What to do if you have belt allergy? Isolating the allergen is the key

With the arrival of summer, the temperature rises and people expose more parts of their bodies. As the skin comes into contact with the outside world more often, allergic reactions that may not have occurred before may also occur, such as belt allergies. Belt allergies are mostly caused by the belt material. The most important way to treat belt allergies is to isolate the allergen.

1: After the beginning of summer, during routine health checkups, we found that a considerable proportion of people suffered from allergic dermatitis caused by direct contact with the skin from metal buckles on belts or metal ornaments and metal zippers on clothing.

2: The symptoms are allergic inflammation at the contact site (mostly supraclavicular area). The skin lesions are initially erythematous and papular, and the size of the lesions is consistent with the contact surface. The patient feels itchy, and after scratching, the rashes break and become shallow ulcers. After healing, the skin may have different degrees of brown pigmentation. If the disease recurs, the pigmentation will gradually deepen.

3: This type of contact dermatitis rarely occurs in winter or spring and autumn because the underwear and pants play a role of isolation. In summer, the allergens such as metal buttons and accessories come into direct contact with the skin, and the organic solvents formed by lactic acid contained in sweat are conducive to the precipitation of metal ions such as iron and nickel, causing allergies.

1: Once allergic dermatitis occurs, the most fundamental and effective way is to isolate the allergen. For example, you can use non-metallic belt buckles, or wear more fitted clothes that do not require belts.

2: If you have to use a belt with a metal buckle, here is a little trick: you can stick transparent tape on the back of the metal buckle. This can act as a mechanical barrier without affecting the appearance.

3: We need to remind you that once allergic dermatitis occurs, do not scratch excessively, otherwise it may cause the skin damage to expand. When blisters or ruptures appear, you should seek medical attention immediately to avoid secondary infection. In particular, do not apply some anti-allergic drugs indiscriminately when you continue to come into contact with allergens. Because most of these drugs contain corticosteroid hormones, long-term external use will not only accelerate pigmentation, but also cause skin thickening or leather-like changes in the damaged area in severe cases.

As more and more parts of the body are exposed, the number of patients with contact dermatitis has also increased. Recently, allergic dermatitis caused by metal substances, especially metal belt buckles, has attracted everyone's attention.