<p>Thumper1 asked me to start a thread after I made a comment in the Bag a Week discussion about getting rid of personal care products made using antibacterial and antifungal preservatives that appear to have been triggers for some skin reactions I’ve experienced in the past year or two. The ingredients are methylchloroisothiazolinone and methylisothiazolinone (my apologies if I butchered the spelling.) If you do a search for baby wipes and allergies/rashes you’ll find a number of recent news stories from US publications as well as some older ones from the UK. </p>
<p>At the risk of TMI, I had some very irritated (to the point of bleeding) skin in a delicate area a while back that started after a trip on which I’d frequently used baby wipes. Back home again, I stopped using the wipes and started a course of treatment that may or may not have been the right thing to do (in hindsight) but the problem eventually cleared. Last year, the problem happened again after I began using wet wipes while having a rough time with IBS. </p>
<p>During the second episode, I happened to change liquid hand and dish soap. Because I was spending a lot of time in unconditioned spaces during a major repair/remodeling project, I washed my face multiple times a day and used the liquid hand soap, figuring it wouldn’t hurt since I still have oily skin. The new hand and dish soap contain the same ingredients as the wipes. During that time, I developed redness and cracks on my hands and on my face, especially around my mouth. I sometimes get cracks on my hands in winter, but never in other seasons before this. </p>
<p>I thought I was being careful enough by avoiding triclosan, but now I’m reading labels to check for MCI & MI. Some online drugstores provide ingredient information, so that will help. Unfortunately, some manufacturers do not fully disclose their ingredients. They may just state “preservatives” or some other general term, or they may direct consumers to call them for more product information. </p>
<p>I’m guessing that part of the problem was repeated exposure, sort of the way someone might have no allergic reaction to his first 10 bee stings and then have a strong response to the 11th. In the past two years, my doctor has noted that I’ve developed sensitivities/allergies to latex and to Neosporin, among other things. I’m now careful to read bandage labels and avoid Band-aids made with latex (as well as bandages made in China.)</p>
<p>I’m going to check all of my labels. I’m dealing with a skin rash on my shoulders and forearms. The shoulder part has been around since September. When it started, it looked like a bug bite…but it isn’t. I have raised bumps, as well as a general mottling on my shoulder…one shoulder only. </p>
<p>There is NO product I’m using on just that area. </p>
<p>Like Silpat, I have some dermatitis someplace every winter…but oh this itchy shoulder rash! </p>
<p>I have an ointment prescribed by my new dermatologist that I’ve only been using for two days. I’m supposed to use it for two weeks.</p>
<p>I am not wanting to get too TMI here either, but I had a skin reaction to baby wipes once that was out of this world horrific. I had been sick (I have IBS too) and had been using them a lot. Use your imagination. It took MONTHS to heal, like six months. It was miserably painful (HUGE skin cracks and tears) and the worst itching I have ever experienced in my life, I went to doctors, it was humiliating (again, use your imagination), and nobody could figure out what was wrong with me. I eventually attributed it to the wipes. I don’t use anything like that anymore and never will touch them again.</p>
<p>I’d used them for years and had never had that problem before, but I used to use the “wet ones” brand and had switched to cottonelle. I don’t know if it was the switch or that before I didn’t have IBS so I didn’t use them nearly as much.</p>
<p>Ugh. This thread has stirred up some bad memories, I just wanted to say you’re not crazy-- it happened to me, too. We have a bidet attachment installed on our toilet now, forget baby wipes.</p>
<p>I have also developed a sensitivity to latex in recent years. If I only touch it for a few minutes, I am fine, but for example-- I had this latex gel filled pad at work and I was resting my elbow on it throughout the day, and I got such a miserable rash I was embarrassed to go to work because I looked diseased and it itched so much I wanted to tear my arm off. It took WEEKS to heal. If I wear latex gloves for 20 minutes, whatever, fine, and I can wear bandaids, that’s fine, too. But apparently there is a limit.</p>
<p>I am going to keep an eye on these chemicals you mention.</p>
<p>Thumper. a few years back I developed a rash on one side of my neck that I eventually associated with the fish oil pills I had started taking. It took at least a week for the rash to start developing. I got the same rash with prescription Lovaza. I only figured it out when I was out of town for a couple of weeks without the pills and the rash went away, then came back when I started taking them again. I’ve never liked fish and maybe my body knew all along.</p>
<p>I’ve gotten the same kind of rash when I tried to start eating lots of almonds. Some other nuts also trigger it when eaten in quantity.</p>
<p>Why the rash is on my neck and only one side, I have no idea. But now if I ever develop one again, my first question will be if I started eating something new in the last month or so.</p>
<p>Oh, dear, hope you all are working with a dermatologist and/or allergist, as well. Shoulders and neck suggest different sensitivities than the, uh, moisture retaining areas. The latter isn’t much different than when some guys develop awful and chronic jock rash. Stay dry. Avoid perfumed formulas (incl laundry soaps.) Cotton fabrics help. And, don’t go back to what you think started the problem. </p>
<p>When a terrible rash doesn’t heal in time or starts to crop up in other areas, a derm or allergist can do a biopsy, rule out a few things. </p>
<p>On a lighter note, I find the UK health blogs are often alarmist. I like Mayo and NIH. Good luck.</p>
<p>Thumper1, the good news is that I’ve found mainstream products that are free of MCI/MI at the local grocery & drug stores, so I haven’t had to spend a fortune replacing everything we tossed. Right now I’m using a Garnier shampoo/conditioner called “Pure Clean”, an Olay foaming face wash (some Olay products do contain MCI/MI, so read the ingredients list), and Palmolive Ultra Soft Touch in the kitchen. Just before the purge, I’d also bought some Johnson’s baby moisture wash with shea & cocoa butter. It doesn’t contain MCI/MI, and it also does not contain quaternium-15 (a formaldehyde releaser, if I understand it correctly) that’s in the original Johnson’s baby wash (which was just reformulated.) I plan to look for additional options as I have time, but was happy to find these few quickly. I was very (admittedly unreasonably) upset to have to get rid of all of those Method products.</p>
<p>Like Ema, we installed a bidet seat/washlet (Inax L-series) in our master bathroom as part of our remodel. That’s been a huge help.</p>
<p>But really…my rash is on my right shoulder ONLY. I do NOT use dish soap on my right shoulder. One would think if this were an issue, my hands would be rasht…and they are not.</p>