Comments on: Mango- Beauty and the Beast-Urushiol Induced Contact Dermatitis

By: Randy

Randy — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 05:21:11 +0000

Okay, I have a serious problem haha. I was eating a mango earlier today, doing my usual, washed it, cut it into strips and sat down to eat the strips. The problem is, I didn’t know it had urushiol in the rind. I’m pretty darn allergic to poison ivy. I get a poison ivy rash that lasts for a month and can turn my body part it’s on purple (even after using calamine, baking soda, you name it I’ve tried it).

Here’s the problem, I eat mangoes peel and all, except the seed, that’s a bit too tough for me. Then after wards, I washed off the seed and was thinking of growing a mango tree… Then I saw a site that said mangoes have urushiol in it and my heart sank. Seriously, I love mangoes, I eat them fresh, in sorbet, with ice cream, some chicken, I even have mango peach tea (store bought).

Now I’m freaked out because I have a humongous fear of poison ivy, just because it’s so painful, and I’m being told my absolute favorite fruit has an oil in it that I’m topically allergic to, I’m worried my insides will develop the allergy and I’ll be screwed. I really hope I’m not internally allergic to it, otherwise I’m going to freak out.

By: Ann

Ann — Mon, 31 May 2010 16:52:20 +0000

It took me years to make the connection between mangoes and my severe reaction–actually to the point of heart palpitations, sweating, swollen lips, etc. It was awful. I had my first mango at age 40 and it was love at first bite, but that night I had a “heart” episode…we thought it might have been the shrimp I ate or something. Anyway, through the next 10 years I slowly made a connection…the “heart” episodes were always after ingesting mango. Doesn’t sound possible, but I have not had one since I stopped eating mango 3 years ago. Drat.

Wow, didn’t know about pink peppercorns, thanks!

By: Tom E

Tom E — Tue, 04 May 2010 20:07:16 +0000

OOPS cashews not pistachios. Here’s some others..

ginkgo, Japanese lacquer and rengas trees, pink peppercorns and cashew shell oil

By: Tom E

Tom E — Tue, 04 May 2010 20:03:58 +0000

My tip, DON’T DO IT!
It just gets worse and worse each time. Mangos were my favorite fruit. Mango ice cream with cinnamon, mango salsa with seafood, I would never cook something fancy without a bit of mango in it. Now I’m just asking for trouble if I do. Doesn’t seem to matter with me if I try and avoid the skin or not. I heard a tip somewhere that if you wash your mouth right after eating with dish soap, you are likely to be OK, but it’s not worth it for me.
I now get scabs over both lips that weep so much it drips off my chin. Yuck. Waking up and putting a hot rag on my mouth so that I can open my lips cause they are scabbed together.
And you don’t even want to hear about the time I took a bath after my roommate had used a mango shave cream on her legs. I thought I was going to die, lol.
For those of us who suffer from poison oak, ivy, sumac, it’s just one thing that’s not worth it. Also fresh pistachios are in the family as well, though I’ve never had a reaction from pistachios, I’ve never seen one fresh either.

By: Tangomango!

Tangomango! — Mon, 03 May 2010 19:54:27 +0000

I had my doctor friend do a favor and look at my lips this week after they became itchy, swollen, and covered in blisters. I thought I had herpes (no), then thought somehow I had poison ivy (unlikely) but just found out about mango dermatitis and realized I bought and peeled a mango the day before the rash broke out!

My question is this: is the oil that provokes such reactions just on the peel and seed? I’ve eaten mango before many times, but usually I avoid the peel. This time with the rash, I was eating from the peel and probably didn’t wash my mouth for awhile after.

Do those of you that have had reactions but continue to eat mangos have any tips?

By: Lauren

Lauren — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 04:52:22 +0000

Has anyone ever had a reaction to mango with a tooth sensitivity? Also for me, I was explaining to my dentist how I ate a mango and needed to floss and after that I thought I needed root canal. She told me it was highly unlikely to have such a sudden onset on both sides of my mouth and that I am probably allergic to mango skin. Anyway I feel like i have cavities in the top half of my mouth and I have 2 canker sores. Has anyone ever heard of this?

By: Tam

Tam — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 02:05:13 +0000

I’ve always had severe reactions to poison ivy and had a similar experience when I “discovered” mangoes at age 18. The day after eating (messily) my 1st mango, I ended up in the emergency room with swollen lips, nostrils, and eyes, and a fine blistered rash around my mouth and down my neck. That was over 15 years ago. To my dismay I ate a pluot last summer and got swollen lips and a rash. I eat plums and apricots with impunity. Go figure.

By: Natalie

Natalie — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 01:50:58 +0000

I think the oil is in the whole mango. I’ve tried eating fruit off the pit and it’s rash city.

By: Katherine

Katherine — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 22:31:56 +0000

I am having a horrible reaction on my lips. Dermatologist said I have contact dermatitis contained to my lips. I was using Tom’s of Maine Orange Mango toothpaste. Could the Mango flavoring be the culprit?

By: Glenn

Glenn — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:06:10 +0000

That was Sarah, not Dr. C – my apologies.