Allergic Reaction

[wonderlywroughte]

Here's a little bit of history...I used to have a choker necklace that I loved tht I wore all the time. It was some sort of unknown metal but after wearing it nonstop for months, I started getting a huge horrible rash on my neck. Even after I stopped wearing the necklace it took FOREVER to go away. I still have it in a small spot on my neck, up in the hairline, and this was about 6-7 years ago. :sweatdrop: Anyway. I recently purchased a brass neck torc from Crafty Celts. I didn't think anything of it, but after 3 days, my neck is starting to itch again. Argh! :evileye: I love that necklace so much though! Anyone have any suggestions of what I can do? Do you think it would be okay to wear it, just less often? Any other suggestions? I'm really bummed. I even thought about sending it back and then getting the silver one, but it seems like anything I wear on my neck ticks it off, even if it is something like sterling silver. Sometimes, it'll itch and get bumpy for absolutely NO REASON. Argh. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[blendedchaitea]

I'm not sure if it's good for the metal, or if you want to modify your jewelry in this way, but: try painting it with clear nail polish. Like, a heavy coat. It should keep the metal away from your skin. Unless you're allergic to the nail polish, too. Then you're SOL. :boggle:

[summer-time]

I'm like this, I can't wear anything but surgical steel. My husbie bought me a naval piercing that was sterling silver, I didn't think about it either but in less than 8 hrs my belly button swelled up and was raw and infected.

I only wear ss, chains and either that or titanium jewelry.


Is it possible to get another one just like it but with ss metal or titanium ?

[wonderlywroughte]

Yes, there is also the option of getting it in sterling silver, however it is 150 dollars more than the one I have. I went with the brass one because I didn't have that much to spend, and I kinda like the look of the brass. :sweatdrop:

[summer-time]

Yes, there is also the option of getting it in sterling silver, however it is 150 dollars more than the one I have. I went with the brass one because I didn't have that much to spend, and I kinda like the look of the brass. :sweatdrop:



Oh I'm sorry, I meant surgical steel.

[wonderlywroughte]

Oh, sorry! I misread. :sweatdrop: Then no, they don't offer either of those choices. Wahhh!

[Hairstorm]

Would your neck be okay if you wore your necklace on top of a turtleneck or other high-necked clothing?

[Love My Cop]

I was thinking the same thing as blendedchaitea. Is there anyway possible to coat with a clear coat of "something", so that the metal does not touch your skin? Sounds like you might be having an allergic reaction to metal, well, that particular one. Hope you find of way of wearing it, without irritating your skin

[wonderlywroughte]

Thanks for the suggestions so far! Wearing it OVER a high-necked shirt is a good idea. Now, to get a high necked shirt...:sweatdrop:

I actually don't have any clear nailpolish at the moment, and I think that'll be a last resort type of thing. It was sort of expensive and I don't know if I want to get nailpolish all over it, lol. :lafhard:

I wonder if applying a bunch of moisturizer like shea butter or something to my neck where it touches would do anything? Probably not, hehe. Oh well.

[Hairstorm]

I wonder if applying a bunch of moisturizer like shea butter or something to my neck where it touches would do anything? Probably not, hehe. Oh well.Now that you mention it, there is a product which is supposed to be like a liquid "glove" to protect from poison ivy. Maybe that would do the trick. http://manoproducts.com/news.htm

[bowie]

Nickel is a metal which is a common allergen to people who wear jewelry. There are cortisone creams and sprays which will help with the itchy rash you may get. Also, Benadryl cream is a good one. You may just get by with a couple of hours of use before the rash. That's how my ears are with jewelry. After a while, it was not worth days of a rash for a few hours of wearing something....but that's me.

[Arcticpixie]

Hi Wonderly!!

Your reacting to the copper in the alloy. At least that is how I understand the reaction. It’s the same reaction that turns some ppl’s fingers green with gold rings. Your just more sensitive.

A temporary fix would be to coat the piece in hairspray, but that will wash/wear off pretty quickly. A semi-permanent fix unfortunately would be the clear polish. It would have to be reapplied periodically. Just make sure the surface is clean before you apply it. You only have to paint the portion that will be in contact with your skin.

I too suffer from green fingers and blistered skin from alloyed metals. Pot metal will scar me permanently, so I’m really good friends with my clear fingernail polish!:purplex:

HTH:grinhappy:

ETA: Bowie's point stands as well. Nickle gets some ppl the same way copper does. Either way you should probably barrier yourself from the offending metal.

[wonderlywroughte]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

It was a nickel allergy in the first necklace, prior to that I had not had any problems with reactions to metals. Now it seems like all sorts of metals give me problems. Boo!

I suppose its time to get some clear nailpolish, eh? Actually now that I think about it, the way its shaped it only really touches my neck in two spots. So, I wouldn't really have to cover the whole thing in polish. Yay!

[wonderlywroughte]

Just a little bump up with an update:

The first day I noticed the itching and the bumps, I didn't wear my torc at all. Throughout the day, I'd try and put it on, and within a few minutes, my neck would be itchy and prickly again, so I'd take it off. That night, I rubbed coconut oil into the bumpy spots. I did not do anything to the torc.

