What a melodramatic title...! I posted last time about my open class. That class included me wearing a lot more makeup than I do on a daily basis. I used to wear foundation regularly in the States, but since I can't buy the brand here, and it runs out pretty fast, I decided that I'd rather just start my contract with no daily foundation than suddenly stop wearing it mid-contract if I ran out with no alternative. I realize this may be TMI, but in case anyone's considering coming to Korea, I'm offering this as a cautionary tale. :)
Women reading this who have ever worn makeup on a sustained basis know this cardinal law of makeup: as soon as you find the perfect makeup, the company will probably discontinue it. That had happened to my foundation, so I brought a little of the new formula with me when I came, but never used it for the aforementioned reason.
Open class arrived. It came and went, and I was physically and emotionally drained, so I fell asleep without removing my makeup that night. ::sigh:: Big mistake. The next day I had an inch-long bright red streak on the center of my forehead and another spot on my temple. I didn't remember hitting my head the day before, so I figured, dang it... skin allergy. That's happened before, and is a reason why I hadn't wanted to buy/use makeup here. I lived with that giant blemish for a day, and finally took the plunge and went to the pharmacy by my house. It's super simple and cheap to get medicine from Korean pharmacies, but a lot of times you don't know what's in it, just what it's used for.
I went armed with a translation of antihistamine, the offending compact of makeup, and a doctor's note that said one of the most important pieces of information in English and Korean: sulfa drug allergy. Surely that was all I needed. I walked in, and the lady at the counter started speaking to me in reasonably good English. Hooray! I also had a student enter the pharmacy at the same time, and she was concerned that I was sick, so I felt the need to explain--nope, just a really bad breakout. She sympathized.
Speaking to the pharmacist, I indicated the large blotch (at least it was well-centered...) on my forehead and explained/mimed that it was from the makeup. The pharmacist gave the makeup the evil eye and told me, "Don't use again." I agreed, of course. I asked her for "antihistamine" and she seemed to understand right away, especially in the context of the bad makeup, so I didn't bother showing her the translation of "antihistamine."
She said something to the other pharmacist, they consulted back and forth, and she handed me a small, ~$3 tube of medical ointment. I looked at it, showed her the slip of paper that said I had a sulfa allergy, she asked/gestured if the mark on my face was from a sulfa drug, I said it wasn't (it was from the makeup, which I indicated again), and she said the medicine would be fine. No problem.
I bought it, and wow, the marks went away within 2 days! But... I now had a giant red spot on the tip of my nose, along my jaw, and one or two on my neck. First I thought they were mosquito bites, since I had heard a mosquito buzzing around my face one night that week as I was trying to sleep. Then I thought maybe it was a delayed allergic reaction to the makeup, but I've had enough skin reactions to know that doesn't usually happen for me. Still, I kept applying the lotion to the new spots. They lightened, but a few more appeared--on my arms.
...Nope, it was time to do some translating. So, I painstakingly typed the ingredients into Google Translate. Ingredients are hard enough to spell in one's own alphabet correctly, so it took me a couple of tries. Sure enough, there it was: gentamicin sulfate. This is problematic for a couple of reasons. First, it's primarily an antibiotic, not an antihistamine, per se. Second, it's a freaking sulfa drug! I'm not sure where the communication broke down, but... I definitely should have looked up the ingredients before applying. Even with as well as the pharmacy conversation seemed to have gone. I need to actually learn this language. ::sigh::
Discontinuing use and taking Benadryl the next few nights finally did the trick. I think this experience is why I was partially resistant to going to the doctor when I hurt my knee falling up the steps a few days later. Not a very wise reason, but a somewhat understandable one, maybe.
So the public service announcement to take away from the story:
1. If you have allergies and are planning on living in a foreign country--do bring plenty of Benadryl. I knew this and was glad to have packed it.
2. If the allergies include skin ones, DO bring your own topical antihistamine (I hadn't done this). And hey, bring a topical antibiotic you're *not* allergic to.
3. Don't wear an untested makeup the day of a big presentation, nor fall asleep before removing it. Doesn't matter if you're tired.
4. Be cautious with taking meds you try to get on your own at the pharmacy--I won't say don't go to the pharmacy on your own, since that's not very feasible.
5. Some of this could have been avoided by going to a co-teacher, even though I was hoping to avoid that embarrassment (like that worked with all the subsequent blemishes. At least my students didn't say a thing--they're teenagers, so I think they could probably relate), so don't be proud.
6. And since doctors here don't usually tell you what they're giving you--my ENT didn't--always tell your doctors about your allergies, and ask them to write it down. I know, "No, duh!" Just because my allergy note didn't work didn't mean it was a bad idea...! ^_^
So sorry to hear about all these troubles.
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