Transcription:
Allergies (Skin Care)

Host:    Beauty products, everything from shampoo to make up to cologne. And even things like the sun can really make you feel pretty and ready for anything, but they can also irritate your skin and cause an allergic reaction. There are things that we need to know about our summer skin and the products that we use.

Welcome to say yes to good health with Memorial hospital. I'm Melanie Cole and joining me is Christa Carle. She's a nurse practitioner at Memorial hospital specializing in dermatology. Krista. I'm so glad to have you join us today. So tell us about your job. What are the most common allergies and skin allergies that you see?

Tell us about the field of dermatology and our skin allergies.

Guest: Yes. Thank you, Melanie. Thanks for having me on today. And we see lots of different variety of issues, especially in the summer, but you can have any of these rashes irritants throughout the year, no matter what time of year. one thing that being outdoors in the summer with the sunlight with insects with poisonous plants really can start up a lot of rashes.

And many of the dermatitises that we have, and we see today is related to harsh chemicals and exposure to harsh chemicals. Most people that come in with dermatitises of their hands. Feet really, you can have those anywhere where the skin is broke down and irritated, scaly. But most of my cases, it seems like our mechanics hairstylist those in the healthcare field that wash their hands a lot.

And with COVID, I'm having a ton of dermatitis. To the irritating things that we're putting on our hands, such as alcohol based hand sanitizers. And nobody wants to hear that because everybody loves their hand sanitizers, but you gotta be Very aware.

These things need to also have some protection.

You need to provide protection with skin moisturizers after using these harsh chemicals and make sure that do a lot of preventative with keeping your skin super healthy. Washing it with gentle. Soaps. And then also, like I said, the moisturizers that have no perfumes that you apply maybe after washing your hands can really cut down on those dermatitises.

And then also we use dish soap obviously a lot of women that, or men that do Dishes a lot will have these issues, making sure that the. Things that you're putting on your hands, such as dish. So you then get it off with lukewarm water, maybe not super hot water. And like I said, moisturize using products that might not have perfumes in them.

Plenty of products, such as survey Vana cream set of Phil great moisturizers to use after this irritant has been put on the hands and try to decrease chemical exposure. So if you're doing hair for a living, if you have your hands in chemicals, a lot, trying to decrease that exposure, and then maybe even by wearing gloves having gloves for every area and to use those.

Obviously protect what the moisturizers after and washing those chemicals off with lukewarm water.

Host: Dishes isn't that what kids and partners are for, or I don't like to dishes really. So tell me, it was a little bit about the difference between irritation. Like you're talking about with sanitizers and dish soap and things that we're using an actual allergies. Like if we have something that we're allergic to that touches our skin like latex or some people are.

Real allergy problems to the sun or to jewelry certain metals. Tell us the difference between irritation and actual allergy.

Guest: Right. Well, actually, that's really great question. A lot of people don't understand the difference between an allergy and an irritant. And as I think of it in dermatology, your entire skin is the biggest organ that protects the rest of your body. If one thing is aggravated, Or irritated or say you have psoriasis or rosacea, any of these diseases of the skin that can cause inflammation, dermatitis is a top layer of skin irritation, then it can snowball and it can make you more susceptible to more irritants, more sensitive skin issues.

More skin diseases. And then also when you actually have an allergy and test positive to an allergy, then obviously that.

can, anytime you come in contact with it can create redness, like a rash irritation, and then even hives. And then it can go even more systematic and cause further problems with your health.

And so identifying if you do after, Really.

knowing your skin and identifying, okay. I've put on latex gloves. I now have broke out with hives which most people know what hives are, but little fluid-filled. Blistering on that location. Is this a dermatitis or is this an allergy?

Well, I think either one needs to be investigated, especially if it happens once that might be something Yeah.

Throw on moisturizer, and just monitor. But otherwise you need to be going to your dermatology specialist, your primary care provider to find out if this is a dermatitis or if it's an allergy and sometimes snowballing dermatitises can go into allergies.

So if you don't take care of the one symptom or problem that you have of your skin, a lot of the times it will just snowball into other issues. So it definitely is super important, too. Figure out what it is, find out what you can do to prevent it in the future, pay attention to your symptoms, and then recognize when it's going on for more than a couple of weeks, maybe you need to seek care and think about going to your, like I said, dermatology specialist or primary care provider to figure out if this is a true allergy or a dermatitis.

Host: Well, that's really important information and Krista sometimes. And tell me if I'm right about this, an irritant or a skin allergy can go systemic, right? So if you have something you can actually have a severe allergic reaction. What do you want us to look for? I mean, we see these things on our skin and we go, oh, well, what is that?

Maybe we try some kind of moisturizer as you're saying, or we had right to the bass, a trace in, or one of those kinds of things, you know, we don't maybe go to our doctor, but then maybe something else starts to happen or it really starts to itch. Can these things get so systemic that they cause breathing issues that they really are.

Guest: Right.

