, can inflame the skin with an itchy rash. Fortunately BioHeal acts to counter contact dermatitis by protecting the integrity of the skin barrier.
Allergic contact dermatitis occurs in someone who is allergic to a specific ingredient or ingredients in a product. Symptoms include redness, swelling, itching and blisters. People will usually react whenever they are exposed to the ingredient, although it could take up to several days for the symptoms to appear. Common allergens include nickel, rubber, dyes, preservatives, fragrances, poison ivy, poison oak and related plants.
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Irritant Contact Dermatitis breaks down the skin barrier but does not involve the immune system. Burning, stinging, itching and redness may be signs that a product is irritating the skin. Often the offending product literally dissolves the skin. Bath soaps, detergents, antiperspirants, eye cosmetics, moisturizers, permanent hair waving solutions and shampoos are the most common skin irritants. Even water can irritate very dry skin.
As with allergies, avoidance of irritating products is the best course. For the past 30 years, the types of irritants that damage skin have been well established. However, most cosmetic companies continue to produce cosmetics with known irritants because items such as detergents create cheap, very stable creams and lotions that look very good when placed on the skin. The cost of materials in a typical cosmetic product averages about $0.02 per ounce.
Many cosmetic procedures, such as shaving or waxing, increase contact dermatitis by making skin ultra sensitive and prone to invasion by bacteria and viruses. This type of hair removal often causes warts on a woman’s legs and on the beard area of a man’s face. BioHeal can rapidly heal these skin irritations to better protect against infection. When it comes to rapidly healing skin, BioHeal is your best friend and a foe to viruses and bacteria.
Counter Contact Dermatitis with BioHeal
BioHeal, a strong anti-inflammatory, helps to rebuild the protective skin barrier while reducing irritation. Detergents that remove skin fats tend to unravel proteins like a ball of thread often causing contact dermatitis. Studies at the University of California at San Francisco showed BioHeal to rapidly heal irritated skin and help build a stronger skin barrier - your first defense against irritation. Read more about the studies...
Avoid Skin Irritants and Allergens that Cause Eczema and Dermatitis
About sixty percent of people have some degree of dermatitis and some suffer throughout life. The key to avoiding dermatitis is maintaining a healthy skin barrier and avoiding those irritants that are specific to your situation. Allergies can be highly specific to a allergy sensitive person. Allergic sensitivity is mediated by a protein called immunoglobulin E. In a non-allergic person, the blood levels of immunoglobulin E range from 0 to 5 nanograms/milliliter; however, in a allergy sensitive person these levels may rise to 2,000 nanograms per milliliter which increases the person's sensitivity to allergens. Thus, if you are extremely sensitive to irritants and allergens, avoidance of any offending allergen becomes very critical. Your dermatologist has a variety of skin tests that can help you identify items to avoid.
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In about 10% of dermatitis cases, certain foods provoke skin irritation and avoiding them produces an improvement or a cure. It is a slow process to eliminate foods to track down your particular sensitivity. Allergic skin tests sometimes help track down the offenders. Foods such as cow's milk, soy, eggs, fish, wheat, and peanuts are often the problem. However, once you identify your food sensitivities, the problem is solved for your lifetime.
Elimination of contact or airborne substances may help. Dust and dust catching objects like feather pillows, down comforters, kapok pillows and mattresses, carpeting, drapes, some toys, and wool along with other rough fabrics, can cause the condition to worsen. Home air cleaners markedly reduce dust and skin irritations.
Dust Mites and Dermatitis
In some persons atopic dermatitis, the inhalation of house dust mite allergen can worsen dermatitis. In a recent study at University Hospital in Groningen (The Netherlands), twenty persons with atopic dermatitis inhaled house dust mite allergen. Nine out of the 20 persons had skin symptoms after inhaling the house dust mite allergen such as new itching lesions and the exacerbation of existing lesions. The onset of skin symptoms occurred between 2 and 17 hours after the exposure and persisted up to five days. All of the persons with house dust mite-induced dermatitis had a history of asthma and had a higher mean blood total of immunoglobulin E (IgE), the allergic mediating antibody.
