I know, this sounds extreme, but I know for a fact that many of the doctors I've seen in the past year have missed a very important detail on my chart: I am allergic to latex. "It's not that big of a deal," you say? Well it is to the 4% of the world's population. How do I know they're not reading my chart? I put down that have a latex allergy in every possible spot: "Do you have any allergies to medication?" "Do you have any sensitivities?" "Is there anything else we should know?" and my personal favorite, "Are you allergic to latex?" And when I walk into the exam room, the only gloves available are latex gloves. When I point this out to the nurse or the doctor, they spend about 20 minutes trying to find some latex-free gloved, usually they can't find any so they continue with the exam glove-less. One time, I got lucky because a nurse happened to have a package of latex-free gloves in her car. Even my dermatologist didn't have latex-free gloves! I had to stop him before he touched me with the gloves! It's hard enough avoiding latex every day, but you'd think you'd be safe in your doctor's office. I normally wouldn't make a big deal about this, but I'm tired of having to remind a medical professional of basic patient information. Not only that, but I have noticed in the past few years that my reaction to latex is getting worse.
I work in a place that has a lot of rubber bands and sometimes, when we celebrate something, we have balloons in our back room. Latex balloons. I though I was fine because I had never had a reaction to latex just being in a room before, but the second I walked into that room, I started wheezing, my body felt itchy and broke out in hives, and my throat felt like it was closing.
Avoiding latex is the only sure-fire way to prevent a reaction, but latex is in a lot of every day items that not many people think about like shoes, toys, even paint, and for medical purposes, latex is in blood pressure cuffs, crutches, and even the adhesive in bandages. No, neoprene is not a good substitute either seeing as it is also made from natural rubber latex. What's neoprene? It the material found on hospital bed pads for comfort, support braces, and some clothing products. According to the FDA, the allergy and sensitivity to latex increases over time and exposure, so please, please, please READ THE CHART and have latex-free gloves available, medical alert bracelets are expensive and many doctors feel a "simple" latex allergy is worth getting one. Trust me, if you've ever had any type of allergic reaction, you know there is no "simple" thing about it.
