Herbal Health

Relieving the itch is the first order of business, an essential step to take before you even begin to scout around for the cause of your misery. Not only will you welcome the comfort of relief, but you’ll also eliminate the danger of infection (and possible scarring) from continued scratching. There are plenty of effective ways to conquer the itch.

Ice cubes, rubbed on skin whenever you get the urge to scratch, take the fire out of inflammation.

Cold, wet dressings soothe eczema and help to stop not only itching but oozing. And the colder the dressing, the more effective, says Alexander A. Fisher, a professor of dermatology at New York University Postgraduate Medical School and author of a textbook on skin problems. ‘Wet dressings consisting of water with ice, made to the consistency of sherbet and applied with a cotton cloth for five to fifteen minutes and reapplied as necessary, are often well tolerated and beneficial,’ says Dr Fisher (Contact Dermatitis, Lea and Febiger).

We found an easy way to make Dr Fisher’s anti-itch slush. To break up the cubes, empty a tray of ice cubes into a plastic bag and pound it with a wooden meat mallet. Then empty the cracked ice into a blender with two tablespoons of cold water and, in several short bursts, blend into a mush. Wrap in cotton and apply to irritated skin.

Dr Fisher isn’t the only doctor who favors cold, wet treatment.

‘Cool compresses or ice packs relieve itching faster and more safely than most medications,’ says Nia K. Terezakis, a clinical assistant professor of dermatology at Louisiana State University.

Lotions of calamine and milk of bismuth, following wet compresses, bring down weeping, swelling and redness, says Dr Terezakis.

Night dressings of zinc oxide paste (available at chemists), applied on a closely woven cotton cloth, are also suggested by Dr Fisher.

Vinegar in water (2 fl oz/50 ml of vinegar in 2 pints/1.25 1 of water) is soothing.

Lukewarm water baths are extremely soothing, especially for inflammation around the genitals and buttocks or for widespread symptoms. A soothing bath is also a good way to soak off ointments and medications once they’ve served their purpose. Dr Fisher recommends 10 ? oz/280 g of colloidal oatmeal (available at chemists) to a tub of water. This mixture is called a ‘colloidal’ bath because the particles stay suspended in the water to soothe the skin rather than settling to the bottom of the tub. Other colloidals recommended by Dr Terezakis are: skimmed milk, powdered milk, cornstarch, baking soda, or a combination of any of these ingredients. (Colloidal baths do make the tub slippery, though, so be extra careful climbing in and out. A rubber bath mat is a good safeguard.) Depending on the extent of your problem, one to three baths a day should be helpful. As you heal, you’ll need to bathe less frequently.

Soaking in tepid water is comforting, even without colloidals. Whatever you do, avoid hot baths and showers.

Moisturize your skin by always applying a bland, non-allergenic moisturizing cream such as Nutraderm or Nivea Lotion after bathing or showering to prevent drying, itching and further irritation.

Humidify the bedroom in winter and dehumidify in summer to keep your skin comfortable.

Arthur L. Norms, professor of dermatology at Indiana University School of Medicine, recommends some further steps to reduce irritation and control itching and other symptoms.

Substitute 100 per cent cotton clothing, sheets and blankets for synthetics or synthetic/cotton blends.

Wash new clothing and sheets before they’re worn to get rid of chemicals used to stiffen fabric. We know a woman whose whole body broke out in an itchy, disfiguring rash after she slept on brand-new sheets. After several washings, they were finally safe to use.

Rinse all clothing and sleepwear in clear water after washing. Don’t use fabric softener or other laundry aids. And be sure to use low-suds detergents without enzymes, whiteners, bleach and other additives.

Avoid tight clothing, tight dressings and adhesive bandages. Anything that rubs against your skin is going to aggravate the situation, says Dr Norms.

Stay out of the sun. The last thing that red, inflamed or scaly skin needs is to be cooked with heat and light.

Rest. Healing takes energy. If your arm or leg is so bad that it’s swollen and red from top to bottom, you may have to rest it completely for a few days so it can heal itself successfully. In fact, if it’s your misfortune to have a whole-body skin rash, your doctor may order a few days of bed rest.

In more than nine people out of ten, reactions will be mild or moderate. Only 3 per cent react severely. If your skin problems are severe and widespread, covering 50 per cent or more of your body, don’t fool around with self-diagnosis. Body-wide involvement calls for medical attention and sometimes even special hospitalization to isolate the individual from all chemical exposure.

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The preventive measures outlined here apply to all drug reactions, including allergic.

Most important, if you have allergies, don’t self-medicate. As you can see, some of the most common causes of drug allergy – aspirin and other pain relievers – can be purchased without a prescription at the supermarket or corner store.

When your doctor does the prescribing, the cardinal rule is careful and conservative use of medications: the lowest doses, for as short a time as necessary.

‘The simplest way to reduce or prevent allergic drug reactions is to prescribe medication only when clearly indicated,’ writes Dr DeSwarte in the book, Allergic Diseases (J. B. Lippincott). ‘Medications, especially antibiotics, are often used inappropriately, too frequently and over a prolonged period of time.’

