When you start your baby on solids, there will be a number of foods that he is introduced to and any one of them could cause an allergic reaction. So it is best to introduce any new food you plan to one at a time. Giving three or more new foods at a time may lead to an unwanted reaction and you will never know what caused it. If your little one develops a stomach upset or vomiting after a food, it may not always be an allergy and could be just difficulty in digesting the food. Seasonal allergies also need to be ruled out. Food allergies are distinct from regular seasonal allergies and you will know it once you feed your baby new weaning food items.

How To Identify A Food Allergy?

When your baby takes a food item that he is allergic to, the body will treat it as a foreign material and initiate an immune response against it. The histamine that is released is responsible for causing the child allergy symptoms. These may be mild itching to severe anaphylaxis reaction.

The baby allergy symptoms begin in the form of tingling and itching of the lips, ears and mouth followed by appearance of itchy red blotches on the skin. In many cases the food allergy can present in the form of eczema or diarrhea and vomiting. Some allergies are inherited from the parents and children tend to show a similar set of symptoms. The allergic reaction may be a resultant of a reaction to one food item or simply the presence of nuts in a cookie or chocolate bar.

There is one identified food allergy that is seen mostly in babies. It is called FPIES (Food Protein Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome).The symptoms are like gastroenteritis and the baby has severe diarrhea and vomiting leading to dehydration. The cases are uncommon but the presentation is usually severe. There is no diagnostic test for this problem and most of the cases will resolve by early childhood.

The commonest allergy that is seen in the first year of the baby’s life is milk allergy. It is an allergy to cows milk or soy in formula and at times to the milk proteins present in breast milk. Once the baby starts taking solids, food proteins could be responsible for causing the allergy.

What Are The Common Food Allergens

There are many foods that could be the source of allergens but among all of them, there are 8 foods that have been identified to be the culprit in 90% of the cases. If you are able to identify food intolerance, talk to your doctor and he will be able to provide you with alternate foods that you could give the baby.

• Milk allergy
• Eggs
• Peanuts
• Walnuts and almonds
• Fish
• Shellfish allergy
• Wheat intolerance
• Soy protein

Management of Food Allergies

1. If you notice the allergy in your baby for the first time, it is likely to be mild in nature. Allergy to milk and eggs usually goes away as the child gets older but those to peanut allergy, shellfish etc have a tendency to stay and they can be seen even in adult life. The food allergies that develop within hours after eating should be investigated by an allergy specialist to isolate the cause of the allergy. Food allergy testing for babies is getting more and more common these days.
2. If the symptoms of the allergy are just related to the skin then you should contact your pediatrician to get symptomatic treatment for the same. But if you notice more severe symptoms like swelling of lips, difficulty in breathing and vomiting then you must call for emergency help. The reason behind this is that the airway of the baby can get blocked very fast as the mucosa in the throat swells up. Such cases need immediate medical intervention.
3. In severe cases where the allergy tends to come on very frequently like in gluten allergy, the doctor may suggest to use an epinephrine auto injector where by the exact dose of epinephrine is injected in the body to contain the allergic reaction. This is a complicated mode of treatment and is to be used only in severe cases.
4. The child should always wear an identification jewelry that indicates that he has an allergy. All the people involved in taking care of the child like baby sitters, nanny, school teachers and grand parents must be aware of the signs of allergies and the foods that cause it.
5. The best way to prevent these food allergies in babies is to give them potentially allergic foods like eggs one at a time and not in combination. The same foods should be given for three days in a row to rule out the allergy. The child should not be given cows milk till the age of one.
6. If you feel that you are allergic to a particular food, avoid it when feeding your child as the irritating protein may pass on to the baby via the breast milk.
7. Breast feed your child for as long as possible because the protective antibodies in breast milk help in preventing allergies from cropping up.

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Most of the hair dyes cause allergy resulting in burning, redness, and itchy scalp. This problem can be easily coped if treated early on; when you feel irritation in your scalp right after the implementing dye.

Unfortunately most of the people are unaware of the allergic reactions of hair dyes and they buy special shampoos and conditioners which may aggravate the condition instead of curing it.