Previous studies have shown the majority of patients with atopic dermatitis have increased serum levels of house dust mite-specific immunoglobulin E. Dermatitis may develop after the allergens cross the respiratory barrier, enter the blood stream and are distributed to the skin. In the skin they interact with several cell types bearing IgE molecules or IgE receptors and produce dermatitis.
Such dermatitis is best reduced by having a dermatologist administer desensitizing injections and the use of air cleaners in houses and sleeping areas.
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Fragrances, preservatives and lanolin, ingredients commonly found in cosmetics, cause many skin problems. Fragrances cause more allergic dermatitis than any other ingredient.
More than 5,000 different fragrances are used in skin care products, from the most common sources - toilet water, perfume, cologne and bath powder - to toilet paper, soap, shampoo and household products. Fragrance free products can be used by people with a fragrance allergy, but unscented products still have a fragrance added to cover up the smell of the chemicals.
Preservatives in cosmetics and skin care products are the second most common cause of skin reactions. They prevent bacterial and fungal growths that can cause skin infections, and protect products from oxygen and light damage. Cosmetics that contain water must include some type of preservative. Persons who react to one preservative will not necessarily react to others. There are very few truly preservative free products, but persons may be sensitive to only one preservative chemical and not others. Preservative-free skin products run the danger of containing bacteria and fungi which cause worse skin problems than the preservatives.
Lanolin used in skin care products as a skin conditioner can produce swelling, itching and redness of the eyelids. Many products labeled "hypoallergenic," meaning "causing reduced allergy," contain lanolin.
Astringents remove natural skin oils and soap residue from the skin. They are generally drying and may contain water, alcohol, propylene glycol, witch hazel or salicylic acid. Individuals with dry, sensitive or irritated skin may experience itching, burning or tingling following their use. They are often used to remove excessive skin oils, but they tend to increase skin oil production.
Moisturizers prevent water loss by layering an oily substance over the skin to keep water in or by attracting water to the outer skin layer from the inner skin layer. Substances that stop water loss include petrolatum, mineral oil, lanolin and silicone products. Substances that attract water to the skin include glycerin, propylene glycol, proteins and some vitamins.
Sunscreens contain chemicals that absorb, reflect or scatter light. Light absorbing chemicals include the PAPA esters and the cinnamates and many chemical sunscreens are used industrially as free-radical generators. They are mixed into batches of chemicals, then flashed with ultraviolet light to generate free radicals that start chemical reactions. People can be allergic to either, but allergies to both are rare. Physical sunscreens, also known as "chemical free" sunscreens, contain ground titanium dioxide. There are no known allergies to physical sunscreens.
Despite the widespread introduction of chemical sunscreens into cosmetic, you should avoid cosmetics with chemical sunscreens. Read more about toxic sunscreens...
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Eye Cosmetics
The eyelids are the most sensitive skin on the body. Eye cosmetics include eye shadow, eye liner and mascara. The lighter colored, matte-finish powdered eye shadows are less irritating. Using water-soluble cosmetics reduces the irritation often caused by solvents use to remove waterproof eye liner and mascara. never share eye cosmetics and replace them every three to four months. Keep in mind that other irritating and allergenic substances can enter the eye area by the fingers.
Lips lose moisture faster than other parts of the face because they have an very thin outer protective layer (stratum corneum) and are especially vulnerable to cold, dry air and harsh winds. It is important to protect lips during and after exposure to winter weather. Lip cosmetics, lipsticks and lip balms are used to protect and moisturize dry and cracked lips. But some long wearing lip stains have been linked to contact dermatitis.
