Multiple Allergies and Growing Up

This young man first saw me at the age of 12 with very severe eczema and he was feeling terrible and really, who can blame him?

He was first diagnosed to have house dust mite, egg and milk allery and later with the help of his mum and himself, we gradually realised that he also had chrome, nickel, alcohol, detergent and mint allergy. That's quite a number.

His condition improved with time but he was not happy as he was the smallest boy in class and by 15 had not attained puberty. I assured him that with the elimination of his allergies, he would grow. Of course, being the awkward age of 15, I wasn't sure if he believed me.

Imagine my pride that he is now grown and training for a triathron! In fact when I met him at the park where I have my weekly walks, he challenged me for a race (with handicap of course... I'm past my prime) with the bet that if he won, further medical fees would be waived. Clever boy.

Because he was getting better in the course of his treatment, he also mentioned that he wanted me to stay alive as long as he lives so that he would always be well. What a compliment, I thought.

Allergies May Have Multiple Causes. Doctor and Patient Detective Collaboration Helps.

My learning continues.

A Phone-y Allergy

Recently, I had an interesting case of a 14-year old girl who had seen me before for egg allergy and has done exceedingly well (her generalized skin rash had gone)

This time her mother brought her from KL to see me because she had a rash on her right ear. It was obvious that she had eczema on her right earlobe but what what was the cause? Her rash had reduced after treatment by a few visits to a local doctor but recurred after the cream was stopped. I tested her and found that she was now allergic to chrome and nickel. But why only the right ear? It puzzled me.

Her mother told me that she forbade her children to use jewelry of any kind and all of them did own not any mobile phone as she did not believe that they should be using mobile phones at her age.

That was my 'Aha' moment.

I requested her mother to leave us alone for a moment and when she had gone, I asked the girl whether she had been using her friend's mobile phone. She was a little hesitant to admit it, but she did. When I took out my aging mobile phone and asked her if it looked like that, her eyes widened and she nodded. 

My phone had a chrome border around it.

It's not hard to deduce the resourcefulness of a pretty young girl of 14 who had been banned from owning a mobile phone. The diagnosis was easy but the tricky part was to convince the mother to get her a cheap mobile phone and to cover the phone with a case!

It is common to have a child start with one or two allergens and left undetected and untreated, he/she would developed more and more sensitivities to other allergens, especially with the number of the allergens that can be found in our food these days. Also, our daily use of washing chemicals is phenomenal. Worth noting is that a skin allergy can develop into to asthma or colic (pain in the abdomen).   

                                   

Remember the Allergy March: Allergy begets allergy and has to be treated early

My learning continues.