Important Things You Should Know About Skin Allergy

Skin allergy is such a common condition, it is very important to know much about what it really is. Another name for skin allergy is actually contact allergy. This occurs when the skin gets in contact with a certain substance or allergen that leads to the person having reactions that are harmless in nature.

Let us say, hypothetically, that you are allergic to jewelry that is not made of pure silver or gold. You receive a pair of earrings and a bracelet as a birthday gift from your friends. The earrings are made of cheap gold, and the bracelet of cheap silver. But you do not really know this, and neither do your friends. More importantly, your friends are not aware that you are allergic to jewelry that is not made of genuine gold and silver. When you wear the earrings and the bracelet, you notice that your arm and your eyes become swollen. The cheap gold and cheap silver are actually the allergens and the equation, and the swelling is the allergic reaction that the jewelry has triggered. This is simply because your skin came into contact with these pieces of jewelry.

So, how did this happen? All of these reactions can be traced right back to your immune system, and the overreaction it produced when allergens came within proximity of your skin. Your immune system detected the fake gold and fake silver and saw them as harmful to your body. As soon as your skin came into contact with the jewelry pieces, your system produced antibodies that are assigned to fight off the harmful substances within its proximity. Your skin cells have also been triggered to produce similar reactions, in this case, overreactions. Thus, a skin allergy then occurs.

The typical symptoms that come with skin allergies are itchiness and swelling. The affected areas would become very red in color, and rashes would become evident in time. Scratching these areas would only worsen the condition because the allergic reaction can spread to other areas that were not affected originally. So, no matter how itchy these areas may be, you have to refrain from scratching them as much as possible. Slapping these areas will not help either.

What can help, though, is medication. There are many anti-allergy medicines that you can get in any pharmacy without having to secure a prescription from your doctor. Still, you have to make sure you take the appropriate medication. Thus, you still need to consult your doctor regarding the medicine you take in. You really would not want to do anything that would only make the condition worse.