Skin rash caused by medication on the face

As a rule, the rash usually occurs due to medication, i.e. especially on the back, abdomen and chest, but it can also spread to the extremities (arms and legs). More rarely, the rash begins on the arms and legs and only then spreads to the trunk of the body. Even more rarely, a drug rash occurs only or also in the facial area, a rash that starts especially here is much more often caused by viral infections (e.g. rubella).

Diagnosis

If a skin rash occurs which is suspected to be due to medication, the aim of diagnostics is to detect the triggering drug or active ingredient. This can sometimes be difficult, as several drugs are often taken at the same time. If it is a genuine drug allergy, allergy tests such as the prick test, the epicutaneous test and blood tests (IgE determination) can help. However, if it is a pseudoallergy, in which it is not the immune system that triggers the allergic reaction, but the drug itself, these tests can be inconclusive.

Treatment/Therapy

The first action that should be taken as soon as a rash occurs due to medication – no matter how pronounced the symptoms are – is to stop taking the respective medication immediately.Of course, this becomes difficult if several drugs are taken at the same time – then it is the doctor’s job to filter out the drug that triggers the reaction. The allergic reaction that causes the rash can in turn be treated with other drugs. Classically, the symptoms are treated with glucocorticoids (cortisone, prednisolone) and antiallergics (antihistamines). If the allergic reaction is particularly pronounced, the rash spreads over the entire body and becomes systemic, i.e. if other symptoms such as fever, drop in blood pressure, increase in heart rate and a severe impairment of the general condition occur, (intensive) medical treatment should be initiated immediately.

Duration of a rash caused by medication

The skin rash, which usually appears a few days to two weeks after taking the medication (or minutes to hours in the case of previous sensitization), usually disappears of its own accord a few days after the drug has been discontinued. Severe courses can sometimes last longer, life-threatening courses such as Stevens-Johnson syndrome or toxic-epidermal necrolysis can even end in sepsis due to an infection spreading through the skin.