This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 25th, 2009 at 11:30 am and is filed under Allergies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Natural Health and Herbal Remedies Blog
information on herbal medicine
UNEXPECTED ALLERGIES: WATER, EMOTIONS, SPERM AND CONDOMS
Water
Water allergy (aquagenic urticaria) is extremely rare. Water of any temperature touches off itching and spotty hives. And like allergy to cold or emotional triggers, histamine release seems the basic mechanism at work. In one of the few cases studied, oral doses of hydroxyzine (an antihistamine) three times a day for one week effectively blocked the reaction to water.
Emotions
As a schoolgirl in Sweden, actress Ingrid Bergman was so shy that she used to break out when she had to recite in class. Her fingers swelled so badly she couldn’t bend them. Her lips and eyelids swelled, too. The doctor said Ingrid was allergic to shyness. Fortunately for Ingrid and the film world, drama school eventually cured her. But her case is a good example of how we can be allergic to strong emotions.
Emotionally stimulated allergy may be triggered not only by shyness, but also anxiety, anger, fear, embarrassment – any emotion that prompts an increase in body temperature.
Sperm
A few women have been surprised to learn that they’ve suddenly become allergic to their partner’s sperm. One woman experienced anaphylaxis while having sex with her husband -an extraordinary response by anyone’s standards. Skin tests confirmed that her husband’s sperm was provoking allergic antibodies. The woman’s doctors were able to desensitize her in much the same way they desensitize other individuals against pollen. She and her husband were able to resume their love life safely (Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology). ”
Condoms
Snicker if you will, but dermatitis from condoms isn’t all that rare. A reaction usually begins with a swelling of the foreskin, which may spread to the shaft, scrotum and inner thighs. In most men, the allergy is to rubber – in which case they’ve probably had other unpleasant brushes with rubber in clothing or other articles. Switching to another brand of condom may help.
‘Some men have found by trial and error that only certain brands of rubber condoms produced reactions, while others were well tolerated,’ writes Dr Alexander A. Fisher (Contact Dermatitis, Lea and Febiger).
Occasionally, the problem isn’t the rubber itself but a powder or lubricant it bears. Try a plain, untreated product. Otherwise, some rubber-sensitive men may have to switch to the original, old-fashioned condoms made from sheep’s intestine.
And of course, a partner’s condom should be suspected as a possible cause of an unexplained rash or other inflammation on the vulva or inner thighs of a woman, even if her partner isn’t allergic to the device.
*83/65/5*
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