WebMD: Fragrance Allergies: A Sensory Assault

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Fragrance Allergies: A Sensory Assault

http://www.webmd.com/allergies/features/fragrance-allergies-a-sensory-assault

The use of fragrance in products is on the rise -- and so is the number of people affected by them.

WebMD offers ways to protect yourself if you're sensitive to scents.

By Colette Bouchez WebMD Feature

Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Do any of these scenarios sound familiar?

You catch a whiff of a co-worker's new fragrance, and within minutes, you have a whopper of a headache. You pop open that new bottle of dish-washing liquid, and by the time you've washed the pots and pans, your hands and arms are covered in hives. You walk into a friend's home and smell freshly baked pumpkin pie. Only after you start sneezing uncontrollably and feeling dizzy, weak, and sick to your stomach do you learn she hasn't been baking -- she's been burning a scented candle. Your favorite fashion magazine arrives, and as soon as it's out of the mailbox your eyes are watering and you're sneezing nonstop. The culprit: scented fragrance advertising inserts.

If this sounds like you, you may be one of a growing number of people with fragrance allergies or sensitivities that can have mild to severe health consequences.

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"Being forced to breathe in others' fragrance choices is a lot like being forced to breathe in secondhand smoke," Dalton tells WebMD. "It's a loss of control over your personal environment, and for some it can have serious personal health consequences."

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For Most people, fragrance allergy symptoms abate once the scent is out of range. But this isn't always the case. For some, repeated exposures cause an increase in symptoms that occur more often and last longer. According to the American Academy of Allergy and Immunology, a small but growing segment is affected by a little understood and even somewhat controversial condition known as multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS).

For people with MCS, Dalton says sensitivity to one fragrance or odor can snowball into a crippling multiple chemical sensitivity that leaves its victims defenseless in the face of an ever-widening number of chemical odors and fragrances.

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Experts theorize that one reason fragrance allergies appear to be increasing is that fragrances themselves have become such a prominent part of our world. According to the AAD, some 5,000 different fragrances -- and countless other fragrance combinations -- are used in products today. And they can be a powerful, toxic brew.

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Some experts aren't even sure if it's the fragrance itself that is the realculprit, or just one part of a mix of chemicals -- as many as 200 or more --that are used to create both fragrances we smell and the masking agents used inunscented products.

"Because the 'fragrance' is what we smell when we have an onset of symptoms, weblame the fragrance. But, in fact, it's possible that the reaction we aregetting may instead be the result of the many chemicals used in the formulationof the fragrance," Dalton tells WebMD. This, she says, includes both products wecan smell and those labeled as "unscented," which frequently rely on a wholehost of chemicals to dampen the scent....

Regardless of what is behind your fragrance allergy, experts agree that reducingexposure is key.

"The most important thing you can do in that respect is to remove yourself fromthe offending fragrance." Avoidance is really the most effective treatment, ...

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