L24.9: Irritant contact dermatitis, unspecified cause

Your skin has come into contact with certain substances. Your skin has become inflamed as result.

Your skin has come into contact with certain substances. These substances irritate your skin. The skin also sometimes reacts to the body’s own substances. Fluid from a wound, for example, can harm the skin. If the skin is irritated by these substances for a long time, it becomes inflamed. The surface of the skin gets damaged as a result.

Symptoms can vary in severity. It depends on how long and how close the skin contact was. Initially, the skin is usually red and swollen. Blisters or weeping open wounds occur. Then yellowish crusts often form. If the allergenic substances are constantly damaging the skin, the skin can thicken and crack. The skin may also be flaky. Because the skin can be very itchy, you often have to scratch yourself.

The skin changes only occur where there has been contact with the allergenic substances.

If the skin has no contact with the allergenic substances for a long time, the skin is able to recover. If the skin comes into contact with the allergenic substances again, the skin changes usually recur after one to two days. After the allergenic substances have been discarded, the skin changes only fade away slowly.