If your ears are sensitive to pieced earrings, it may be caused by a nickel allergy. This is a relatively common allergy and the usual reason for itchy skin from metal earrings and other body piercings. Nickel allergies can affect people of all ages. Once you have such an allergy it generally doesn’t go fully away even with treatment. Avoiding nickel if you have such an allergy is the Mayo’s Clinic recommendation. Getting a skin test to verify if you have such an allergy is fairly inexpensive and recommended. Enjoy these earring allergy solutions.
Avoid White Gold, Sterling Silver, Stainless Steel and Tungsten
Nickel can be found in almost any earrings (sterling silver, stainless steel, white gold) unless specifically made without nickel. That is because all these metals are alloys – combinations of several metals. To make matters worse, nickel is one of the most common metals used in such an alloy.
18 Kt white gold usually has 15% nickel. 14 Kt white gold has even more nickel. Generally, 18 Kt and 14 Kt yellow gold is nickel-free. But be careful: 10 Kt gold of any color often includes nickel.
Tungsten Carbide is made of: 84% of tungsten and 16% of carbon and nickel. Hence, this will generally cause an allergy.
Enjoy Platinum and Titanium
In platinum jewelry, nickel is not used as an alloy. Platinum is alloyed with Cobalt, Copper, Iridium, Osmium, Palladium, Rhodium and/or Ruthenium. Which one of these alloys will be carefully marked on your jewelry. So enjoy platinum earrings without worry!
Titanium is commonly alloyed without nickel. The usual metals used in combination with titanium are aluminum and vanadium. Titanium with 6% aluminum and 4% vanadium is marked as: 6Al4V. Pure titanium is softer and can scratch easily. That said, titanium earrings
Coating Your Earrings
If you have earrings or other jewelry you love to wear but have a reaction to, you can use a jewelry coating prevent contact with our skin. The coatings eventually wear off, but are relatively straight-forward to apply. There are several types on the market. Nickel Solution has both a nickel detector and nickel blocker; Reaction Block (as listed in the comment below) is another well known coating. Remember that if the coating wears off, you will have a reaction again.
Other Earring Alternatives
For inexpensive earring alternatives, we recommend nickel-free earrings for those with allergies to nickel. These earrings are carefully made with alloys that do NOT contain nickel. Yet, they do come in the usual styles and colors you crave. This way you can wear your earrings comfortably all day and get the look you desire. (Note: if you are allergic to a different metal, these will still cause irritated ears.)
We hope these tips allow you to wear earring with comfort and allow you to add a bit more sparkle to your life.
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4 Comments
Reaction Block is a clear coat, hypo- allergenic brush on coating that puts a buffer zone between your skin and the metal it touches. Can be used on earring posts as well as any other metal surface your skin contacts simply by brushing two thin coats onto the metal and let dry for 20 minutes. “Reaction Block” is Dermatologist endorsed and has been on the market for 25 years.
I have had this problem in the past and have found that if the earing is not from sterling silver the 925 kind then I get terrible infections in my ears, its funny because some people can only wear gold and have to stay far away from silver.
I too have had a problem with certain ear rings that I have bought that have caused terrible infections in my ears, I know that I that have to stay very clear away from yellow gold, as this also causes problems with my ears, so when I do find ear rings that cause me no problems I wear them all the time.
I wonder why some people have a reaction to nickel and some don’t. I have no problem with it, but I know some who do. I’m glad for them that they have these alternatives you speak of.
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