Contact dermatitis affects the skin. The type of skin symptoms you get can depend on whether the dermatitis is caused by an irritant or an allergic reaction.

Symptoms of irritant contact dermatitis

The symptoms of irritant contact dermatitis can appear straight away after you are exposed to the irritant or may not appear until within 48 hours after exposure. The symptoms can range from mild dryness, redness, burning or stinging of the skin to very painful blisters that can become filled with fluid.

Symptoms of allergic contact dermatitis

The symptoms of contact dermatitis can appear immediately after exposure or there may be a delayed reaction, depending on the type of allergy you have. Allergic contact dermatitis mainly affects the hands.

The symptoms can range from mild redness and itchiness of the skin to skin that becomes cracked, filled with fluid, extremely itchy and has a stinging sensation.

Symptoms of infection

Occasionally, areas of skin affected by contact dermatitis can become infected. Signs of an infection can include:

• your existing symptoms getting rapidly worse
• discharge from your skin
• increasing pain
• feeling generally unwell
• feeling hot or shivery

Seek immediate medical advice if you have a severe reaction, or you think your skin may have become infected, as you may need to take antibiotics.