Uncooperative Skin

Unfortunately, as much as we'd wish it would be simple, sometimes our skin just will not cooperate and what seemed to be a perfect skin care routine suddenly turns into an allergic nightmare. It is frustrating and exhausting, and it makes you feel a bit crappy about yourself at times, but it can be fixed. The most important thing is to understand your allergy and identify its cause, whether it is simply from something you're using externally, or whether it is actually something you are ingesting.

External Allergies and Intolerances

Itchy skin, rashes, red swollen bumps and patches over the body, and blisters on the face are some of the common skin allergies. The reasons for them may not be the same for every allergic person however, all allergies are troublesome and unpleasant. It is very important for allergy sufferers to be aware of the reason for the allergy, as minimum exposure to it would keep a control on it from spreading further.
  
Common Causes

The most common causes of skin irritation or allergies are chemical intolerances from either household cleaning products or skin care products. These chemicals are far from good for your skin and it is understandable that your body would react to try and removes it from your system. Other causes include frequent touching of your skin with grubby fingers, plants (more commonly flowers with pollen or oily residues) and strong fragrances such as essential oils etc.




The severity of your reaction to certain substances can vary but the most typically recorded are allergic rashes. These rashes may be dry, patchy and scaly, and sometimes when they worsen may become watery too. In most cases, dryness and itching is all you will experience, but there is no reason why you should have to continue to suffer no matter what severity.

Preventative Measures

The first preventative measure I can recommend is Patch Testing. Patch testing is a way of determining what you might be allergic to without harming yourself and causing your entire body to have a nasty reaction. When patch testing, the most important thing to do at first is to make sure the area you will be using is completely clear of any rash or previous allergy site. Find a small area you are comfortable putting which ever product you are testing on and make sure the area is cleaned as to not confuse reactions with each other - I recommend the back of your hand. Rub in the moisturiser, cleanser, make-up, whatever you are testing into that spot and leave it. Generally, if you have not seen any change in your skin within 24 hours then you should be good to go. However, sometimes it can take much longer to react and there are other ways to prevent it.

Now, I have said this before and I'll say it again. Drink lots of water and moisturise. This will help both before an allergic reaction and if you already have an existing reaction, as water not only cleanses out your body but it keeps skin soft as does moisturiser, because allergic reactions dry out your skin.

If your rash is particularly bad use ice cubes to reduce itching and stop inflammation but do not use ice cubes if your rash has become watery. Do Not scratch your rashes and stay away from extreme hot and cold temperatures, and avoid detergents, soaps and perfumes. If it does worsen even more, medical advice is very important as it could be something else entirely.

Internal Allergies and Intolerances

Sometimes when you brake out in nasty rashes and become horribly itchy, the last thing you would think of is the possibility that you might be eating something your body doesn't like. As I said above, this could be the point where medical advice could be very helpful to you. One cause of itchy skin is eczema, a general term encompassing various inflamed skin conditions. ‘Atopy’ is the term used for the tendency to develop eczema, asthma and/or hay fever. Atopic people have an overactive immune system and their skin easily becomes inflamed. Eczema is not contagious and, like many diseases, currently cannot be cured. However, for most patients the condition can be managed. Despite the overwhelming evidence of an association between itchy skin, and eczema, and hidden food allergies, very few sufferers are tested for food sensitivity by their doctors.

Common Causes

Diet plays an important role in the management of skin symptom flare-ups, however, it is difficult to determine which foods, or combinations of foods, are responsible for each individual’s condition. Everyone is unique with a different biochemical make-up to others with the same condition. Cow's milk, nuts and yeast may be responsible for some people’s itchy skin but safe for others. These flare up's can be instantaneous, but can also take time to become noticeable, in which case could be an explanation for that annoying uncooperative skin that you keep thinking is the cause of your skin care routines not working.

However, another good explanation for your uncooperative skin is simply the time it takes certain ingredients in your skin care products to be processed through your skin and into your other organs where it is then rejected and pushed back to the surface causing your reaction. In these cases, treatment can be quite simple.

Preventative Measures

For those with skin symptoms, acknowledging that certain food combinations can contribute to symptoms, and then identifying and eliminating the specific foods from their diet, is an important step forward. The problem with attempting any dietary modification is that first you need to know what to change. Currently the best accepted method for confirming food sensitivities is with an elimination diet. This involves eating a restricted diet for several weeks. If there is no reduction in symptoms during this time, it is assumed that the food type that has been restricted is not the problem and the process is repeated with another food type however, this becomes tedious and rediculous, and you may never find a resolution. In saying that, there have been very successsful cases of using this method and symptoms have reduced.

As for treating a chemical intolerance or basic skin product intolerance, the best thing you can do is change how you view your skin type. For skin that does this, you do not have normal or combination skin and you definitely do not have oily skin, your skin type needs to be treated as dry and sensitive. This means you may need to use even gentler products, possibly even gentler than products commonly used by the average person with sensitive skin. I highly recommend removing toning from your routine as this tends to dry your skin out a little more and moisturise up to three times daily with something like calendula oil as it is both gentle and healing, and you shouldn't have any reaction.

Well, I hope this helps your skin become sensational and for any other questions you can email me at thesixthscentskincare@gmail.com or find me at www.facebook.com/thesixthscent.

I'm really sorry it has taken me so long to write another post but unfortunately I have only just been able to access an internet service again.

Take Care and have a Happy Skin Health Day!

Enjoy!

The Sixth Scent.