Irritant contact dermatitis

Irrit­ant cont­act der­ma­ti­tis is cau­sed by direct dama­ge to the skin bar­ri­er rather than by an aller­gy. It is the most com­mon form of occu­pa­tio­nal skin dise­a­se. The hands are main­ly affected.

Cau­ses

Trig­gers are repea­ted irrit­ants such as fre­quent hand washing, wet work, dis­in­fec­tants, clea­ning agents, sol­vents or mecha­ni­cal fric­tion. Each indi­vi­du­al cont­act would be harm­less on its own, but tog­e­ther they exhaust the skin’s pro­tec­ti­ve func­tion. Peo­p­le with dry skin or ato­pic der­ma­ti­tis are par­ti­cu­lar­ly susceptible.

Sym­ptoms

Initi­al­ly the­re is dry­ness, rough­ness and fine sca­ling, later red­ness, pain­ful fis­su­res and bur­ning. In con­trast to all­er­gic ecze­ma, bur­ning is often more pro­mi­nent than itching. Wit­hout reli­ef the cour­se beco­mes chro­nic and the skin thickens.

Tre­at­ment

The focus is on reli­ef: washing less often and with luke­warm water, pro­tec­ti­ve gloves for wet work, mild cle­an­sing. Emol­li­ent care seve­ral times a day res­to­res the bar­ri­er, and inflamm­a­to­ry pha­ses are trea­ted brief­ly with medi­cal­ly pre­scri­bed pre­pa­ra­ti­ons. If the cau­se per­sists at work, der­ma­to­lo­gi­cal super­vi­si­on is advisable.