During an unseasonably rainy season, Rachel Prince's allergy confines her to her home.
Anybody who suffers from allergies knows, coming into contact with anything that can trigger your symptoms is not a fun experience. The reactions can range, from the relatively mild, such a hives, to the serious, like anaphylaxis or even death. Most people with allergies must avoid standard items – nuts, seafood, pollen – and know how to avoid what is going to set them off. But for one woman, 26-year-old Rachel Prince of England, her allergies have kept her indoors for what has been an unseasonably wet winter. Rachel is one of the very few people in the world who is allergic to water.
The condition, known as aquagenic pruritus, is so rare that experts believe only 30 people across the globe have the same affliction. Rachel has told reporters this presented an issue in the past, when she could not get doctors to believe that she was allergic to such a basic substance. According to Rachel, she began noticing her symptoms – a very painful, itchy rash – when she was 12. Since then, she has been careful to avoid coming into contact as best she can. Even the saliva from her fiancé’s mouth during a kiss can cause a breakout.
There is no known cure for Rachel’s allergies, as the root cause of water allergies is still unknown by experts. While the painful condition means that Rachel has to be very aware of her surroundings at all times, she insists that there are some positives. “It’s not all bad as it does get me out of doing any washing up as if water touched my hands for a long period of time I would be in a lot of pain,” she told the New York Daily News.
A home air purifier from US Air Purifiers can help protect you from allergies by keeping your house’s air clean.