Answered by Dr. Jyotisterna Mittal

Can allergic rashes occur due to the molds on the walls?

Hello doctor,

Last year, I moved to a coastal area to go to college. I moved into an older house that had really poor ventilation. As a result, when it was warmer inside than outside, I had condensation on my walls and water beaded down. So, soon after I moved in, mold grew on three of my bedroom walls. I had to clean the walls every week with bleach. During this time, I began to get rashes and eczema on my hand and on my legs. They were constantly dry and itchy and I unconsciously itched them until they bled. Seven months later, I also had extremely dry skin around my right eye which was red and itchy. I unconsciously rubbed the area which caused it to become inflamed and become swollen to the point it affected my vision a bit.

To treat my rashes, I applied cream to my legs and hands every few hours. For my eye, I applied cream every hour and got eye drops. I also tried Triamcinolone Acetonide Cream 0.5% on my hands. I had a rash from poison oak previously. This prescription cream prevented the itchiness but caused it to dry out enough to start peeling, cracking and bleeding. So I stopped using the prescription cream and just used a regular cream for all my rashes.

After about a week of using cream, the skin around my eye returned to normal but I had to still apply cream to ensure it did not dry out and peel.The problem is that I still have a huge rash on my hand and up and down my legs. It has gotten extremely bad as I constantly have scabs or bleeding wounds on my legs from itching or they have puss oozing out. For the past couple weeks, I have been waking up five to six times before my alarm to find I am itching my rashes. Now the rashes seemed to have spread as well. They began on my lower legs and have since spread to the entirety of my legs. My hand rashes started small the size of a penny. Now it is the size of a dollar coin. It also seems to have spread up to my wrist and maybe starting on my other arm as well. I thought of many what could be the cause of my rashes but I do not have many ideas.

1. Could it be an allergic reaction to the mold from my walls because it started during this time? But, I still have the rashes almost a month after the mold had stopped growing. The mold spores could still be on the walls or the environment.
2. Could I be allergic to the cream? I have used this cream for the past two or three years.
3. Could I be allergic to the shampoo or the soap? I have had the same bottles for past nine months, two months before the rashes started.
4. Could I be allergic to bed sheets? I have the same bed sheets for the past seven months.
5. Could I be allergic to food or milk? I cook all my food and have not had any steady foods that I had not already been eating before. I thought maybe I could be lactose tolerant. Of note, my both parents are and it started around the time they were in college so I cut out dairy for two weeks, but nothing changed.
6. Could it be allergies to pollen? I thought maybe I was allergic to the mold in the winter and now that it was spring, I was allergic to pollen. But I have no symptoms of allergies than the rash.
7. Can it be due to dirtiness? I normally shower once every two days. I tried showering daily for two weeks, but no change in the rashes.
8. Am I allergic to the new place? I went back to my old place some time back for spring break. The week I came back to the new place, my rashes had stopped itching and seemed to be healing completely. The rashes returned the second week when I was back.
9. Can it be due to dryness due to heaters and the winter weather? The heaters were always on in the winter and I had to remoisturize all my skin more often. The weather is now much warmer and heaters are not turned on anymore but I still have the rashes.

I have now had the rash on my hand for six months. I have had the dryness around my eyes for three months. I have had rashes on my legs for almost seven months. I plan to go to see a doctor but I have to wait until I return home. Attached below are three pictures; my eye when it is dry and peeling, my hand rash, and the back of my knee where it usually itches the most.Can you please tell me what I could do to help fight these rashes?

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