| | | If you're having trouble viewing this email, click here | | | | | | | Facial Swelling: Contact Dermatitis vs Angioedema | I see patients in my clinic very frequently, who are referred to me for an evaluation of an “allergic reaction”. Many of these people have had facial swelling that their referring physician has diagnosed as angioedema. As a result of their symptoms, the person was likely treated with antihistamines, corticosteroids, and possibly even injectable epinephrine. As an allergist, it is my job to determine the cause of the symptoms, with the goal being to prevent the reaction from happening again. | | | | | How to Differentiate Angioedema from Contact Dermatitis | | The difference between angioedema and contact dermatitis are often subtle, and it takes someone with years of training and experience to know the differences between these two similar conditions. After all, both can cause severe swelling of the face, eyes and lips, both can cause a person to seek emergency medical care based on their symptoms, and both often result in a person being referred to an allergist. | | | | | | All About Angioedema | | Swelling of the tongue, lips, throat and area around the eyes is often caused by angioedema. Angioedema is caused by the release of histamine into the skin by allergic cells such as mast cells. This is the same process that causes urticaria, or hives, but angioedema occurs in deeper skin tissues such as the lips, tongue, throat, around the eyes, hands, feet and genitals. Angioedema does not make the skin red, normally it is not itchy, and it most often involves swelling of only one side of the face at a time. Many people describe the symptoms of angioedema as tingling, numbness or a burning sensation, like after going to the dentist. The swelling of angioedema typically lasts for many hours, and once the swelling has gone away, the skin appears completely normal –- there is not typically any bruising, flaking, peeling or scar formation. | | | | | | All About Contact Dermatitis | Contact dermatitis is an itchy, blistering skin rash typically caused by the direct contact of a substance with the skin. There are 2 types of contact dermatitis: irritant and allergic. This difference is often difficult to tell apart, and is not usually an important distinction to make.
Contact dermatitis results in 5.7 million doctor visits each year in the United States, and all ages are affected. Females are slightly more commonly affected than males, and teenagers and middle-aged adults seems to be the most common age groups affected. | | | | | | | | | You are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed to the About Allergies newsletter. If you wish to unsubscribe, please click here.
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