Allergies.

[pussnboots]

About 11 years ago I had a serious reaction to hair dye which could only be treated by 2 courses of steroids. This allergy was sudden as I had used hair dye for years. Anyway this morning I woke up with an irritating rash down both sides of my neck just about in the place where I always spary perfume (expensive stuff) could I have now developed an allergy to perfume as well, has anyone ever experienced the same thing ??

[riskman]

You can develop an allergy to almost anything and someone somewhere will have. You can become allergic on first exposure to a new substance or to something you have used for years without a problem. The short term is normally OK as you just steer clear of the allergen - long term is more problematic as exposure to very small amounts of an allergen can cause you to go into anaphalatic (probably spelt wrong!) shock. Best thing is to stop using the perfume (cost makes no difference) and see if the allergic reactions go away - if yes reintroduce a very small amount and see what happens - if No then its not the perfume but you may still need to find out what is happening. I've had allergies for years - pain in the butt but can live with if careful...

[pussnboots]

Thanks for youre answer riskman, very true, I have just discussed this problem with my daughter and she asked me if I had worn any cheap metal jewelry recently. Well on Saturday night I went out with a necklace made of alternate beads of plastic and a metal like silver stuff I did a quck spray of perfume and she thinks that the perfume has reacted with the metal....what do you think

[riskman]

Hi Pussnboots
yep - cheap jewelry will do it every time - nical and zinc are well known allergens - at least you will be able to wear the perfume but let the rash completely disappear before spraying or else you could quickly add it to your list of allergens - hope you are well from here on in...