Can over exposure of garlic or parsley make you suddenly have an allergic reaction/itchy?

Question

I was making these little garlic slices at the bakery today and all of a sudden my hands started turning really red and itchy. They're still like that right now but not as severe. I love garlic and the slices I make, and I've never been allergic to anything before, so could this be random?

Answer 1

Probably not garlic has a chemical in it called ancin its a blood thinner and has many positive attributes. Garlic lowers cholesterol
improves blood circulation and has antibiotic like properties.In your case you may have had a local allergic reaction ask yourself this do you eat garlic normally on a regualr basis if so it might have been somthing else. unless your skin just cant tolerate garlic but if you can ingest it your probably not allergic.

Answer 2

Grating a lot of garlic causes reddening of the fingers, and hardening of the skin. Several days later, the outer skin sloughs off. There is something corrosive in garlic. Some of the health giving chemicals alline, allicin and others, do not cause it. . They are small straight chain organic chemicals with sulfur atoms on the chain.
You did not have an allergic reaction. Onions, a very close cousin of garlic, (they are members of the same genus Allium), causes chemical irritation of the fingers if you handle a lot of it.
The solution is to use rubber gloves when grating large amounts of garlic, or use a blender.
Try it.
Doc. Dan.

Answer 3

You can develop allergies over time, or you could have had an allergy to garlic before, but since you're now handling alot of it, the allergy could be rearing it's ugly head.

Answer 4

Interesting! I have never had this happen although I don't prepare lots of garlic at one time.

Get a box of latex gloves at the drug store.
They are great for so many things.