Too many people demand a ‘penicillin shot’ for every little cold or sniffle – unnecessarily upping the odds for an allergic reaction. Dr DeSwarte says that out of a group of thirty people who died from penicillin-induced anaphylaxis, only twelve really required penicillin.

Chances are, though, that sooner or later you will have a legitimate need for medication. Ideally, your doctor should be well versed in adverse reactions to the drugs he or she selects. But a quick glance at the cumbersome volumes which list dozens of possible reactions to thousands of drugs, makes it obvious that no doctor could possibly keep abreast of it all. They must be particularly cautious with newly introduced drugs, and be prepared for reactions which have not yet been reported. Penicillin, for example, was initially regarded as a very low-risk drug. As time passed and more doctors prescribed it, reactions appeared.

You can help your doctor guard against problems by looking up possible side effects yourself. My husband and I, for example, were planning a holiday in the Caribbean, so we asked our family doctor for an antibiotic to take along in the event we came down with Montezuma’s revenge or some other traveller’s scourge. He prescribed Minocin (minocycline hydrochloride), an antibiotic which he told us to take prophylactically – starting three days before we left – to stop any trouble before it began. He said that Minocin was widely used by people like ourselves who were headed for the tropics.

Before going to the chemist to have the prescription filled, I looked up Minocin in Physicians’ Desk Reference, which said that the drug can induce photosensitivity – a skin reaction to sunlight. That could be bad news for two people looking forward to a week of swimming and beachcombing. We took the drug anyway, but the knowledge of a possible reaction prepared us to discontinue its use at the first sign of red or itchy skin.

If you, your child or an elderly parent ever experience a drug reaction of any kind, be sure to jot down the name of the drug (both trade name and chemical name) and how you or they reacted. Ask your doctor or chemist for the names of suitable alternatives and possible hidden sources of related chemicals. Add that information to your home medical file and bring it to the attention of medical personnel should you or your relatives land in a hospital casualty department or change doctors. (That includes dentists.) Better still, buy a tag or card designating drugs to be avoided.

And last, when your doctor takes your medical history and asks if you’re taking any drugs, don’t forget to mention things like mouth-washes, vitamins, birth control pills, menstrual aids and suppositories. When it comes to drug allergy, you just can’t take anything for granted.

With these preventive measures, drugs should do what they’re meant to – help you get healthy again.

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Next to your bedroom, you spend the most time in your workplace. You might assume that people with industrial jobs have the most allergy problems. Not so, says Dr McGovern. Office workers – secretaries, clerical workers, administrative assistants, computer programmers and so on – suffer the lion’s share of work-related allergic complaints.

‘In almost every major office you will find people who are bothered by an allergy,’ notes Dr Falliers. Not too surprising, if you glance around the average office. Carbonless typewriter ribbons give off petroleum fumes. Photocopy machines gas out a host of chemicals. Paper is impregnated with formaldehyde and other chemicals – to say nothing of the ink. Then you’ve got vinyl chairs, and formaldehyde in the panelling, rugs and ceiling tiles. Felt-tip marking pens. Correction fluid. Fluorescent lights. Cigarette smoke. Potted plants. Devout users of perfume and aftershave lotion. All in all, enough to match the fumes in any chemical factory if you’re highly sensitive to chemicals.

Even if you could easily find a new job, you would have no guarantee the same problem wouldn’t arise in your new workplace. So your best bet is to stay put and make the best of it, and here’s how.

• Dilution is part of the solution. If you can, reduce the chemical content of your breathing atmosphere. Open a window and dilute the chemical concentration by ventilation. (Unless of course, a fleet of diesel trucks parks right outside your building. Or your office overlooks a parking garage.)

• Try to leave the building once or twice a day if the outdoor air pollution levels permit. Take a walk outdoors at lunchtime instead of spending the entire hour in the cafeteria.

• If you spend a lot of time on the phone, remove the wad of bacteria-killing cotton in the receiver. (Not all phones have it. To check yours, simply unscrew the mouthpiece on the receiver.)

• Cover the typewriter ribbon and well with a plain piece of cardboard.

• Plug in an air filter (see the section on air cleaning equipment later in this chapter for information on portable models).

Smokers in the workplace pose special problems. Banishing smokers to the rest rooms is really no solution at all, since nonsmokers eventually have to go to the bathroom, too. A lot depends on how co-operative your boss and co-workers are. Your doctor may be able to back you.

‘I have personally written letters to employers on behalf of a patient saying: “This person should stay away from smoke,” says Dr Falliers. ‘Most companies are willing to accommodate. Maybe they can move the person to a different work station. I’ve had a couple of flight attendants as patients, who got sick if they served the smoking section of planes. So the airline lets them serve only the front and someone else serves the back. But there aren’t always such easy answers.’

Of course, you may not necessarily be alone in your misery, and in an office situation, ‘strength in numbers’ can more easily bring about change for everyone.

‘We’ve had buildings closed because 100 people got sick,’ says Dr McGovern. ‘Two people in one office would get sick, two others from the fourth floor would get sick, and so on, until one way or another they all wound up in my waiting room. In giving their history, they’d all say, “I work at such and such an address.” And I’d say, “Wait a minute! Other people working in that building are also getting sick. Let’s investigate.”