There are several types of shampoos: mild baby shampoos that don't irritate the eyes; conditioning shampoos cleanse lightly and leave hair soft; shampoos for oily hair remove oil; and shampoos for damaged hair that are pH-adjusted to prevent more damage.
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Conditioners apply fat molecules and sometimes protein fragments to the hair shaft. This increases the hair shafts thickness and “body”, makes hair shiny, easier to comb and style and more manageable. They are not a common source of skin reactions.
Most people can color their hair without difficulty. However, some are sensitive to paraphenylene-diamine (PPD). This produces a rash that is caused ingredients found in permanents and hair dyes that are mixed with other chemicals, such as peroxide, before application. A final option to color hair is henna (vegetable dyes). However, henna doesn't work on all hair. Metallic or progressive dyes--also called hair-color restorers--are safe to use if the scalp is not irritated.
About 25% of PPD sensitivite people are allergic to certain local anesthetics, like benzocaine, that are chemical relatives of PPD. Substitutes may be used.
Deodorants and Antiperspirants
Deodorants kill bacteria and leave a pleasant smell. Antiperspirants prevent sweating. The fragrance in deodorants and the aluminum salts in antiperspirants rarely causes problems. Skin irritation can occur if these products are used on already irritated skin, right after shaving or spread too widely around the armpit.
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Nickel allergy is the most common dermatitis and afflicts about 25% of people. Nickel, part of certain metals, is found in many products. Many chrome plated objects contain enough nickel to produce a reaction in sensitive people. Stainless steel also contains nickel, but it is bound so tightly it is safe for most nickel sensitive individuals
Earrings containing nickel can cause earlobe dermatitis, a very common problem in people allergic to nickel. This may start with the needles used to pierce ears, and earrings. Only sterile stainless needles should be used for piercing. After piercing wear only nickel free earrings for at least the first three weeks.
Clothing accessories made of nickel buckles, zippers, buttons and metal clips can cause dermatitis. Nickel sensitive people can substitute nylon accessories.
Sweating increases dermatitis in nickel sensitive people. In the summer, items containing nickel can cause an itchy, prickly sensation within 15 to 20 minutes of touching sweaty skin. A rash may appear within a day or two. These same items can be worn for several hours without any problems, if sweat is not present.
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Rubber products often cause allergic contact dermatitis. Chemicals in rubber cause the reaction. Rubber can also cause immediate allergic reactions, including itching or burning and hives (welts) under the rubber object. Some people experience itching, tears from their eyes, and, on occasion, a shortness of breath. This is more common in people who wear tight fitting rubber gloves, such as medical workers. Rubber gloves may also cause dermatitis on the skin of the hands under the glove. Vinyl or other synthetic gloves may be substituted.
Most cases of allergic contact dermatitis from shoes are caused by ingredients in the rubber used in the shoe's construction. Adhesives, both rubber and non rubber, can also cause problems. Even leather shoes may contain adhesives. Shoes without rubber should be substituted.
Many women with rubber allergy can wear under garments with an elastic called spandex if they do not have rubbernecked fasteners or edges. Girdles and bras with no rubber are available.
Laundry Detergents and "Dryer Sheets"
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Many consumer products are very damaging to our skin. Virtually no laundry detergents, soaps and lotions are free of fragrances, dyes, additives, bleaches, and fabric softeners that may cause skin drying and itching. Dryer sheets used to control static often contain fragrances and chemicals that can enter your clothes and eventually your skin. The only chemical that should be in clothes after washing is water.
A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) study found numerous volatile chemicals in fabric softeners and dryer sheets1. These included Alpha-Terpineol which "can cause central nervous system disorders...", "is highly irritating to mucous membranes" and is recommended to avoid "repeated or prolonged skin contact." Benzyl Acetate - "From vapors: irritating to eyes and respiratory passages" and "Can be absorbed through the skin causing systemic effects." Limonene -"Prevent its contact with skin or eyes because it is an irritant and sensitizer."
