How Allergic Reactions Work

I thought this might be useful to some people that have problems with allergic reactions, particularly the time line of skin allergy.

When someone has a skin allergy it is a type of immune response called a Type 4 Hypersensitivity Reaction aka Delayed Hypersensitivity Reaction. The manifestation of this reaction dealing with shaving products is called contact dermatitis. Contact of the product, derm the skin, itis inflammation. The way that this type of hypersensitivity works is mediated through a group of cells. Essentially what has to happen is T-Cells are exposed to the allergen and then the cells have to make/select for receptors that are specific to that particular allergen. This takes time to do. Which is key in understanding why you get skin irritation when you do. Typically this process takes between 12-72 hours. The initial time that you apply a product you may notice some or no reaction, but this is not the full manifestation of the allergy if you are indeed allergy to the product (think chemical or specific molecule). The next time after the T-Cells are exposed to that allergen you will have a larger reaction given they had time to produce a specific receptor and that group of T-cells had time to produce so they are plentiful within the body. For example, this is for similar reason why people that have allergies to bees don't have a major issue until the second sting.

Overall, If you are having problems pay particular attention to what is in the products you are using. See if there is any overlap to what the ingredients are if there are a few products that give you issues. Usually the cells are very specific to what the chemical is, but there can be some overlap to things that are similar (identical portions of molecules can be on similar larger molecules). I just wanted to make sure people know that it may take even a few days before they realize they have an allergy to a new product. Therefore if you have skin allergies it is a good idea to get a few days supply or a product before you spend the big bucks. If you only have two days worth, I would wait a week before reusing that product again.

If anyone wants to do their own reading...

Condition: Contact Dermatitis
Process: (Delayed) Type IV Hypersensitivity

Hope this helped someone. I tried to make it as simple as possible. If you have any questions or you want some of the more complicated version. I will set this to email me every week.

-ed-

Excellent post.

Thanks,
R

Non-allergen induced irritation, razor burn, sometimes manifests a little while after the actual damage takes place as well. It's caused by excessive exfoliation during shaving with a razor. The result is inflammation. Both are uncomfortable, but contact dermatitis can be a little trickier to narrow down. I wonder if there is a good definitive way to differentiate if someone is experiencing one or the other, or both?

I think the only way to differentiate between the two would be to look for repeated occurrences. If you are allergic to a product you will always react to it. However you will not always have razor burn, or at least not always in the same location.

Thanks for the info! Appreciate the time you took to write up the post.

Pacman said:

Non-allergen induced irritation, razor burn, sometimes manifests a little while after the actual damage takes place as well. It's caused by excessive exfoliation during shaving with a razor. The result is inflammation. Both are uncomfortable, but contact dermatitis can be a little trickier to narrow down. I wonder if there is a good definitive way to differentiate if someone is experiencing one or the other, or both?

Click to expand...

This is actually pretty simple to figure out. All you have to do is put the product on your arm or somewhere else on your skin. Just no mucus membranes! Do the test the same way, place the product on your skin. Let it sit there just don't put it on real quick and wipe it off. Then wait a few days and put the product on your skin again. The only problems with this experiment are that you are not open up to the same level of exposure due to the fact that when you are shaving you open the skin up some to allow the product to absorb more.

None the less though just putting the product on your arm or whatever, rubbing it in a bit, repeat a week later should do the trick, in theory...


-ed-

Thanks for the post and taking the time to gather the information! I actually thought I was having an slight reaction, but I am thinking now that it was more due to travelling all day and slight razor burn.