Thank you for your inquiry.
Unfortunately, it is not advisable for us to give you specific suggestions as to your own personal medical care. This should be the role of your local allergist or dermatologist in this regard. We would be more than happy to supply you with the name of an allergist/immunologist who is a member or Fellow of our Academy. At our website, we have a section entitled “Find an Allergist/Immunologist,” and if you will click on that link on the website, you will find names of allergists/immunologists in your locale.
However, we can speak in general to contact dermatitis to gloves. Unfortunately, your choice is limited. The only gloves available are nitrile, vinyl, and latex.
We have had a number of inquiries regarding the issue of contact dermatitis to gloves, and we have entries posted on our website which discuss this problem in general. These will offer you some specific choices regarding gloves.
The most recent inquiry related to this issue was sent by a veterinarian, and we posted our response on the website on 12/19/2011. For your convenience, I have copied below this inquiry and our response. It applies equally to the problem that you have presented.
Once again, for specific suggestions relative to your care, I would pursue this issue with a local allergist/immunologist.
Thank you again for your inquiry and we hope this response is helpful to you.
Allergy to latex gloves - Posted 12/15/2011 - response posted 12/19/2011
Question:
I am a Veterinarian and was diagnosed with a latex allergy 2 years ago. I switched to non latex gloves and the intact irritation associated with the allergy resolved. I am now pregnant and have started having the same signs I did with latex gloves when I use non latex gloves (powder free). I need to wear both sterile and non sterile gloves and wonder at this point what are my options?
Answer:
Thank you for your inquiry.
There are limited choices for non-latex gloves. They would either be made of vinyl or nitrile. A similar question has been submitted to our site previously, and I have copied below the question as well as the response related to the inquiry. It has a link to a website that might be of help to you.
However, in this type of situation, nothing is better than a consult with an allergist or dermatologist, and I would suggest that if this condition persists that you consult with an allergist or dermatologist in your area. If you do not have the name of an allergist, our website has a link to Find an Allergist/Immunologist that would be of help to you.
Thank you again for your inquiry and we hope this response is helpful to you.
Sincerely,
Phil Lieberman, M.D.