Severe allergy to sorbolene cream.

A 40-year-old male developed a constant hand and foot dermatitis in 1980 while using sorbolene cream as a barrier cream at work. He was forced to leave his trade as a motor mechanic because of his hand dermatitis. It was not until 16 years later that he was diagnosed as having an allergic contact dermatitis to chlorocresol secondary to an endogenous hand and foot dermatitis. Chlorocresol is the preservative used in sorbolene cream as well as many corticosteroid creams. Patch testing carried out in 1983 was negative but had omitted testing with chlorocresol or sorbolene cream.