Allergic reaction to hair dye?!
Question: Allergic reaction to hair dye.?
I dyed my hair Friday morning and my ears got the worst of the allergic reaction. They're not longer quite as swollen and red as they were before, but now they're literally oozing pus. I can't tilt my head any which way without having it drip on my shoulders.
How can I get this to go away quicker or at least stop the pus.? I've been washing my hair and ears twice every day since Friday, but so far they've only gotten worse.Health Question & Answer
How can I get this to go away quicker or at least stop the pus.? I've been washing my hair and ears twice every day since Friday, but so far they've only gotten worse.Health Question & Answer
Answers:
This is a bad scenario. There are very harsh compounds in hair dye. If you actually have pus coming from your ears, then you need to get to a doctor. Pus is whitish to greenish and is a sign of infection.
Now, if the sores are simply weeping (clear with a slight reddish tint), then you might be able to deal with this on your own. The chemicals in hair dye can cause a mild chemical burn, which will make compromised epidermis "weep" fluid as part of the healing process. As the skin heals, this weeping will eventually create a scab.
First, stop washing your hair twice a day. What ever caused the problem is likely gone by now, so washing that frequently is just further irritating your skin and the wetness is keeping a protective film from developing over the burned areas... which is why it keeps weeping. Put your hair up (so your ears gets more air), and don't wash your hair for two or three days. Use a hypo-allergenic, scent-free shampoo until this is totally healed. If you don't, you immune system could confuse chemical damage with scents or other ingredients in your favorite shampoo to develop a new allergy.
There is no easy way to say "this ain't going to be pretty." To speed up the healing and stop the weeping, you have to provide some backing to support healing. This means non-stick bandages... just like any other wound. You cut them into strips to cover the weeping area and tape them to the surrounding skin. The weeping is to protect the healing tissues, and this will do the same. You can get away with just doing this at night while using a thin coat of Vaseline during the day. At least for a couple days, I would try to do the bandage thing all day. Replace the bandage every 12 hours (morning/night). For your night bandage, apply a triply antibiotic ointment to keep any critters populations down. You could cover your ears with a stylish head band for a few days so it doesn't look bad.
While this is the best approach, if it is not feasible for your job, etc. then at a minimum you should lightly clean the wound from weeping and immediately apply New Skin. It is a compound that forms a "skin-like" film to help protect it while allowing it to breath. Again, applying chemicals to a chemical burn has higher risk.
Oh, and hydrocortisone is a steroid, not an antihistamine. Steroids slow the healing process in the absence of aggressive allergy-like responses. It is only used when the allergy-like response is unhelpful or damaging to the normal process (eczema, diaper rash, etc.). This case sounds like hydrocortisone is contraindicated. I wouldn't take any medications except topical antibiotic until it is healed.Health Question & Answer
Now, if the sores are simply weeping (clear with a slight reddish tint), then you might be able to deal with this on your own. The chemicals in hair dye can cause a mild chemical burn, which will make compromised epidermis "weep" fluid as part of the healing process. As the skin heals, this weeping will eventually create a scab.
First, stop washing your hair twice a day. What ever caused the problem is likely gone by now, so washing that frequently is just further irritating your skin and the wetness is keeping a protective film from developing over the burned areas... which is why it keeps weeping. Put your hair up (so your ears gets more air), and don't wash your hair for two or three days. Use a hypo-allergenic, scent-free shampoo until this is totally healed. If you don't, you immune system could confuse chemical damage with scents or other ingredients in your favorite shampoo to develop a new allergy.
There is no easy way to say "this ain't going to be pretty." To speed up the healing and stop the weeping, you have to provide some backing to support healing. This means non-stick bandages... just like any other wound. You cut them into strips to cover the weeping area and tape them to the surrounding skin. The weeping is to protect the healing tissues, and this will do the same. You can get away with just doing this at night while using a thin coat of Vaseline during the day. At least for a couple days, I would try to do the bandage thing all day. Replace the bandage every 12 hours (morning/night). For your night bandage, apply a triply antibiotic ointment to keep any critters populations down. You could cover your ears with a stylish head band for a few days so it doesn't look bad.
While this is the best approach, if it is not feasible for your job, etc. then at a minimum you should lightly clean the wound from weeping and immediately apply New Skin. It is a compound that forms a "skin-like" film to help protect it while allowing it to breath. Again, applying chemicals to a chemical burn has higher risk.
Oh, and hydrocortisone is a steroid, not an antihistamine. Steroids slow the healing process in the absence of aggressive allergy-like responses. It is only used when the allergy-like response is unhelpful or damaging to the normal process (eczema, diaper rash, etc.). This case sounds like hydrocortisone is contraindicated. I wouldn't take any medications except topical antibiotic until it is healed.Health Question & Answer
How about some Benadryl.? This is going to help with the allergic reaction.
The pus sounds like a secondary infection from all the inflammation. I would put neosporin or bacitracin on it (if you're not allergic to any of these).
If it doesn't improve. You might need to go to your doctor for further care - possibly another antinflammatory/antihistamine and an oral antibiotic.
Hopefully, it will go away after some Benadryl and topical antibiotics.
Health Question & Answer
The pus sounds like a secondary infection from all the inflammation. I would put neosporin or bacitracin on it (if you're not allergic to any of these).
If it doesn't improve. You might need to go to your doctor for further care - possibly another antinflammatory/antihistamine and an oral antibiotic.
Hopefully, it will go away after some Benadryl and topical antibiotics.
Health Question & Answer
Use a topical antihistamine, like hydrocortisone. You could also try an oral antihistamine, like Benadryl or Claritin, to work on the allergic reaction from the inside.
That sounds pretty severe, though -- I would tend to suggest seeing a doctor by this point. "Dripping pus" and not improving over several days is a bad sign. Really bad allergic reactions can affect other areas of your body, and even kill you.Health Question & Answer
That sounds pretty severe, though -- I would tend to suggest seeing a doctor by this point. "Dripping pus" and not improving over several days is a bad sign. Really bad allergic reactions can affect other areas of your body, and even kill you.Health Question & Answer
The best bet would be to see a dermatologist, asap. Oozing pus to the extent that it drips on your shoulders sounds like more is going on than an allergic reaction to the hair dye. See a doctor, you don`t want to end up with a staph infection.Health Question & Answer