Violent allergic reaction on face - what to do???

[Mendi]

I have woken up with a violent allergic reaction to a cream I put on my face last night. Whole face covered in angry itchy red bumps and skin round eyes so swollen that I can't raise one eyelid fully.

Ironically, the cream in question was La Roche Posay's Cicaplast, which I bought this week for my dry skin after reading about it on here. Anyone want me to send them the rest of the tube??

I have taken an anti-histamine and pressed cold flannel on several times, which helps soothe it but I really have to improve the appearance as I have to drag myself into London shortly for a court hearing today (am a lawyer). I can't turn up looking like this!

Please help. How can I calm my skin down?

Mendi, you've done as much as you can I think. I've had this also although mine was an allergy to rubber (don't ask...)

The cold flannel will take the eye swelling down and my saviour is plain old Nivea - old style heavy cream pot one, not the visage collection.

That's probably all you need for your dry skin - cheap as chips and very soothing.

I'm 51 and I frequently get complimented on my skin and I laugh because I just use Nivea.

Hope all goes well for you today and other people will not notice as much as you think they will.

Thanks Concentrateonthegood. Not sure how I managed to post this in Relationships - have asked MN to move it to S&B.

Ruby, my DD had almost exactly the same reaction with a Natio product (except she didn't put it near her eyes). We applied fresh aloe gel from the plant and in a couple of hours, the bumps had lost their redness and were barely noticeable. Crushed freshed basil leaves or dried basil leaves finely powdered and mixed to a paste might help too. Good luck.

Aloe gel, good idea. I wonder if they'll have any in Boots?

Be careful with the commercial aloe vera gel though - it contains preservatives such as sodium benzoate and citric acid which could make it worse. If you could get a fresh plant at a nursery, that would be ideal. Another thing which should help is a cooled chamomile teabag gently patted onto the face.

Oh OP that sounds so painful.

Is this the first time you've ever had a reaction like this?

I have sensitive skin and am so careful about the products I use. Perhaps a patch test next time if you don't know the exact ingredient you've reacted to?

I would suggest seeing your GP and getting a prescription for Prednisolone (steriod tablets).

Take a photo and send it to the manufactuer with a letter letting them know what has happened and how painful it is!

Hope you make a full recovery soon! x

cucumber slices?

Goodadvice1980 I have taken photos and will be emailing L'Oreal later today! I have had the same reaction once before - on holiday this summer. I realise now that it was to the sun cream I used on my face then. Also L'Oreal. Have been looking at the ingredients lists of Cicaplast and L'Oreal face sun cream trying to identify what the common offending ingredient is but can't tell. Maybe they can tell me!

It is so sore and pricky I feel as though I want to peel the top layer of my skin off. God only knows what the barrister I'm about to meet is going to think of me looking like this!

Wash your face with water, some cucumber slices to cool your eyes or cold used teabags. Hope it soothed quickly

If you can get to a GP before going to court, they can give you an oral steroid which will reduce the swelling quickly. I have had to do this on numerous occasions as I had a few mystery allergic reactions like this in the past.

Mine reacts mainly to perfume or any kind of 'plumping' ingredient, also to some SPFs so that may be your issue too.

Piriton (you can get it at the chemists) helps my skin when I have these reactions.

You could try some antihistamine cream - ask the pharmacist.

Also - in future, always do a patch test before using any new product. But I expect you already thought of that!

Take the face cream with you and ask the pharmacist to look at the ingredients - they might be able to suggest the most likely culprit.

Hello my name is Charlotte , I used lo real laser renewal a few weeks ago for about a week and the sides of my face have swollen and it looks absolutly terrible I am just hoping it will go down in time .I stopped use ing it about 3 weeks ago . Also I have emailed loreal but have had no response from them .

Hello my name is Charlotte I used loreal laser renewal for about a week and the side of my face has swollen it looks terrible, I stopped using it about 3 weeks ago but it has not gone down

Hello my name is Charlotte, I used loreal laser renewal for a week and my face is swollen at the sides it looks terrible, I stopped using it 3 weeks ago but it has not gone down.

Thank you everybody for your helpful advice

You might be better off starting your own thread about this as this is a zombie thread. Have you seen your GP about this? That’s probably where I would start, not sure about allergic reactions lasting three weeks, it might be something else.

am struggling with a reaction to a face wash I used over a week ago, I have found out that I am allergic to LANOLIN which is in most make up,
The only thing that has helped a bit is cucumber & yogurt mixed and left on for 10mins, hope it helps,