Recently the FDA issued a warning stating that common acne treatment ingredients, benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid, can cause severe allergic reactions. Before skincare companies begin to churn out “anti” anti-acne advertising campaigns in favor of their personal alternatives—and believe me, these PSAs will start soon!—I wanted to hop in and douse the flames.Do not toss all of your acne treatments into the garbage! If you haven’t had a reaction yet then you are most likely in the clear.Anything that we put onto our skin has the potential to cause a negative reaction. Some cause itching and burning; other signs are swelling and redness. You could even break out in hives, but the bottom line is we can easily associate these reactions with a product that didn’t agree with our skin.But what about throat tightness, shortness of breath, wheezing, fainting or low blood pressure? What about swollen lips and eyes? Would you automatically associate these symptoms to an allergic reaction to a skincare treatment? Not many would, so this is the reason for the FDA’s warning.It’s not to say that salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide are “bad” ingredients (but get ready for the onslaught of ads saying so); it just means that those who did experience allergic reactions—since 1969 the FDA has received 131 reports of negative reactions in consumers using gels, lotions, face washes, solutions, cleansing pads, toners and face scrubs containing these two ingredients—went beyond just the normal signs of itching, swelling, burning and hives.In reality, these symptoms could occur with any skincare product, so don’t ignore these signs just because you don’t use acne treatments. I recently went to a product demo party where there were great claims being made about losing inches instantly. After being wrapped in the product, one person starting complaining about increased heart rate and wheezing while no one else had anything but a pleasurable experience. She was clearly having a negative reaction to the product that was completely unexpected.The moral of this story is that you never know what is going to cause a reaction or how the reaction will rear its ugly head. Here are a few tips for anyone using treatment products from acne to anti-aging:1. Know your bodyIf you know that with your period comes headaches, lightheadedness, strange breakout patterns, or just overall craziness, do yourself a favor and avoid trying new skincare products. We don’t want to pass off any potential allergic reactions as “period-related issues.”2. Patch tests do workTest the product on a small area of your body (preferably somewhere that’s well hidden from the world) for a few days and keep track of how you feel and what you see. Reactions can occur immediately or over the course of a few usages of the product so give it time to make sure that you are in the clear.3. Don’t push your luckStop using the product immediately if you experience a negative reaction. If you are thinking that your skin will eventually get used to it then you are seriously putting your health at risk.4. Read the labelsSeeking medical attention is always the preferred method for getting help when it comes to allergic reactions. But you can help out by reading the labels and comparing the ingredients of products that your skin loves to the one that caused the issue. By process of elimination, you can rule out the ingredients that you have used before with no issues and help your doctor identify the suspect ingredients.Related: Can Food Cause Acne? Yes, It’s Not a Myth!