Can contact dermatitis recur if the irritant was absorbed into skin?
Posted by: Alan in Contact Dermatitis, tags: absorbed, Contact, Dermatitis, Into, Irritant, recur, Skin
Ten months ago I got contact dermatitis from sitting in a postpartum herbal bath. It is my belief that the offending ingredient was rosemary oil. I simmered the herbal ingredients and poured the liquid into the hot bath water. I sat in the bath for about 15 minutes and within 24 hours was diagnosed with the contact dermatitis. Itching lasted for 3 months. 10 months later and I have had several bouts of severe itching in the areas with the most sensitive skin and with the longest exposure to the bath water (use your imagination). I am wondering if the rosemary oil could be being released from the skin or fat cells and since I have been sensitized to it, causing itching? As I said, this happened postpartum and I have been breastfeeding since then, which is causing me to lose weight. My thinking – losing weight could be causing break down of fat cells. Can someone tell me if this is possible or likely?
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Entries (RSS)
June 17th, 2010 at 6:59 pm
Doubt that the rosemary oil is the problem at this point. Consider lichen simplex chronicus. A condition where you have a rash or itch and you scrtach so you itch and scratch and so on. The skin will thicken and become scaly. Usually continuous symptoms rather than wax and wane. Skin that has been irritated often has a decreased resistance to new causes of irritation. See the dermatologist and get something safe for long term control of inflammation.