Perfume is one of the major causes of allergic contact eczema. Perfume allergy occurs most frequently in women, but also among men, younger adults and older children.
What’s perfume?

A perfume is a mixture of fragrances, which are composed to form an aesthetic whole. The individual fragrance ingredients in a perfume are volatile and are released to the atmosphere at different rates, so the smell is changing over time.  A perfume can consist of 10 to 300 individual substances and there are some 2500 different fragrances to choose from in the composition of perfumes. Fragrances may be small chemicals or natural extracts from, for example plants. There is no fundamental difference in their ability to give allergy, whether they are chemical substances or whether they are natural, actually the leading cause of perfume allergy are natural extracts. Perfumes are added all kinds of products in the cosmetics and cleaning products and used in toys, stationery, air fresher, industrial products, paint, cutting oils, and more.

What is the cause of perfume allergies?

Perfume allergy occurs when too large amounts of allergenic fragrances are used in products. Of the 2,500 fragrances, which are found, is about100 known as allergens in humans, there is some 25 which is of some importance to 10-12 as the most significant.

In spite of the relatively few fragrances, which are known allergens, these drugs have just been widely used in the composition of perfumes for all purposes. See table.

Products which are in prolonged contact with skin, gives everything else being equal a greater risk of allergies than products that are only briefly in contact with skin. In the latter group belongs shampoo. In the former group includes perfume, eau de toilette, eau de cologne, deodorant and creams / lotions.

A study of five newly marketed perfume suggests that fewer allergenic fragrances than in the past

What are the symptoms?

The first symptom of perfume allergies are often eczema in the armpit after using deodorant. Eczema can disappear again at the cessation of the use of the specific deodorant, which has caused eczema. In other cases continues eczema or come back at a later time when you use other products that contain the allergenic fragrance that can not tolerate. It can cause hand eczema, widespread eczema on the face and body.

Allergic reaction caused by the perfume of deoderant

How frequent is it?

Perfume is one of the major causes of allergic contact eczema. Perfume allergy occurs most frequently in women, but also among men, younger adults and older children. Recent studies from Germany estimates that around 4% of the adult population has perfume allergies. Several Danish studies have shown a doubling of perfume allergy over the last 10-15 years in the population. This is caused by an increasing consumption of perfume in a variety of products, presumably with the use of large quantities of perfume in the individual products, without you have adjusted the use of allergenic fragrances. Approximately 10% of eczema patients are tested for allergies, have perfume allergies.

Diagnosis and treatment

The diagnosis perfume allergy made by a patch test also called patch tests. The doctor uses a mixture of 8 fragrances, 7 chemicals and natural extracts to diagnose perfume allergies, also used a large number of individual fragrances and formulas for diagnosis. The mixture of the 8 fragrances called a perfume mix (Fragrance mix) and has been in use since early 1980. In recent years, there developed a further diagnostic testing: Fragrance mix II. It contains six fragrances, which are frequent cause of allergies. All eczema patients tested routinely honor at the explanation of allergy, most often with their own cosmetics, perfumes and more.

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