Exactly. No I'm going right to the ABCs and I'm important, scary emergency issues related to dermatology and skin is number one. If you start swelling, if you have a red rash, that's one thing. But then if you start swelling in your throat, On your face, having a rash that is swelling, and then closing up your throat, obviously that is a medical emergency.

You need to have be hopefully with somebody. Number one. Benadryl is always, if you have time while somebody is driving you to the hospital, you call 9 1 1, or. Obviously, get with somebody who can take care of you so they can contact nine 11. That is medical emergency. Anna Filactic reaction can happen.

It can start with just exposure. have, a few pediatric patients that have developed allergies and Anna Filactic reaction related to bees, wasp, insects, insect bites and the venom from those. And then they carry an EpiPen and definitely are hybrids. For trying to reduce their risk of coming in contact with that allergy and knowing how to take care of it.

If that happens again, I have several kids with eczema that is, dermatitis that then they.

have other. Allergies because a lot of times skin issues and allergies are hand in hand and can really have a lot of relationships together. And recognizing that maybe if you have eczema then you know, you could have an underlying food allergy to really, high rates are peanuts, eggs, and we have more and more allergies happening on a daily basis. And really recognizing if this happens to you, your child, you have swelling of the face, even don't. See your primary care provider, right during that, or after that, because it's not every reaction can get worse.

And so identifying, if it was facial swelling and even throat swelling, that is not something you wait for a second occurrence or second time to happen before finding out what it is. We have allergy testing and Providers that do allergy testing that we refer to and they can identify exactly what that.

allergy is and how to manage it in the future.

Host: Wow. That was really, a great summary what do you feel is the most important bit of information that you would like people to have to protect their skin for the summer?

Guest: Okay. Taking care of your skin is super important and just washing it with a gentle soap and maybe not overdoing it don't use harsh products like peroxides, beta Dines to clean it. Make sure gentle soaps. You try to only. Wash your skin. If it needs it, otherwise it can be really dried out and making sure you use great moisturizers to hydrate your skin, to reduce obviously irritation and prevent a lot of these problems that can happen.

Host: Krista, I would like to first ask you, as we're talking about taking care of our skin and in the summer, and we look at our sunscreens and the moisturizers we were talking about before the break, we see these words, allergen free and hypoallergenic.

And I know I was grabbing all that stuff when the kids were little, you know, but I, I don't know that I actually know why these things are considered hypoallergenic, and if we're putting them on our skin, what does that even.

Guest: well, hypoallergenic obviously We want to pick products that are, less irritating and there's a lot of, controversy and debate whether certain products can be more irritating than other products. a lot of.

the times, if you can use ingredients that have. Or titanium dioxide. Those have been shown in studies really to reduce really to be safe.

Number one, they've been there. They've been out forever and really provide good protection too with being a sunscreen. Of course, anything needs reapplied with being in the water and with sweating, probably every couple hours, depending on what type of activities you're doing. But definitely every person can be a little different on what can cause them some irritation and what ingredients they can be allergic to or sensitive to.

So recognizing each person needs to use that product, maybe minimally in a small area. their arm before they use it all over their entire body. And especially with the pediatric population, we'd take care of pediatric to geriatric here at Memorial medical clinic. And Definitely recognize those babies.

You need to make sure, obviously they're over six months old to be using sunscreen. And if not, then they should not be in the direct sunlight. And make sure that you use a little bit before you use a lot of that sunscreen, just to make sure that they're not going to have a sensitivity, a rash and irritation related to that product.

Host: That's really great information. And I remember when my kids were little worrying about those things, of course kids get . Rashes and stuff, But you have this list you'd like to give today. So I would like you to do that.

But before you do that, Sun fungus, they call it sun, fungus, people sit out in the sun and all of a sudden their skin is like patchy and different colors and sometimes even little bumps. Can you just tell us what that is?

Guest: Yes. Prickly heat or heat rashes can be related to sweat. Glands blocks. Sweat glands can actually cause this because the sweat cannot get out. It builds up on your skin and usually causing like a rash, tiny little itchy bumps. When the bumps actually burst, they released sweat and many people will even feel like a prickly sensation on their skin.

That is what causes this rash. And a lot of people will refer it to as a heat rash. And there's a lot of ways to prevent that. There's a lot of things that you can do to reduce your risk, such as wearing lightweight, like loose. Fitted clothing made of cotton. Make sure that when you do exercise outside, it's during the coolest parts of the day and really move your workout to indoors.

If you can. I know it's so fun and so great to run outdoors, but if you're just more prone to this may be something just to be a little more cautious. And then also like I said, being in the air conditioning have fans, cool showers. Air conditioning when possible to reduce that from happening and during that super hot part of the day, maybe not working out at that point.

And then when you come in and you do have your sweaty clothes on, definitely. Getting those off as soon as possible, rinsing off with lukewarm water instead of hot water to get the sweat off of your skin. So it doesn't cause more irritation and other skin issues.

Host: Wow. People don't think about all these things you just described. Now tell us your summer skin problems, the ones you really want people to know about and the things that they can do with them.

