When you are budgeting constraint, you are more likely to buy things that are budget friendly and that includes jewelries. More and more people are buying fashion jewelries, however this brings them a lot of skin diseases. With better understanding of how these jewelries cause illness, people will be able to buy jewelries and present yourself as fashionable without any issues.
Generally speaking, pure gold jewelries or ornaments are very stable elements and that having a skin allergy is very low. However, jewelries with other elements such as nickel can cause the wearer of the jewelry to suffer from contact dermatitis due to certain inflammation. If left untreated, your skin may get darker, cracked and leathery. Although, the rash will only be evident in the part of the skin where the jewelry gets in contact but it may enlarge or spread on your skin area. And sweats will also make it worse.
Symptoms of Jewelry Allergy
When your skin gets in contact with jewelry containing nickel or other elements that you are allergic to, symptoms will appear within 24-48 hours. When the allergy is present in your skin, it would last as long as 4 weeks. Jewelry allergy signs and symptoms may appear in your skin and it includes the following:
- Itching
- Redness
- Rash
- Dry dispatch
- Swelling
If an allergic reaction to jewelry is very extreme and severe, it can cause asthma attack and inflammation of nasal passages. If this happens, it would be best to see a doctor for help and treatment.
How to Avoid Common Illnesses from Wearing Jewelry
It has been said that prevention is better than cure. It is considered a good strategy to avoid wearing jewelry or at least do not expose your skin too long to jewelry that contains metal that may cause allergy.
However, it is not as easy as that, nickel for example, is one of those metals that are present not only in jewelry, but in so many products that can be found even in our homes. Hence, this article comes up with tips and suggestions on how to avoid common illnesses from wearing jewelry.
Wear something Hypoallergenic
Nickel is the most common element or substance in creating jewelry and many people is allergic to this metal. If so, it would be best to avoid jewelries that are made of nickel.
There are jewelries that are nickel free. These are jewelries made of pure gold, silver, stainless steel, titanium, 18 karat yellow gold and surgical-stainless steel. Surgical-stainless steel may contain nickel, but for most people it is considered as hypoallergenic.
With this, when you are about to buy jewelries, may it be a ring, bracelet or necklace, make sure that they are hypoallergenic.
Be careful in choosing a Piercing Studio
This may often be neglected. But before going to a studio to have your body or ears pierced, check with your local health government unit what are the requirements or rules and regulations that apply to a piercing studio.
Check with your piercing studio if they follow these rules. If they do, you will be assured that you will be provided with a clean and professional service. Also, you might want to make sure that these piercing studios use nickel free or surgical-grade stainless steel needles in sealed packages.
If the studio is using a piercing gun, please check the tip of the gun is brand new and has not been used for other customers. And finally, check the jewelry they are selling if they have these jewelries are hypoallergenic jewelries.
Be Cautious, Create a Barrier
In the event that you need to be exposed with a nickel or any metal that may cause allergy, it is best that you should be able to make a barrier. That means if you are to touch a metal containing nickel, you can wear a glove or hold the metal with a towel so that your hand will not be exposed to nickel.
If you are wearing a necklace, ring or bracelet, you can coat these jewelries with a clear nail polish. The clear nail polish will act as a barrier between the metal and your skin. This is a great barrier to avoid jewelry allergy.
Tips on Choosing Jewelry to Avoid Sick & Allergy
If you are allergic to metal, especially nickel, which is very common in jewelry, you need to be very careful in buying your jewelry and the best way to avoid these allergies is to equip you with knowledge. So the next time you buy jewelries, you know exactly what to do.
Choose Palladium Alloys
If your budget is tight and you are to buy a fashion jewelry, it is best to buy jewelry made of palladium alloy. Metals contain two or more metallic elements, but it is common for alloys contain nickel or brass or copper.
Copper is another metal allergen that causes your skin to turn green. So you may want to make sure that the jewelry is not made of copper or nickel instead choose palladium. Palladium is a white metal related to platinum. It is as pure as platinum, hypoallergenic, and lustrous but it is a lot cheaper because it is less dense.
Avoid Jewelries Made of Nickel
Nickel is the metal that accounts for most allergies. When nickel touches the sensitive skin, it will give you rash which is a symptom that you are allergic to nickel. Nickel allergy is the most common metal allergy. Nickel is one of those metals that is very common to jewelries because they are cheap, durable and cheap to produce hence nickel is popular in the jewelry industry.
Metal Testing Kits
These are very helpful in determining if the jewelry in pure or if it has other metals in it. This comes with a solution that when it rubs with the jewelry, it can tell if your gold is genuine or if it has nickel or other substance.
This is done by dropping a solution to a cotton ball and then rub it against the jewelry. If the color of the solution changes, that means there is a reaction to it and that there is a presence of certain metal in the jewelry.
So if you are unsure of the jewelry if it is alloy or now, then this metal testing kit will help you ensuring the purity of your jewelry. When the jewelry is genuine, then you are avoiding jewelry allergy.
Investing in Fine Jewelry
People always said Jewelries are forever. So if you can, it would be best to invest to fine jewelries. After all, this is for eternity. This is the exact reason why we invest in jewelry – for eternity. Although this may be expensive, but instead of buying a lot of fashion jewelry, think of the long term benefits of investing in fine jewelry.
If you are looking for budget friendly, but still hypoallergenic, it is best to buy sterling silver. Make sure to check the stamp “sterling” or “925”. This means that the jewelry is 92.5 percent pure silver. Hypoallergenic and fine jewelries are safe and therefore avoiding jewelry allergy.
Wear only 14K Gold Jewelry or Better
If you prefer silver in color, there is white gold that you can buy. Your skin will definitely say “thank you” to you when you buy nothing but 14K, 18K or even 24K jewelries.
So buying and wearing jewelry will make you or break you. It is best to be equipped with the knowledge when it comes to jewelry allergy. You are not only making your finances at risk, but you are also risking your health.
Is Nickel Jewelry Toxic to Our Body?
Yes, nickel is toxic at a certain degree. This element has been categorized on the hazardous substance list, meaning it is known to be one of the top fatal alloys in the USA. During the refinement process of the nickel, if a large quantity has been inhaled will be health threatening to the respiratory system, such as lungs, nose and throat.
If nickel dissolves in water, nickel erodes and this will give an itchy feeling thus resulting in a rash. Therefore, we should avoid nickel when it is humid because your allergy will get worse when combining body sweat.