Skin Care Q and A What's That Rash?

• Core Facts

Sometimes it’s easy to figure out where a rash came from: You don a new brand of rubber gloves for a little cleaning spree and your hands are red and itchy immediately afterwards. The cause and effect is obvious in that case – you changed the brand of rubber gloves. But sometimes you can develop a rash without making any changes at all. Find out why this occurs, and what skin care products you can use to prevent it.

One of the major reasons the cause of a rash is difficult to detect is that one can develop a sensitivity to a particular substance over time. The watch or earrings you’ve been wearing for years suddenly causes tiny blisters. The same can be true of the lanolin in a wool blanket or the elastic in our clothes. It even happens with skin care products – the fragrances, dyes, and other chemicals in many skin care products can ‘suddenly’ start creating a problem.

In fact, the reaction isn’t sudden. The body has been slowly developing a sensitivity that you were unaware of because there weren’t any symptoms.

The same thing can happen with the chemicals and pollutants in the air. They are absorbed through the skin into the rest of the body and, eventually, this causes a toxic overload that shows up as a rash.

What can you do about it? You can start by going green as much as possible. Use household cleansers and skin care products that don’t contain harmful chemicals, invest in sheets, bath towels and even clothing made from ‘green’ cotton – cotton grown without pesticides or herbicides and manufactured without the use of chemical dyes, sizing, and so on.

Truthfully, that’s not necessarily going to handle everything - some people can react to even natural and organic substances – but it will definitely cut the risk. Also, none of that will neutralize pollution. To minimize reactions to contact with environmental chemicals and pollutants, your best bet is a shielding lotion.

Shielding lotion was originally designed as a skin care product for those who work with harsh chemicals on a daily basis. Before shielding lotion, they had to slather their skin with quarter-inch thick grease (much like some of us still do with night creams) and wear thick rubber gloves. And their skin was still damaged. Now they have the option of using a good shielding lotion. Just a thin layer – which disappears in a minute or two and is completely non-greasy – does the trick.

If you’re developing rashes, make the effort to go green by using natural cleaning products, natural fibers and natural skin care products. It may eliminate the rashes altogether and will improve your overall health. But don’t forget the shielding lotion – it’s impossible to go green completely unless you live on an undeveloped desert island. Make sure you’re fully protected – your skin will thank you, and so will the rest of your body.

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