What to do if you have food allergies on your face

Stop suspected allergenic foods as soon as possible, and rinse all food residues and soups on your face with water at normal temperature. Do not touch products with extra effects such as facial cleansers and facial masks. If the redness and itching are obvious, use clean gauze soaked in refrigerated saline and apply it for about 10 minutes. Mild to moderate allergies can be quickly relieved.

I just met a sophomore girl last week. After eating half a mango, she developed a red rash on the corners of her mouth and cheeks where the juice was stained. The itching was unbearable, so she turned over the mometasone furoate at home and applied it on her face. I thought it would be as effective as applying eczema on her body before, but when she woke up the next day, half of her face was swollen, and there was only a slit left over her eye. When she came to the clinic, she was still crying. She said she would have stopped applying medicine if she had known better. In fact, it’s not that hormone drugs are bad, it’s that the facial skin is much thinner than the body. When allergic, the barrier has been broken. If strong hormones are applied to the face indiscriminately, it is easy to leave pigmentation. In severe cases, it can induce hormone-dependent dermatitis. If you really want to use the medicine, you have to find a doctor to prescribe a weak version. Follow the doctor’s advice and stop taking it after three to five days. The risk of using it on your own is really high.

Some people also ask whether they should take loratadine immediately if they are allergic? There is actually no standard answer to this question. If you only have some local redness and itching on your face, and you don’t have wheezing, tight throat, or large wheals on your body, you don’t need to take medicine. You just need to apply cold compresses and streamline your skin care. ； But if systemic symptoms have already appeared, don’t hesitate to take antihistamines before rushing to the hospital. If this kind of severe allergic reaction lasts for a long time, there is a real risk of laryngeal edema, so you can’t just bear it.

It’s quite interesting to say that many people have various “home remedies” when they have allergies. Last month I met a young man whose face was swollen due to an allergy to eating crayfish. He insisted on dragging his friends to eat skewers and said, “Fight fire with fire.” As a result, the allergy lasted for less than half a month. After it cleared up, there was still a dull look on his face for two months. He told everyone he met that he had stepped on a thunderbolt. In fact, during an allergy period, in addition to avoiding allergenic foods, it is also best not to touch spicy food, alcohol, and other things that easily dilate blood vessels. Otherwise, the blood vessels will always be in a state of dilation, and the symptoms of redness and itchiness will only recur. What should be cured in three to five days is not worth delaying for ten days and a half.

There are also many people who are crazy about applying aloe vera gel and Internet celebrity soothing essences when they are allergic. I usually advise them to stop first. If these products contain alcohol, fragrance, and preservatives, they will add burden to the already damaged skin barrier. If you really need to apply something, choose a medical repair lotion with minimal ingredients that you have used before and confirmed that you are not allergic. I am really not sure that applying nothing at all is better than applying indiscriminately.

As for many people saying that they should go for allergen testing, there are different opinions in the industry. On the one hand, it can indeed help you check for most common allergens, but there are also studies that show that the false positive rate of conventional food allergen testing is not low, and it cannot be fully trusted. It is best to cooperate with a food diary. Write down what you eat before each allergic reaction. Foods that have been matched several times are the allergens that you really need to avoid. Don't just read what the test report says you can't eat and just ignore everything, which will make you prone to malnutrition.