Chemical allergy, chemical sensitivity — it’s all the same to me and probably all the same to your body, but doctors don’t like to call chemical allergies allergies. They say it is not an immune system response, but it is. Most doctors don’t even understand the many ways the immune system works.
But, I have another motive in mind — I think there is a connection between the use of chemicals in lotions, sunscreens and other body products and skin cancer. In Kota’s Catch Blog, I wrote that some chemical preservatives in dog food were known to cause tumors in rats in a laboratory setting. Now, I have another story:
I’ve always been an easy tanner. I would rarely get a sunburn and after a few hours in the sun would tan quickly. I get all kinds of “farmer tans” because of this. A few years ago because of all the media, I began to be concerned about skin cancer and wrinkles since I was past 40 years of age. I began to use sunscreens and lotions more. I used to use a so-called natural unscented lotion, but the ingredients changed as they got rid of the paraben preservatives and the recipes became more chemical. I’m not allergic to parabens, but I am allergic to some chemical preservatives which were common at that time and to fragrance, including masking fragrances. I don’t know if I’m allergic to sunscreens as there is no test for it.
Needless to say, I got “eczema” . And I got rashes, bumps, itches. And my skin became more sensitive to the sun. Some ingredients in lotions are chemicals that allow the skin to absorb the other ingredients more readily. This is bad for chemicals that should not be in the body in the first place, doubly bad if you’re allergic to some of them, and bad for allowing ultra-violet rays into your skin more. There are some other chemicals in lotions that make you more sensitive to sun exposure, also. It got so I wouldn’t tan when I went out, but turned into a mass of freckles. I still didn’t burn too easily, but if my skin was irritated already, exposure to the sun made it more irritated.
I went to a dermatologist (this was the start of how I found out I was allergic to chemicals) — actually, I went to a few. The first result was that I was “sensitive” to the sun and also had “sensitive” skin. My skin does not easily scratch or bruise. I’ve never considered my skin sensitive, yet I remembered feeling sensitive to touch many times before I switched to unscented laundry soap and unscented lotions. I knew already that perfumes “bothered” me — that is, gave me headaches and made my nose run.
I was encouraged by the dermatologists to use products that I later discovered I was allergic to — sunscreens for sun protection and Aveeno lotions. This, of course, made it worse. Then I got a cancer check, some of the darker moles were removed and sent to a lab. They came back negative for cancer but to quote the dermatologist they were classed as “unusual activity”. When, I asked her to clarify she said they were “weird”. She wanted to cut more moles off. I got out of there. [She also said I was a high risk skin cancer person because of my blond hair and blues eyes -- I have brown hair (ok-- gray, mostly) and hazel eyes (green & brown -- but, ok, they've faded to gray-green). But I've never been blond or blued eyed in my life, not even with the help of Clairol!] Soon after, I went back to the allergist and insisted there had to be an allergy. That’s what I intuitively knew. She told me there was a chemical patch test, since I had done all the main food and plant ones. Bingo! Right on the button.
Now, However, I could not find any lotion at all that did not have some masking fragrance or preservative that I was allergic to, including sunscreens. I avoided the sun and wore a hat and long sleeve shirts. I made my own lotions for my skin. Winter came. The freckles faded. Some of the many little moles seemed to have disappeared, too. I bet if I’d gone back to Ms. Sadist Dermatologist and let her cut me up, my moles would have been normal and no longer “weird”. [They had looked alright to me -- small and regular, but some were dark and there were too many of them.]
Summer came again. I have not used anything chemical on my skin at all. I have not used any sunscreen except occasionally the titanium dioxide ones in over-exposed areas such as neck and shoulders. I used only my own lotions made of water, oils, and beeswax. I used only unscented shampoos and conditioners on my hair and scalp.
Now, by the end of summer, my skin is nice and tan. I did not burn this year. I was not “sensitive” to the sun. I did not get rashes or bumps and itches (except from mosquito bites). I did not freckle. I did not get more moles, in fact, I think there are less of them now, so maybe they were really dark freckles. My skin is back to normal and I think I’m less at risk of skin cancer now than when I was using all those dam commercial chemical products! So! What do you think of that? To go back to the beginning, allergies are inflammations and most doctors now agree that there is a connection between inflammation and cancer. Perhaps that is why sunburn is more risky for causing cancer — sunburns are inflammation. Skin irritations like rashes and eczema are inflammation, also. I’ll let you put two and two together.