Contact allergen

The culprit compound that used to cause allergy and present even in the most selling brands is known as paraphenylenediamine (PPD) or “contact allergen” or in scientific terminology, “sensitization dermatitis”. This ingredient is mostly found in oxidation and permanent hair dyes. If you know that you are sensitive to PPD, you should avoid such dye.

This chemical is also used to prepare leather dyes, printing inks and photograph development products. Manufacturers of these products have already clearly explained that direct contact with the PPD should be avoided. But some hair dye manufacturers are putting the end user in dangers associated with the PPD.

Allergic reactions

You may suffer all of the following but it is most common to just notice one or two of the symptoms. Like other forms of contact dermatitis repeated exposure may cause the allergy to develop therefore alternatives to permanent hair dye should be researched as soon as an allergy is confirmed.

Following is the set of symptoms that has been compiled through the most common reactions, occurred to the different people. These allergic reactions may occur in the first time use or like other types of contact dermatitis with repeated exposure.

• Skin and scalp redness
• Terrible itching and pain in scalp or skin
• Sneezing or the symptoms of hay fever
• Nausea during the application of hair dye
• Sever swelling around eyes or facial oedema
• Mild dandruff like symptoms
• Scaly skin

Anaphylaxis

Anaphylaxis is a sever type of multi system allergic reaction in mammals, including humans. In this condition trace amount of any allergen may trigger life-threatening anaphylactic reaction. Anaphylaxis occurs after skin contact, ingestion, injection of an allergen or inhalation.

Anaphylactic shock is the most severe form of anaphylaxis that takes place when an allergen activates a sudden release from mast cells of large quantities of immunological mediators leading to dilation of blood vessels and bronchioles constriction resulting in difficult breathing. Anaphylactic shock may cause death within minutes if left untreated.

Since today, two deaths have been attributed to anaphylaxis shocks due to hair dye allergy. This event is very rare but it shows the worse state of allergic reaction.

Patch test

Those hair dyes that contain PPD, usually carry a warning on the pack of the product; patch test should be done prior to use. There are two methods to check the allergic sensitivity to PPD.

Method 1

The test involves, application of 20 cent sized spot of solution of dye and developer, either behind the ear or at inner bend of the elbow. Leave the patch to dry uncovered for two to three days. If no skin rash or irritation occurs during this period then test is considered as negative and one can apply that specific hair dye to the whole head.

Method 2

This method is specific for the detection of PPD sensitivity. In this process, 2 percent PPD mixed in petrolatum is used for patch test. A PPD measuring scaled is used to identify that the person can use the PPD hair dyes or not. 1+ to 3+ results showed that allergic dermatitis will occur with use of hair dyes.

Both of the positive results confirmed that PPD is the key cause of dermatitis and products that contain this ingredient should be avoided.

Tips to avoid hair dye allergy

Most of the people use hair colors to look younger but now the trend has changed. Today, youngsters are using hair dyes to boost their looks and make their hair more beautiful. Some people even wear dyes of unique colors to look prominent in the crowd. Whatever is the reason, following tips will ease you hair dying.

Choose dye with conditioner

Although manufacturer of hair dyes made products by keeping in view the customer’s safety, but you cannot be really sure if product should not harm your hairs. So, first defensive act to protect your hair from damage is to select one that has conditioning property. This will provide maximum protection against the allergic reaction of the hair dye.

Prefer lighter hair color

If you just want to cover your gray hairs to look younger, it would be better to select color that is little darker than your natural hair color. These colors will give you most appropriate and natural look.

Avoid hair conditioning before dying

Wash your hair to remove dust and skin oil before applying any hair color as these can affect the absorption of dye. But don’t apply any conditioner just before dying your hair. If your have already damaged hair, apply conditioner at least 24 hours prior to dying.

Protect your hand and skin

Use hand gloves before coloring hair, usually found in the hair-coloring kit to protect hands from any contact allergen. Keep your neck, hairline and other exposed body parts, covered during hair dying because these colors are hard to remove from your skin even after few days of application.

Always go for patch test

Hair dyes, most of the times contain PPD and other allergens that cause pain, redness itchiness and skin inflammation. It is essential to always do a patch test (as have mentioned above), while you are applying your trusted dye. Using these tips might reduce your chances of allergy and you may find hair coloring enjoyable.

Related Images and Trusted Links

• Dermatitis, close-up of allergic contact
• Allergic Contact Dermatitis

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