Would you believe that up to 25% of North American women have a nickel allergy that prohibits them from wearing most earrings without pain?
Other metals, including gold, can cause rashes, bumps, redness, dry spots, itching, or blisters. It is understandable why so many women cannot wear earrings.
Fortunately, there are steps you can take to prevent your earrings from getting in your way. The following five tips will help you discover stylish, completely safe, and comfortable earrings when it comes to wearing earrings again.
Do some earrings make your earlobes burn with pain and leave stringing holes that appear red and itchy even though they are fully healed? Do your earlobes discolor when you wear particular earrings? If so, there is good news. You can enjoy the earrings without the painful or annoying side effects. All you have to do is focus on the correct type of metal.
Stay away from jewelry containing nickel
Unfortunately, there is still a lot of nickel in most jewelry on the market. Nickel is more potent than other precious metals such as gold, and manufacturers add it to make jewelry stronger.
The downside is that it can cause a host of unpleasant symptoms for allergic to nickel. Often, a person who is sensitive to nickel will experience these symptoms within minutes of wearing the offending jewelry.
Dr. Audrey Kunin, a board-certified dermatologist and president of DERMAdoctor, Inc., says that constant exposure to nickel increases the risk of allergy and can begin at any age.
If you keep getting rashes while wearing earrings or other jewelry, it’s time to replace your collection with nickel-free earrings.
Avoid cheap jewelry
Have you ever worn a ring that turns your finger green or earrings that make your piercings bleed? These pieces of jewelry are very likely to be relatively cheap. Jewelry that stains the skin generally contains copper in its mix of metals. At the same time, people with sensitive ears can react to various metals, including what is known as surgical steel. These metals help reduce jewelry costs, but if your skin is uncomfortable to wear or discolored, the savings are simply not worth it.
Even the most expensive jewelry made from cheap materials can be painful if you have sensitive earlobes. In most cases, this type of sensitivity is due to a nickel allergy. Nickel is used in various inexpensive metal alloys, and it can be challenging to know whether or not the jewelry you have purchased will trigger allergy symptoms. Also, nickel allergies can appear out of nowhere, popping up suddenly, making your previously loved collection of earrings a source of discomfort.
Titanium and other hypoallergenic materials
If you want to buy gold or silver jewelry to avoid nickel, there is no such thing. Gold and silver in their pure form are too soft to be considered jewelry. Therefore, they combine other metals such as nickel to give strength and color.
Gold plating is an option, but not the best. Under the coating, the base metal contains nickel, which can wear away over time with regular use. The nickel below can cause an allergic reaction on your skin.
Your best options for hypoallergenic nickel-free materials in jewelry are titanium and medical-grade plastic. They are versatile, durable, and comfortable to use. Most importantly, designers can use them to create beautiful earrings and other jewelry.
How to make a pair of hypoallergenic earrings?
If you have a pair of earrings that you love but can’t put them on without reacting, here are some tips to try to make them bearable.
The best solution is to paint the posts with a few coats of clear nail polish. Once the enamel is dry, create a barrier between the nickel in the earrings and the ears. You will need to reapply the polish regularly if you plan to use it more than a couple of times.
If you’re in a hurry, clean the earrings with hydrogen peroxide and then apply a few coats of petroleum jelly. However, keep in mind that it will probably only work a few hours before you need to reapply the jelly.
