It is unlikely that you can meet a person who has never met an allergy in his life. Food products, household components, chemicals, plants, animals - all these reagents provoke a certain reaction of the body. A common case is an allergy to adhesive tape. How does it manifest? Who faces it more? What are the treatment options? Everything in more detail in this article.
What is it and what is it for?
Before talking about skin allergies to band-aid, it is worthwhile to understand what kind of medical term it is and what it is needed for. By this concept is meant a small, sticky dressing with bacterial properties. In its central part is a square vein saturated with diamond greens. There are several indications for the use of this medication:
- Protection of the affected area from infection, bacteria and contamination.
- Some types of adhesives have healing properties.
- Masking the damaged area on the skin.
- Fixing a dropper, tight bandage or bandage.
- Closure of corns when wearing shoes.
There are a huge number of reasons why a person uses a band-aid. It is sold freely in the pharmacy. You can buy it at an insignificant price.
Possible manifestations
The allergic reaction in each person manifests itself in different ways. In total, there are several characteristic symptoms:
- Most often, slight redness occurs in the area where the adhesive dressing was applied. The skin area noticeably changes color. Many people confuse this manifestation with urticaria.
- Another easy stage of exposure is the appearance of a rash.
- If a change in skin color does not bother a person, then he does not need to carry out any treatment. However, it is worthwhile to beware when severe itching occurs.
- Another characteristic symptom is the appearance of peeling. In a certain area, skin layers begin to separate. Undoubtedly, this causes unpleasant sensations in the patient.
- The most dangerous manifestation of an allergy to a band-aid is blisters, ulcers and purulent acne. This suggests that the process of death of skin cells began to occur. In this case, you must immediately contact a specialist.
The first thing to do is to stop using the medication and thoroughly wash the skin area with soap and water. Further, for several days you need to monitor the condition of the affected area. If the signs of the manifestation of the reaction do not disappear during this time, then competent treatment should be started immediately.
Why is there an allergy?
Post-adhesive allergy occurs for several reasons:
- First of all, it is worth paying attention to the components that make up this medication. A similar reaction can occur when interacting with glue, brilliant green or a bacterial solution.
- A mild reaction can occur in people with too sensitive skin.
- Sometimes there is an allergy to the band-aid after surgery. This is due to a decrease in the immune system. As a rule, this is a one-time reaction, which will not be repeated in the future.
To the same extent this reaction is subject to children, men and women.
Diagnostics
Diagnosis at the earliest stage a person carries out himself. He evaluates his health and observes skin changes. If the reaction does not bother and noticeable improvements, you can wait a while and the allergy to the adhesive plaster will pass on its own a few days after stopping its use. If you feel discomfort urgently need to see a doctor. A dermatologist will give a direction to the necessary tests: a scraper, urine and blood, according to its results, he can evaluate the patient’s health status and prescribe a characteristic treatment.
Medical treatment
In most cases, treatment of an allergy from a band-aid is carried out with medications that are used internally and externally. Before starting treatment, the affected area of the skin should be freed from the irritant. Further, this area should be treated with a weak alcohol solution, avoiding getting into an open wound. After a few minutes, you can treat it with a cooling gel. An excellent assistant in this situation will be: "Fenistil", "Sanoflan" or "Fluorcord". In some cases, external intervention is not enough to solve this problem. There is a need to additionally use drugs that have anti-inflammatory properties. In rare cases, it may be necessary to take painkillers.
The use of folk remedies
In search of an answer to the question of how to treat an allergy to a band-aid, many people are wondering if folk remedies can be used. There are several proven methods that allow you to remove the symptoms of an allergy to a band-aid in a short period of time:
- It is recommended to pour chopped grass in a series of boiling water in an approximate ratio of 2: 1. The resulting solution must be infused in a dark place for 35 minutes. After passing this time in a healing solution, you need to moisten the gauze bandage and apply it to the affected area of the skin.
- Ready-made, you can buy celandine juice at the pharmacy. It must be diluted with a small amount of water and carry out a similar procedure.
- It is recommended to use baths with the addition of mint, chamomile or sage, the session should not last more than 20 minutes.
Treatment with folk remedies can be carried out repeatedly until a positive effect appears.
Self-medication can only be done with mild redness. If there is itching, peeling or ulcers, then it is better to refuse it. Otherwise, you can only aggravate the situation.
Can allergies be prevented?
Any disease is easier to prevent than to treat it for a long and exhausting. This also applies to reactions that occur on the skin. There are certain preventive measures that will avoid a negative point.
- It is necessary to pay attention to the composition of the patch in advance. You must make sure that there is no allergy to a specific component that is part of it. It is recommended to buy a product with a high content of zinc oxide, it helps to prevent the occurrence of a reaction.
- When using the material for the first time, you should carefully monitor the condition of the skin. If redness, itching, rash, and other changes have been detected, then its use should be stopped immediately.
- In some cases, you can additionally use aniseptic agents that reduce the risk of a reaction.
Unfortunately, there are no measures that could guarantee to protect a person from possible manifestations of allergies, since each body reacts differently to a particular medicine.
Clinic and Home Reaction Test
The patient can learn in advance about how the body will behave when interacting with any reagent. To do this, you need to do a reaction test. A chemical component is applied to the scratch located on the skin. Then they monitor the state of this area, if redness appears, then a person has a clear allergy. A similar test can be done at home. To do this, glue the patch on the wrist area and monitor its condition for 30 minutes.
Possible analogues
As mentioned earlier, allergic people need to use the use of special hypeallergenic patches consisting of silk material. Surprisingly, even a certain reaction can occur to them. What to do in such a situation? Of course, look for alternatives. They should be selected taking into account why they are needed.
For example, if you want to prevent the affected area of the body from infection, then you should use a bandage. This material is allergic in isolated cases. An ordinary adhesive tape may be suitable for fixing. You can disinfect the wound with a small piece of cotton wool, after moistening it in a weak alcohol solution.
Surprisingly, even the seemingly most harmless drug can cause strong resistance of the body (reaction). Adhesive plaster allergy is far from a rare occurrence, which, according to statistics, every tenth person faces. Fortunately, there are simple treatment measures that will solve this problem in the shortest possible time. It is highly recommended that you properly assess your body condition. Even the most common redness can be dangerous.