From: lee@soda.berkeley.edu (Lee Thompson-Herbert)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Allergic to heat condition
Date: 9 Oct 1992 08:02:25 GMT
Organization: U.C. Berkeley, CS Undergraduate Association
NNTP-Posting-Host: soda.berkeley.edu

In article <5229@daily-planet.concordia.ca> yau@cs.concordia.ca (Joseph K. K. Yau) writes:
> Anyone know anything about a skin allergy called allergic to heat
> condition (that is what I call it). 
> 
> Ever since I was a child, my skin is very sensitive to heat. Especially in
> the winter. 

[pretty good description of heat rash deleted]

> The only thing I can do to calm it down is to cool it down. Like go to the
> washroom and let cold water spray on my arm or wrist for 4-5 minutes. or go
> to a room with air conditioning. Then I will feel better and the rash will
> disappear in 1/2 - 1 hrs.
> 
> I visited the doctor and the doctor said it may be somthing to do with the
> blood vessle. But it is not a big problem. The doctor also told me that
> when it happen, go to a cool place or wash my hand is the only way to do.
> Any there is no medicine to cure it. Other than that the doctor did not
> tell me anything.
> 
 
It sounds like you suffer from heat rash.  It's fairly common among people
with delicate, small-pored skin.  If you're very pale (like me), it'll show
up a lot more than on a darker-skinned person.  The explanation I heard was
that the small pores make for less sweat most of the time, and that wearing
clothes that block air circulation to your skin will make things worse.  What
sweat you *do* manage to put out ends up getting trapped against your skin
instead of evaporating.  So now the salt content in the sweat begins to 
irritate as well. During the winter, your skin is likely to already be
dry and a little irritated from running the heat, and your also more likely
to be wearing heavy, tight-fitting clothes that are most likely made of 
synthetic fibers (which don't breathe as well). 

The only real things I've ever found that work for this are:

Move to a place where the temperature is more moderate year round. (Hey, it
worked for me.  Now that I don't live someplace where the temperature is
between 100 and 105F during the summer, I've gotten much better)
Wear lose-fitting clothes made of natural fibers or losely-woven synthetics.
Use cortisone cream to deal with especially bad inflammation (as when you've
scratched and made things worse).
Keep your skin well moisturized.  
Use an astringent if your skin is especially sweaty.  Aloe vera gel works 
pretty well after washing, and it soothes as well.  You may find that you
need to use a stronger astringent if the weather is hot and sticky.
Try and stay in the shade. If you're fair-skinned, you don't really want 
to be exposed to all that sunlight anyway.

I don't think there is a 'cure' for this problem.  It's mostly the result
of living in an environment your body can't deal with.

-- 
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 ___\  /	Lee Michele Thompson-Herbert   lee@soda.berkeley.edu   >>>>>
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Newsgroups: sci.med