Have you ever imagined that your favorite jewelery can bring skin rashes and inflammation? If you are allergic to nickel, then there is every chance to get your skin feeling itching or irritation and appearance of rashes or inflammation. Your life will become disastrous for you. Don't worry. Ayurveda, an alternate system of medicine, helps you to heal the ailment in a holistic approach.
Last time when I visited my Dermatologist, I found a small girl developed itching and rashes followed by inflammation due to ear piercing and wearing of gold stud. When I asked about this, my dermatologist explained about "contact dermatitis" or skin allergy due to contact in general and jewellery allergy or nickel allergy in specific.
Contact Dermatitis (Skin Allergy)
Skin allergy, in the form of rash or inflammation, appears to a person, when his skin is in contact with the allergens (i.e., substance which irritates the skin). It is medically termed as "contact dermatitis". Best examples, of natural and synthetic substances which trigger contact dermatitis, are your cosmetic soaps, detergents, perfumes, face creams, moisturizer, hair oil, hair dye, shampoo, even antiseptic creams, eye drops, your favorite jewelery, spectacle frames, your pant zippers, nickel buttons, wrist watch metal strap etc. I was surprised to hear that modern research has identified over 2000 contact allergens.
Jewellery Allergy or Nickel Allergy
Jewellery allergy or nickel allergy is the specific kind of contact dermatitis. How it happens to the poor person? Simple! Jewellery allergy or nickel allergy appears when the nickel based metal touches the skin of the allergy prone individual.
Nickel: An Allergen
Where is question of nickel in gold jewelery? Jewellery's add certain very small amount of nickel with gold, as the pure gold is not suitable for making jewelery. When your ear lobe is pierced with a needle and the gold stud or ring is put on, your skin has been exposed to the metal alloy that irritates it or that causes an allergic reaction in the form of rash or inflammation. The wound will not heal till you remove the stud and you are treated for your skin rash or inflammation. Any jewelery made out of nickel mixed gold alloy or silver alloy or nickel will trigger jewelery or nickel dermatitis.
Skin Exposed to Nickel
Our girls are fashion freaks and they indulge in piercing their ear lobes, nose and navel to wear fashion jewelery. If they are allergic to metal they are sure of developing rashes or inflammation. According to my dermatologist just an exposure of skin for about 12 to 24 hours will be sufficient to get irritation, develop rashes and inflammation on the contact skin surface. Based on the location of your body, the physician will determine the source of irritants. It is surprising to understand that even food items cooked in stainless steel vessel could cause allergy.
Conventional Treatment
How to diagnose jewelery or Nickel allergy? Can our conventional medicine cure the ailment completely without side effects? According to my physician the conventional medicine has several methods for diagnosing allergies, which include the intradermal test, patch test, scratch test, and various blood tests such as the RAST test and the ELIZA test. Regarding treatment his choice is the drug therapy (standard treatment) using either antihistamines or steroids to control allergic symptoms. Unfortunately, these kinds of treatment will only arrest symptoms i.e. rashes and inflammations. But it will not correct the root cause problem. The result is the person experiences life threatening illness and serious long-term side effects.
Ayurveda and Allergy
How Ayurveda views allergy? Ayurveda, though it considers jewellery or nickel as trigger symptoms in susceptible people, does not consider as the root cause of allergies. If so, what is the root cause? The root cause, according to Ayurveda, is the accumulation of "ama means" (toxic) and low immunity.
Our digestive system accumulates chemical wastes and other additives. Due to this bloodstream has become poisoned by negative toxins. Over a period of time the toxins, chemical wastes etc., gets embedded in the tissues of skin, digestive system and respiratory tract. These tissues when in contact with allergens show allergic symptoms i.e., rashes and inflammation. Ayurveda considers that impurities in our skin, respiratory tract, digestive system and blood stream, i.e., toxins, chemical wastes, other additives, accumulates in the body, should be cleansed and make it pure again.
Ayurveda and Tri-Dosha
The basic assertion of Ayurveda is that our human body has an unchanging constitution known as dosha. The combination of five universal elements: ether, air, fire, water, and earth constitute main doshas. These universal elements combine to form three basic constitutions or Tri-doshas: Vata (ether and air), Pitta (fire and water), Kapha (water and earth).
Every human being has his or her unique proportion of doshas present in the body. Our diet, environment, and our state of mind are influencing our doshas. Each of our dosha may go out of balance. Ayurveda assures that by balancing our diet and lifestyle we can improve our body's inherent makeup, and thus we can stave of illness. Restoring and maintaining a level of balance is the key to healing and managing health.
Ayurvedic remedy for Skin Allergy
How Ayurveda treats allergy? From Ayurvedic perspectives there is an imbalance of "Tri-Doshas." The basic step is determination of dominant dosha. Ayurveda seeks to prevent disease by detecting the dosha imbalances and correcting them. For such an ailment Ayurveda follows four steps: 1. Reinforces your digestive system; 2. Prescribe your diet; 3.Detoxify your toxins; and 4. Strengthen your immune system.
A medicated purgation therapy, removes toxins from the body that are accumulated in the liver and gallbladder, it completely cleanses the gastro-intestinal tract. It is a safe procedure without side effects. The role of Ayurveda is to rebuild tissues, strengthen the immune system and restore balance to the whole person.
The holistic Ayurvedic treatment involving detoxification and strengthening of your immune system will definitely heal your allergy problem. Now You could see the changes and many of the patches have disappeared now. You may feel wonderful now. Who Knows? How many of your unknown chronic ailments are going to get cured?
