Buy sachets for grandchildren to hang on his chest "rash non-stop" allergies trigger contact dermatitis

▲Dragon Boat Festival hanging sachet, pay attention to whether there will be fragrance or fragrance ingredient allergies, data photos. (Photo/ Photo by reporter Hong Qiaolan)

Text/Attending Physician of dermatology at Cathay General Hospital Yu You

During the Dragon Boat Festival, the streets and alleys also began to appear selling various shapes of sachets vendors, which were not bustling. Grandma Zhu is no exception, seeing the cute sachet, she bought one for her three-year-old grandson to hang on her chest. However, within a few days, a red rash began to appear on the front chest of the little grandson's neck, and it was so itchy that he scratched it all day long. Grandma Zhu wondered, is this an allergy caused by sachets?

The origin of the sachet

According to the data, the sachet is also called the sachet, also called the sweet fragrance. Lunar May is commonly known as the poisonous month, there are customs of making all kinds of evil things, and in the "Jingchu Chronicle", it is also recorded that every day of the Dragon Boat Festival, wormwood is cut into the shape of a tiger, or cut cloth to make a small tiger to avoid some poisonous things, and the "Customs and Customs" records above, with five colored threads tied to the arm of a child, it can make him live a hundred years, call it a long life.

Slowly, these two customs gradually merged into one, evolving into a small cloth bag filled with wormwood, male yellow and sandalwood powder tied with five colored threads, mixed spices for children to hang, to prevent poisonous insects from invading, have the function of poison and avoid evil, and become a symbol of life and auspiciousness.

What are the ingredients of sachets?

Modern mass-produced sachets mostly use chemical flavors. However, in the field of dermatology, fragrance is one of the most common causes of contact dermatitis. In 2007, the fragrance was voted the annual representative contact allergen by the American Contact Dermatitis Society. Although most people are not necessarily allergic to fragrances, if they happen to be allergic to flavors, they will cause contact dermatitis.

Generally in dermatology, the components that are allergic to flavors are screened for the following eight categories:

1. Cinnamic alcohol cinnamol: the taste of hyacinth

2. Cinnamic aldehyde: Cinnamon with a spicy cinnamon flavor

3. Alpha amyl cinnamic aldehyde, α-pentyl cinnamaldehyde: the taste of jasmine

4. Eugenol Eugenol: Has a strong and spicy clove flavor, also found in roses, carnations and violets

5. Isoeugenol isoeugenol: Similar to eugenol, but mild in odor

6. Hydroxycitronellal Hydroxy citronellaldehyde: a fresh, slightly sweet smell like a suzu orchid

7. Geraniol Geraniol: The sweet flower aroma of rose, it is the most common ingredient in all fragrance products

8.Oakmoss Absolute Oak Moss: Extracted from tree moss with the smell of mud and forest

What does a typical contact dermatitis look like?

Contact allergies, as the name suggests, occur where the allergenic substance comes into direct contact with the skin. Mild contact dermatitis, mainly manifested by red papules or plaques, is accompanied by itching and peeling, and may even blister or pain if severe. Contact dermatitis can be divided into "irritating" and "allergic", the former symptoms come faster and more urgently, and the latter is slower. Sachets are mostly caused by allergic contact dermatitis, which usually show symptoms within a few days of contact.

Does making a traditional sachet by hand also cause allergies?

Although homemade sachets with traditional Chinese herbs are relatively safer than chemical sachets, the proportion of contact dermatitis caused by Chinese herbs is not low. According to recipes circulating, common Chinese herbal ingredients in sachets include cloves, honeysuckle, mugwort, peppermint, perilla leaves, white root, calamus calamus, cangshu, laurel bark, myrrh, mint, cohosh, honeysuckle, knotweed, perrin, white cardamom, etc. Among them, cloves and peppermint are common ingredients that cause skin allergies, and Bai Zhi, Cang Shu, Bay Laurel and Cardamom have also been reported to cause skin allergies in academic reports. Therefore, if you belong to a sensitive group that has been exposed to the above drugs and caused skin discomfort, you should pay more attention!

How is contact dermatitis treated?

If you get contact dermatitis, the most important thing is to stop coming into contact with suspected allergens. If you suspect that the sachet is causing it, you must immediately stop wearing it. At the same time, it can be combined with short-term topical steroid therapy, which can usually relieve symptoms. If the allergic reaction is severe, consideration may be given to adding oral antihistamines or short-term oral steroids to accelerate symptom relief. If you pay more attention, you can greatly reduce the problem of contact allergy.