‘So I tell people to go to their union. Or get the names of other people who are allergic. Or write to the company and ask them to improve the ventilation in the building. Sooner or later, companies will find they can’t seal up the windows, blow smoke in everyone’s face and allow toxic indoor pollution to accumulate in the workplace. Too many people are being permanently disabled. Lawsuits by people with environmentally induced illnesses are increasing.’

For some, just getting the home environment cleared up will be enough to enable them to go to work and do their job. ‘Maintaining the home oasis can go a long way towards making unavoidable exposure in the workplace more tolerable,’ says Dr Rea.

‘After patients start to remove the chemicals in their office,’ says Dr McGovern, ‘and they clean up their house – mainly giving themselves a “safe” room – they’ll improve within a few days or a week. They’ll be able to think more clearly, or their joints will stop aching, et cetera, and they’ll notice the difference.’

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Do you feel worse:

– during periods of damp weather?

– when you walk into a damp, musty house or basement?

– if you sit in overstuffed furniture?

– if you’re near hay or straw (in a garden, in a barn or at a circus)?

– if you’re near a compost pile or leaf piles?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, chances are you’re allergic to moulds. Another ‘yes’ clue: Do you feel better:

– when there’s snow on the ground?

Moulds are a type of plantlike growth called fungi. Like pollen, their spores ride on the wind and cause allergies. Mildew is the black or white growth produced by mould spores. Rubbish bins, shower curtains and damp basements are the most familiar mould habitats. But moulds aren’t fussy – any place that is damp, warm, dark and poorly ventilated will do. And they’re not just found indoors. Check around your house for any leaks or damp spots that could harbor mould. The sooner you dry them out, the better.

Above all, reducing excess humidity in the house is the prime goal in controlling mould. One doctor reports that his own ‘mould asthma’ responded remarkably well to the addition of a dehumidifier in his bedroom. He managed to reduce the humidity to 50 per cent in the face of outside moisture levels of up to 88 per cent in foggy, humid Ventura, California. With the drop in indoor moisture came a marked decrease in the mould level in his room – and discontinued use of steroid drugs for the treatment of his asthma (Annals of Allergy).

Alfred Zamm, an environmentally oriented doctor in Kingston, New York, had this advice for mould sufferers; ‘I recommend buying the largest-capacity [dehumidifier] available, one equipped with a control that automatically turns it off when the humidity drops to an acceptable level.’ (Why Your House May Endanger Your Health, Simon and Schuster)

Unlike pollen, mould is not strictly a seasonal problem, although moulds tend to flourish when the temperature rises and diminish during the cooler months. An exceptionally rainy summer will promote a bumper crop of mould. Fair weather activities like raking leaves, gardening and mowing grass stir up mould spores, making it easy to mistake mould allergy for pollen allergy. Burning leaves in the autumn can also bring on an attack.

Mushrooms and yeast are related to moulds, so eating them can trigger a reaction in mould-sensitive people. And it’s not surprising that those same people can also develop symptoms after eating foods fermented with mould: sharp cheeses such as blue and Cheddar, baked goods, candied fruit, pickled or smoked meats and fish and soy sauce. The same goes for drinking beer, wine or cider, or using vinegar. Penicillin, too, is made from mould. If you’re allergic to mould, you may be allergic to penicillin.

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Food labels are far less complete than allergy sufferers and doctors would like. The law says that all ingredients must appear on the label, in descending order by weight. Additives such as

preservatives must be specified by name and/or E number. So far, so good. But flavourings – one of the most common causes of allergic reactions – do not have to be individually identified. As a rule, the more processed the food, the more flavourings it has, and as many as 125 chemical flavours can be used in a single processed food (40 is about average). Yet a manufacturer can list them all under the umbrella term ‘artificial flavouring’ without specifying the exact substances used.

Incidentally, it’s not unheard of for people to be allergic to natural flavourings – like cinnamon, vanillin or peppermint – as well as artificial flavourings. And that holds true for other natural additives. Papain, an enzyme derived from papayas and used to tenderize meat, has been known to trigger asthma in sensitive people. Sesame flour – widely used in cakes, breads and as a binder in meat products – may be made not only from sesame seeds but pulverized orange peel, so if you’re allergic to citrus you could react to it. Citric acid, a natural preservative, may come from corn or beet molasses, lemons or pineapple. Modified food starch may be made from wheat, corn, sorghum, arrowroot, tapioca or potatoes.

‘Food processors who do not label their products adequately place an unacceptable health burden on a rapidly growing segment of the public,’ says Joseph B. Miller, clinical associate professor at the University of Alabama Medical Center and a member of the food committee of the American College of Allergists (Annals of Allergy).

Your job will be much easier if you avoid packaged, processed food as much as possible, carefully selecting only those items which you and your family are sure to tolerate.

One last note: some people are so sensitive to plastic and the chemicals it imparts to food that they cannot tolerate food and packaged in plastic wrap or tubs. If you suspect plastic-wrapped food may give you trouble, find a butcher who sells meat in cellophane paper. Buy other foods in bulk or loose and store them in glass jars at home.

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