The next day, just because, I put the torc on as usual. Wore it ALL DAY, with not one probem. No prickly feeling, no bumps, no itching. I've been wearing it daily since with no problems. So, now I'm wondering what the original reaction was? :ooh: Heat rash? Did it just get used to it or something?

[Kitty]

Hmm, very interesting. I cannot wear anything on my neck (gold/silver/surgical steel, anything) because it aggrevates my excema.
It usually takes awhile for it to go away too.
Do you get excema in other places? Maybe that is what it was. But unlike you, I dont ever seem to have bouts where I can wear anything around my neck for more than a couple of hours without the rash coming back.
Cortisone creams help the most for me....and not wearing necklaces.

[Isilme]

I would say that it could be a good idea to switch it and get one thats in silver, or sterling or what it was. I find that necklaces and those sort of things usually go quite ugly and you can't get the same lustre back, but if you have real silver you can always polish it and you will have the same feeling as when it was new. There just are not anything that can replace real silver or gold.

[Hedera]

Wonderlywroughte, could it be that it wasn't the metal at all this time, but perhaps some chemical that was used in tempering (is that the right word?)/cleaning/shining it before they sent it to you? Sometimes some residue of that sort of thing can give nasty effects, and that could explain why it went away: your natural skin oils would have rubbed it off finally.
In which case, it might be a good idea to give it some extra cleaning; perhaps use some oil (because that dissolves things that detergent doesn't, sometimes) and then a gentle soap, and rinse that off really well.

Oh, and I'd love to see a picture of the necklace, it sounds so beautiful....:grinhappy:

[wonderlywroughte]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/wonderlywroughte/torcy.jpg

Here's a pic of it :grinhappy: I love it.

I do think perhaps it wasn't the metal at all. I have no idea what happened but I'm glad it went away! :sweatdrop:

[Ursula]

You might also take it to a good metalworking jeweler, and see if you can get the parts that irritate you plated in sterling silver or gold. That would be a more long-term solution, although it may wear and need to be redone over time.

[kimberlily]

I'm glad you're not reacting to it anymore. It could have been hormonal too - I can usually wear any kind of metal jewelry except those with lots of nickel, but when I've been pregnant or nursing, the only thing I can wear is gold.

[summer-time]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/wonderlywroughte/torcy.jpg

Here's a pic of it :grinhappy: I love it.

I do think perhaps it wasn't the metal at all. I have no idea what happened but I'm glad it went away! :sweatdrop:



Your choker is awesome :grinhappy: I'm glad everything is alright now :)

[SunCat]

Nickel is what people are allergic to it causes a red itchy rash. Nickle is found in most all metals unless they are 100% pure. Nickle is in silver, sterling silver (unless it says it is nickle free some lines are) and gold (unless the gold line says it is nickle free). My guess is the choker you purchased from them is a base metal and plated with brass. Unless it is 100% brass it probably also has nickle in it. Most companies just plate base metal with brass and call it brass.

[jennysdreaming]

I used to be able to wear any type of jewelry until I got my ears pierced the third time. Then I developed a nickel allergy but it seemed to be confined to my earlobes and I could only wear surgical steel or gold. Fast forward about 5 years and I have a mother's ring that looks somewhat like 3 bands stacked so there is a large portion in contact with the top of my finger. Suddenly I started developing the same red bumpy itchy rash that I used to get on my ears only the ring was gold so I was confused. I would stop wearing it so it would clear up and then I could wear it again for a few months and then it would come back. For a long while I thought it was caused by soaps or lotions that would get stuck up under the top part of the ring since I would be ok for a few months at a time. I finally thought about the nickel allergy and took it to my jeweler and talked to them and it turns out all gold is tempered with nickel. Pure gold is apparently so soft you could mold it with the heat of your hands! Anyway it's the karet weight of the gold that matters. The higher the karet weight the more pure gold and less of other metals like nickel. My ring was only 10k. Their suggested solution was to plate the back of the ring with rhodium. (Sorry if I spelled that wrong) It's an inexpensive nickel free metal that looks just like the gold. This did the trick and I haven't had a rash in the year since it was done.

Anyway to make an already long story to the point, I'm glad your rash seems to have cleared up for now but if it should reoccur this may be something you could look into. My ring was plated for free since I had a maintanance warrenty but they said otherwise it would only have been about $30 USD.

[Hairstorm]

Aren't allergies weird? I'm glad you can wear it now. It looks cool! 8)

[Delenn]

Since CC handcrafts their items it could've been some leftover chemicals from the polishing/finishing process. Give the thing a good scrubbing with toothpaste and a soft brush. (Which by the way is excellent for polishing bronze/brass/silver)

But if the bumps come back I echo the clear nailpolish suggestions. You really can't tell it's there once it dries and you don't have to apply it really thick. I have to do it with the majority of my jewelry, even the backs of my wrist watches (which are SS and supposedly hypo allergenic) cause me to break out.