Guest: Yes. So there are many problems that happen in the summer and really can be Prevented, if you take care of your skin, one problem I wanted to talk about was melasma. That is when there's patches of hyperpigmentation, which is brown patches that develop on our face or other parts of our skin related to sun damage.

And. It can also be related to hormone changes. or the combination of sun exposure with hormone changes. Some people are more prone to it than others, but definitely by protecting our skin, wearing more hats that are wide brimmed, hats or glasses definitely, using sunscreen, at least an SPF that is broad spectrum and at least.

30, like I said, we talked on a couple of products that were good. Also, Making sure that

you reapply that sunscreen and they make rash guards these day, which a lot of people look at me like what is a rash guard? That's that material that you can wear that then covers the skin. That's more surface.

Material that you can still breathe through and still be protected. My son, I have a five-year-old that just, he thinks that his swimming trunks come no matter What he has to wear a swim shirt with it. obviously some people that have the lighter skin are higher risk along with them. Blue eyes, but anybody is at risk.

A lot of overexposure of the sun can cause slow growing skin cancers, and really skin issues that we're talking about today. But if you wear some of that protective gear so that you don't get the sun reactions and damage sunburns, then obviously it can protect your skin for longer and you may not have those issues later on. And then another issue that a lot of times happens and really can happen from the pediatric population. All the way to geriatric population is acne breakouts, who does not have acne breakouts. when sweat mixes with bacterias and oils on her skin and it can clog our pores, then we get breakouts.

So in the summer months, it's even more. Prone, I guess, likely to have these problems and definitely knowing. After you sweat, maybe to wiping off blotting your skin with a clean towel or a cloth. So you're not just wiping, can aggravate, irritate the skin and can lead to breakouts washing your sweaty clothes, your headbands, your towels, your hats, Every single time you use them. and definitely.

Just to avoid The sweaty material on your skin for a long period of time. When you get out of practice, a lot of teenagers that I take care of when they get out of practice, just if they don't have a sink right next to them, at least use your water bottle to rinse that water off of your face.

And maybe even. Back if that's more prone to the acne locations and then

using products that are non-comedogenic, which are really can be used on the face. the neck, the chest, your products may say oil free or won't clog pores. That's the same as non-comedogenic just being aware that these products are not.

Going to clog the pores and are made for acne and maybe even gentle soaps and finding products that specific is specifically to your skin, that won't irritate your skin is important. And maybe talking to your provider, if these breakouts get out of control or dermatology, specialists, because.

there can be.

Perioral dermatitis. There can be other diagnosises basically, besides

just a pimple that can snowball into more issues. And if you get it taken care of early, it might be I guess, way easier to get under control.

Host: Wow. What an informative episode and show this is, we have so many things we could talk about and I'm kind of thinking Christa, you and I could go on for quite a while because there is so many skin issues that we could really talk about. So before we're even done for today, just tell us a little bit about some things.

Irritate the skin like clothing fabrics. How do we know when we put something on our skin? You know, sometimes in kids, especially, and have a five-year-old. So I don't know if it's a girl or a boy, but I remember my little daughter was like, I can't wear that. It's itchy cat, you know? So sometimes there's sensitive skin.

Right? So how do we know if we have sensitive skin

in just the last few minutes? Tell us about that and what you want us to do, kind of wrap this whole thing up in a beautiful package for us, with your best advice about taking care of our skin, wearing sunscreen. And if we have sensitive skin, how do we know.

Guest: Okay. Yes, I'll do that. I could talk all day, but definitely to get back to the contact dermatitis and the irritants, as soon as if your child says that the shirt makes them feel itchy, it aggravates them, you know, they're not making this up. Definitely, you know, get that material off of them. Cotton usually is less likely to cause the irritation, something that is breathable is great.

But if you want sun protection, that rash guard that says it is SPF. And the thread count is enough to basically protect them 30 days. D protection, it'll say on the material and then Recognizing.

that yes. If any of those are causing aggravation, if you develop a rash, then make sure that you get that product off, you rinse off you moisturize because it's super important within three minutes of getting out of the shower, right.

Patients that putting on a really good moisturizer that doesn't have the perfumes, that would be like an intensive moisturizer head to toe can really hydrate the skin, capture that water that was just from the shower and really do more benefits. To protect and safeguard your skin so that you don't have the skin irritation is likely you don't have skin diseases as likely.

And every person's different. So every material might, one material might bother one person versus another. So recognizing those symptoms and if you're itchy, get it off and try a different type of material and recognize maybe that aggravate and identify if it's going to be that way every time.

Host: Wow, this is just such great information, and I really want you to join us again because we could keep going about things and moisturizers and the dirty dozen that affect our skin. There's so many things Krista, I want to thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your incredible expertise in dermatology with us today that concludes this episode of say yes to good health with Memorial hospital.

For more health tips, please visit our website. MH tlc.org and search for medical dermatology, or you can call 2 1 7 3 5 7 2 1 7 3 to get connected with one of our providers. I'm Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.