javadesigner

That's a very good question. I don't know it's psychosomatic or not.

Aroma by itself isn't going to cause a reaction. But maybe there are microscopic particles of wheat etc in the air near the bakery, so maybe if you smell aroma, that is corelated with inhaling/ingesting some wheat particles.

As a quick followup, I'll also say: one might have a abrasion or a cut on their skin and they absorb gluten  that way.

My scientific point is gluten cannot be absorbed (under any circumstances) through intact healthy skin.

Maybe you applied a cosmetic a few hours ago and didn't really wash your hands with the thoroughness required ? Maybe there is just a tiny little bit (microscopic) under one fingernail. Maybe a few hours later you then ate a bag of potato chips (gluten free). Yet get a reaction. That's not gluten getting absorbed through the skin. That's gluten ingestion.

There are thousands of such cases. You need to be at a level of cleaniless that most people simply cannot achieve consistently. If you can achieve that level, then there is no problem. I'm one of the people who is extremely sensitive (to as little as 5 ppm gluten ingested), but given my personal protocols, not even once in 30+ years have I gotten a reaction through gluten containing cosmetics.

I don't use lip balm at all and never apply anything near any broken skin or minor abrasions at the corner of fingernails etc. Look at the corner of your fingernails - like most people. you see a little bit of abrasion right next to some of them, don't you ?

The elbow test is usually accurate - apply some pure wheat powder to one elbow (with gloves and a respirator), the  wash it off after 1 hour (wash 3 times to be sure), then wait 3 days and see if you get a reaction. I can bet you simply won't.

It is black and white though.

It is physically impossible for any gluten sized protein to pass through the skin barrier. That would be like trying to fit a sherman tank through a pin hole camera.

The super sensitive people are ingesting the gluten, even thoughtthey are claiming or think they are not. They are leaving traces of gluten on their hands and putting it in their mouths or substances they eat.

In Every Single Case.

Here's an experiment: Use rubber gloves. Rub pure wheat gluten all over your skin. Don't inhale, use a respirator. If you actually have dermatitis herpetiformis, you will not get a reaction in 100% of these cases. I come from a long line of dermatitis herpetiformis sufferers - my grandma had it too. I want to set the record straight on this.

An ancedote about scabies:

I'm a male with dermatitis herpetiformis, since age 27. Gluten free for 2 decades since then. This was way before it even became a mainstrean thing - circa year 2000 or so, there was no such concept or thing as "gluten free" on any food labels..anywhere.

I was also misdiagnosed with scabies initially. Took years for proper diagnosis initially. But being gluten free (at a paranoid level) for 2 decades has worked pretty well. I get glutened maybe 2-3 times a year, and the symptoms (blisters) are manageable - go away in about 1-2 weeks. A one time glutening event isn't so bad (repetitive is very bad).

However, I've had scabies recently also. I get weekly massages so probably from massage parlor/table. And I can tell you, it looks very similar to dermatitis herpetiformis - is almost indistinguishable even to me! The *only* difference being there are no tiny/watery/clear blisters with scabies and there are with dermatitis herpetiformis.

dermatitis herpetiformis isn't *just* clear blisters. It is the Great Imitator. It can look like anything. It can look like a mosquito bite sometimes. Or raised lumps. Or urticaria/hives. And neither dermatitis herpetiformis nor scabies are *always* symmetrical. And dermatitis herpetiformis and scabies and look/feel/itch exactly the same (there are some other subtle diffrences - scabies in armpit area and belly, dermatitis herpetiformis never in those areas for me).

So the moral of the story: if you have dermatitis herpetiformis *and* you get scabies - god help you! There is no way to what's happening and you go crazy with scabies treatment. Which is also hard to do right and has to be repeated just right - and that is if you live by yourself - order of magnitude harder if your family lives with you!

This is how misinformation is spread.

I'm male, have had dermatitis herpetiformis since 27 (the classic late twenties presentation in males) and gluten free for 2 decades.

You cannot absort gluten through the skin. Anything inside/near mouth (lipstick, toothpaste) you can absorb of course. But on the skip (soap, cosmetics, etc) cannot be asborbed through the skin and cannot cause a reaction.

You can rub pure wheat powder on your skin and it won't cause a reaction (again, as long as you do not ingest it in any way).

Don't worry about gluten in cosmetics. Worry about hidden gluten in things you eat.