Are You Allergic? Know About It

Allergy is a common term. Several people are allergic to different things. People may be allergic to cold, dust, cosmetics, butter and other uncountable things as well.

It’s common perception not to take it a seriously but some allergies, if untreated, may prove fatal. Let’s have some detailed discussion on the topic.

Allergy means exaggerated response by our immune system. A healthy immune system has the capability to differentiate between harmful and harmless foreign substances, and it deals with the substances accordingly. There is no reaction against harmless substances in non-allergic people. In allergic people, body recognizes even harmless foreign substances as harmful and one part of the system gets turned on.

Allergy-causing products are known as allergens.Allergens include dust, mite, pollens, molds,and certain foods.To understand basics about allergy, it is important to remember that allergens are those substances which are foreign to body and cause allergic reactions.

When these allergy causing products come in contact with body, our immune system develops allergic reactions in people who have allergy. When our system inappropriately responds to allergens, which are usually harmless to people, we develop a reaction which is referred to allergic.It may be atopic (hereditary) or otherwise.

The term allergy was first used by Clemens Pirquet .It is derived from greek words “allos”meaning different and “ergos” meaning work. Thus, in layman terms, it can be called altered reaction. In 1905, the term was first used to describe inappropriate reactions in children whowere provided with repeated doses of horse serum to fight infection.

Causes of Allergy

Skin Contact

There are many types of rashes and skin allergies.Following are the most common types of skin allergies:

Eczema

Also known as Atopic Dermatitis, it occurs usually in younger children. After its development at an early age, it may continue till their adulthood.In infants, rashes occur on cheeks, chest and scalp where children usually scratch. Adults and older children have rashes usually in elbows and behind knees. Many also develop it on neck, face, back and feet.

More often, the color of rashes is red and contains small bumps or blisters. Sometimes it appears like broken skin because of excessive scratching.

Urticaria (Hives) and Angioedema (Swelling)

Urticaria is also known as hives in normal terms. It is an itchy rash that can occur at any age. It also looks bumpy and can attain different sizes and shapes. It lasts for minutes to few hours.Though it may be very itchy, normally people don’t scratch the area to the point of bleeding.

Sometimes hives create swelling also. This is known as Angioedema. Usually it includes organs like lips, hand, feet and eyes. Swelling is not that much itchy or red, but it is likely to cause a tingling sensation. If swelling is very severe, it hampers breathing and can be fatal.

Contact Dermatitis

It is caused when skin comes into contact with a product that causes rashes. Normally, it develops when we get exposed to chemicals, hair dye, cosmetics, medications and other such material.An example of contact dermatitis is rashes from poisin ivy, which is severely itchy.

A contact dermatitis rash appears similar to atopic dermatitis, but this rash typically exists only in the part which gets exposed to any chemical or other unpleasant substance.

Common areas are neck, hands,feet and eyelids. Allergy because of metals, jewelry, clothing, zippers, and buttons usually occurs on neck, waistline, hands etc.

Itching Without a Rash

It is common to have itching without developing rashes. Medically,itching is called pruritus. When itching is restricted to a specific area of the body, most likely reason may be any skin related disease. But pruritus to the whole body may also reflectlike thyroid or any metabolic problems. Itching can be caused by medications, also including morphine and codeine.