A mystery rash popping up on your skin can feel frustrating, embarrassing, terrifying, and a whole myriad of other emotions. Typically, this happens when your skin comes into contact with something that it greatly disagreed with. The dermatologist word for these blisters, stinging, itchiness, redness, or flaking popping up is “actinic contact dermatitis.” It’s a potentially scary term for what is really just an allergic skin reaction taken to its extreme.

How does contact dermatitis occur?

Your skin can get angry and red over lots of different things. Almost any chemical can cause a nasty reaction. It often depends on how you came in contact with it and how sensitive your skin is. Contact Dermatitis usually pops up in a localized area and comes about pretty quickly, usually within a few hours. Here are a few common allergens that cause contact dermatitis:

• Latex
• Poison ivy
• Foods
• Animal dander
• Dyes in clothing
• Scented products
• Perfume
• Certain metals
• Certain cosmetic preservatives
• Rubber

Often contact dermatitis occurs at a job site, especially with people who work with food, machines, chemicals, or any other common skin irritants. If you work in one of these industries, consider wearing protective gear, including non-latex gloves, and a mask if you’re using chemicals. 

How to test for contact dermatitis

If you have experienced contact dermatitis, your best option is to give your dermatologist a call to figure out exactly what triggered your reaction. Here at Old Bridge Dermatology, we can perform patch testing to diagnose allergies that might trigger contact dermatitis. We can pin down what’s giving you a reaction by applying a collection of common substances to your skin. If one pops up as positive, we can help provide guidance on how to avoid those substances.

If you are dealing with contact dermatitis, allergic reactions, or any other skin, nail, or hair issues, give us a call today. Here at Old Bridge Dermatology, our dermatologist, Dr. Juan Vaillant, has over 30 years of experience to help assess and treat any skin, nail, or hair problem that you are experiencing. To schedule an appointment at our convenient Old Bridge, NJ office, call us today at 732-679-0222.