Women have been left with painful burns and thrush from a popular deodorant used by thousands every day.
Dozens of women have taken to social media to report the ‘painful’ rashes that require creams and antibiotics after using Mitchum’s 48-hour roll-on anti-perspirant and deodorant.
Pictures showing sore red armpits have flooded forums and TikTok, with some users left in tears by the angry red welts which are spreading over their skin.
Last night Mitchum issued a statement via Instagram which apologised to customers who had suffered burns from using their products, and said it’s due to a change in packaging rather than the product itself.
‘We are sorry to those who were impacted and for the time it took to complete the investigation,’ it said.
They added that the issue was caused not by the product itself, but rather ‘a change in the manufacturing process of one of our raw materials altered how the product interacts with the skin in some consumers’.
In a further slide, they listed the affected batch numbers, which can all be refunded.
One affected user told the Daily Mail: ‘It hurt so very badly and happened after a random amount of uses, it wasn’t like just once it did this, I had been using the same bottle regularly for a while until it happened.
Some users were left with an angry red rash
‘It’s so annoying because it works so well at controlling odor and not leaving those white marks.
‘I have to use it super sparingly and if it begins to burn at all I remove it right away.’
Most of the discussion around the unexpected side effect of the much-used product has been taking place on TikTok.
Some of the comments have included, ‘I’ve purchased these for years, all of a sudden a new bottle of it has left me with chemical burns and looks like I’m not the only one.’
Another said: ‘Me too after using it, I had to have antibiotics in the end.’
A third wrote: ‘Canesten cream has cured mine. It developed into thrush, was so sore.’
One user, named only as Olivia, told Metro: After a few days of using it, I noticed I was getting a rash and really itchy underarms to the point where it was distracting me when I was trying to sleep.
‘The sensation was more like a stinging, like when you have dry hands and then use alcohol and gel on them – but the itchiness was the worst part.’
Professor Penny Ward, from King’s College London, told the Daily Mail: ‘With respect to this deodorant the contents of the ‘new’ format includes acetyl cedrene which has been shown to be an irritant in patch testing as well as vanillin which can also be a skin irritant in some individuals.
‘Generally the irritant chemicals are most likely to be those which are the added fragrances.
‘In general most dermatitis rashes are itchy rather than painful; pain might be an indication of infection and might need treatment with an antibiotic/antifungal cream.
‘If one develops a reaction to a topical product its a good idea to stop using it and switch to something else (after the rash has settled).
‘Occasionally it may need to be settled down with a topical antihistamine/corticosteroid cream which can be obtained with pharmacy advice.’
Fragrances are the most prevalent allergen in deodorant.
One Danish study found that deodorants were the leading cause of fragrance allergy, especially for men.
Irritant contact dermatitis is the most common type of contact dermatitis.
It occurs when a substance damages or inflames the skin. It typically develops at the first sign of contact between the skin and irritating substance.
Irritant contact dermatitis can be easier to identify because symptoms usually arise immediately, causing stinging or discomfort.
Allergic contact dermatitis is a delayed allergic reaction that appears as a rash a day or two after skin is exposed to the allergen.
It is caused by the body mounting an inflammatory response to a specific ingredient.
With repeated use, your immune system recognises the substance as an allergen, and it causes an itchy skin response.
