Most cases of contact dermatitis aren't actually caused by true allergies, but irritants. Clinically, both might look identical but the history often gives us valuable clues. Allergy testing (via patch testing) can also help to distinguish between both. With patch testing, we place the most common allergens in little metal Finn chambers on your back, cover them with a special plaster and wait and see which you react to. A patch test like this involves visits to the clinic on Monday, Wednesday and Friday of the same week and thus needs to be arranged subsequently to your initial consultation. Most skin allergies such as allergic contact dermatitis are caused by a delayed type allergic reaction in which the response peaks around two to five days after contact.

Whether you have an allergic or irritant contact dermatitis, we can certainly offer effective treatment, usually starting on the day of your first consultation.

Another common form of skin-related allergy is urticaria ('hives'). Very itchy, raised wheals come up all over the body and tend to change location within 24 hours. Sometimes urticaria can be associated with swelling of the lips and/or eyes. You might have tried some over-the-counter antihistamines already, which may or may not have been successful.

Come and see us in clinic and we can optimize your treatment and do a blood test to try and find out what you're reacting to. Unfortunately though, in many cases we don't find a definite trigger for urticaria, possibly because we now know that some chronic cases are caused by an auto-immune reaction. This can also be tested for by sending a blood sample to our special partner lab in Copenhagen.

We offer a blood test to look into which pollens might trigger your hay fever symptoms, so that you can adjust your daily routine to the local pollen calendar. We also offer treatment of simple hay fever.