What's the purpose of the Patch Test?
A patch test is a good way to check whether your skin will react to new products such as topical medications, moisturizers, soaps, cosmetics, essential oil, etc.
Patch testing is a usual way to check a variety of skin allergies.
Why is it important for the Patch Test?
People's skin has different levels of acceptability, allergies can cause anything from minor redness to painful swelling or worse to burning.
Patch Test can ensure that you safely use the new skincare or topical products to avoid the potential severity of an allergic reaction.
How to do a Patch Test?
Normal will apply the Patch Test at the neck, inner arm, or crook of your elbow which is accessible.
After washing and cleaning the patch skin to ensure no other product stays on the patch skin, then leave the small amount of new product on the patch skin and put a bandaid.
Normally you should leave 24 hours to see if you have an allergic reaction. But generally, you will see product warning words normally mention around 4 hours and not requesting band-aids on.
If you experience any allergic reaction like burning, pain, or itching, you should remove products immediately and wash the affected area right away.
If you’re allergic to the product it will be pretty easy to tell. When you first remove the bandaid, you may notice some pink or red color from the bandaid itself, but this should fade after a short while. If the redness does not fade, then you may have a mild allergy.
If the skin is raised, itchy, red, or covered with a rash, it means you have a serious allergy to the product. If you’re not sure, or you’ve had severe reactions to skincare products in the past, suggest talking to your therapist, doctor, or an allergy specialist.
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