Skin Journey Part 3
Topic Tuesday
I thought I would share how I discovered what caused my skin reaction. A little overdue but if you missed part 1 and part 2 of my skin journey head to my blog!
After I had a second flare up, my dermatologist recommended something called “patch testing”. Patch testing is used to find out if your skin condition/rash is caused or aggravated by a contact allergy. It includes 80 of the most common skin allergens. It was a three appointment process. In the first appointment, they applied the patches. For the second appointment, they took them off and conducted an initial reading. In the third appointment they did a final reading and went over any skin reactions.
I discovered I am topically allergic to five things. I am actually thankful for those five reactions. I was really nervous it was not a topical reaction but rather something internally. It was a lot of work initially as I went through everything in my house, makeup, nail polish, hair products, cleaning products, essential oils or anything else skin touches. I tossed a bunch of stuff but in the process I figured out what products likely caused the reaction.
I did not replace everything I tossed out because it takes a lot of time to go through every ingredient and make sure it is non-reactive for me. A product which could be described as “clean” does not necessarily work for me. It has been a process but I am so grateful to know the root cause.
I will start to share some of the products I have switched over to as I know some of you have been curious!
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