[Sca-cooks] allergies vs. sensitivities (OT side bar on wool)

[Sue Clemenger]

While basically agreeing with what Phlip explained (and I've got 
instances of sensitivities since childhood, which have *NOT* gone away, 
and allergies developed as an adult, much to my surprise and dismay), 
I'd like to add that what many people think is an "allergy" to wool 
often is not.  Frequently, it's a response to the chemicals used to 
prepare wool for commercial use--mills will use dilute forms of 
different acids to dissolve the VM (vegetable matter) in the raw wool, 
and traces remain in the finished yarns, etc.  And, of course, there are 
often various residues and fabric finishes remaining in wool cloth after 
it comes from the mill (so wash that garb fabric well, folks, although 
not in hot water unless you intentionally want to full it).  True wool 
allergies do happen, but they're a lot rarer than people think.  People 
can also be allergic to the lanolin (our first baroness in my barony had 
that problem, and really had to be careful to avoid it).
One can also, as Phlip points out, have reactions to the prickliness of 
some wools and animal fibers--it will feel itchy or scratchy.  This is 
dependent on some of the inherent qualities of a given breed of sheep's 
wool, as much as anything--wool can be fine or coarse, kinky or 
straight, etc. If you (in the general sense) have sensitive skin where 
wool is concerned, try finding a local fiber artist who works with 
processing his/her own fibers, and making yarns/fabrics/etc. from same. 
  Home-scale productions use other methods to remove debris and 
vegetable matter, and there's an amazing variety of non-sheep fibers out 
there from which you can make things, as well as varieties of sheep's 
wool (some are meant to be used for next-to-skin items, some are better 
for outer garments, and some's ideally suited for rug yarn ;o).  The 
camelids, for instance, such as alpaca and llama, produce quite nice 
fibers, and aren't nearly as expensive as something like quiviut, which 
is divinely soft, and divinely expensive.  Alpaca is something like 7 
times as warm as wool--wonderful for socks, or shawls, or cowls.  You 
can spin a lovely, light but still very cozy yarn from it without much 
difficulty.  And many people who get the itchies from slightly 
coarser-wooled breeds of sheep often have no problems with the really 
fine stuff like merino or cashmere (although the latter comes from a 
goat and not a sheep).
--maire, who mostly uses avoidance techniques to stay away from her 
particular allergens, but travels prepared, as well....


Phlip wrote:

> Ene bichizh ogsen baina shuu...
> 
> 
>>So medically, what is the difference between having an allergy to
>>something and having a sensitivity to it? Just a matter of the severity
>>of the symptoms or something else?
>>
>>Stefan
> 
> 
> An allergy is a specific set of physiological reactions to a substance,
> involving the immune system and its response.
> 
> A sensitivity may make the person feel bad, but generally isn't life
> threatening, as allergies can be.
> 
> People use the two words interchangeably because they don't understand the
> difference- they just know whatever it is will make them feel bad. As a
> general rule, a sensitivity will get better over time with exposure, but an
> allergy will get worse.
> 
> Using wool as an example, if you're developing an allergy to it, at first
> contact with it might redden your skin a bit, then give you hives, then
> respiratory problems, getting progessively worse each time you're exposed,
> until the histamine reaction will actually get bad enough to close your
> breathing passages.
> 
> If you have a sensitivity to it, it will feel scratchy, and you may not want
> to wear it because it makes you itch, but if for some reason, you're forced
> to wear it, over time, the symptoms will get milder and milder until they go
> away.
> 
> Or a food allergy- say a particular foodstuff gives you gas and diarrhea. If
> you're sensitive to it, the symptoms will diminish over time and
> consumption. If you're allergic, again, the histamine reactions will kick
> in, starting with swelling and redness, progressing to hives, and ultimately
> closing off your air passages. As we say in the Chirurgeonate, "Air goes in
> and out, blood goes round and round. Anything else is not a good thing".
> 
> One of the major differences is that you'll be sensitive to something the
> very first exposure, but an allergic reaction requires an original,
> non-symptomatic exposure, to trigger your immune system. Unfortunately,
> nowadays, we're exposed to so much stuff, so often, that it's hard to use
> that as a point of differentiation.