food allergy swollen lips

Stop eating all suspected allergenic foods as soon as possible. If you only have swollen lips and no other discomfort, take 1 tablet of a second-generation antihistamine (loratadine or cetirizine is acceptable). Most of them will subside on their own within 3 to 24 hours.； If it is accompanied by a tight throat, poor breathing, and large wheals all over the body, don’t wait and go to the emergency room immediately. Never apply hormonal ointments or folk ointments on your lips.

I just met a junior girl in the clinic last Saturday. She was wearing a mask tightly when she opened the door. When she took it off, I almost couldn't help laughing - her upper lip was so swollen that it could hang an oil pot. She said that she and her roommate went to eat Thai food at noon and ordered mango sticky rice. She had also eaten mango before. It's never been a problem, but this time I felt my lips were numb after just three bites. I thought it was irritated by the chili powder sprinkled on top. After eating and walking around for half an hour, I was shocked when I took out a mirror. My roommate even teased her about having a lip augmentation surgery secretly without saying hello. It was so itchy that she wanted to scratch it but didn't dare, so she had to run over.

It’s easy to say. The mucous membrane of your lips is very thin, and its permeability is several degrees higher than that of the skin on your face. Allergens in food penetrate directly into the mucous membrane as soon as they come into contact. Your immune system reacts quickly and can swell you up in ten minutes, which is much earlier than a rash on your body. Many people always think, "I wasn't allergic to this before." In fact, the immune system is not as "persistent" as you think. Sometimes staying up late, catching a cold, being stressed, and the immune status is messed up, and eating something that has been fine for decades may suddenly induce allergies. This is really not a strange thing. I once met a man in his thirties who had been eating shrimp for more than 20 years and was fine. That time he ate a plate of braised prawns after working overtime for three nights. As soon as he peeled off the second shrimp, his lips swelled and turned up. He was confused.

Nowadays, the opinions on whether to apply medication are really confusing. I have met many people who take out their own desonide cream and apply it on their lips when they are swollen. To be honest, the mainstream view of dermatology is that unless the swelling is really uncomfortable and there is no way to seek medical treatment for the time being, try not to apply strong or medium-acting hormone ointments to the lip red areas. Firstly, the lips often need to eat, and it is easy to rub them in. Secondly, long-term application can easily lead to lip pigmentation and thinning of the cuticle, which in turn leads to sensitive lips prone to allergies. Of course, some clinicians think that there is no problem in applying thinly for 1-2 times in a short period. You can choose this according to your own situation. If you are not sure, don't apply it. It is always safer to take oral medicine. Others asked if they should go out of their way to check for allergens? There are two schools of thought here. If it’s just your first attack and you only have swollen lips and no other discomfort, you don’t actually need to spend hundreds of dollars to check for a full set of IgE. Just recall what you’ve eaten recently and haven’t touched it before, and just avoid it next time. ； However, if the swelling occurs repeatedly and no clear cause can be found each time, and it is even accompanied by rashes and diarrhea, it is still recommended to have it checked.

Let’s talk about a pitfall that many people have stepped on: when the mouth is swollen, don’t put ice directly on the mouth. Apply it with clean gauze or towel for 10 minutes and rest for 10 minutes. The swelling and itching will be relieved a lot. Don’t scratch it with your hands, and don’t keep licking it. The more you lick, the drier it will become and the more swollen it will be, which may lead to infection. Also, don’t take “getting angry” as a universal explanation. Many people think they are “getting angry” when their lips become swollen after eating pineapples and mangoes. Drinking chrysanthemum tea for three days didn’t help, but instead caused a string of small blisters. That is actually contact cheilitis caused by proteases in the food. Drinking herbal tea is not worth half a dime, and taking anti-allergic pills is much faster.

Really, the ingredients of food eaten outside are becoming more and more complex. There are many additives added to milk tea and pre-packaged foods that you don’t even know what they are. If you are prone to allergies, take a small sip before trying something new and wait for ten minutes if there is no reaction before eating. Don’t show off by making a loud noise and end up with a swollen sausage mouth. You can’t go to class, you can’t go to school, and you have to be laughed at when you go out. You really can’t do it. If you have experienced laryngeal edema caused by food allergies before, it is best to carry an epinephrine pen with you. It can save your life if something goes wrong, so don’t worry about it.