White Gold Allergy in Earrings

[sevens one]

I can wear white gold rings no problem but the earrings irritate my ears.

Is there any way to treat white gold studs so that they won''t irritate?
Thanks

 

[pqcollectibles]

This is so frustrating, Nan. My daughter had the same problem with gold earrings, but WG were the worst. She''d put them in and immediately her ears would itch. We looked for "hypo-allergenic" earrings and I also got her some "plastic" slip on backs to help. They looked like plastic but they coulda been some wonder, space-age material. Wal-Mart carries them in packages of a dozen, I think. Haven''t had to buy them in a while, tho. Daughter outgrew her problem I guess. Her ears have been fine for the last couple of years now.

Have you thought about rhodium plating the the studs and see that helps??!!

Maybe look for nickel free gold for future purchases. If I remember correctly, nickel is the worst offender, especially in WG, and causes the most problems.

 

[LesleyH]

Hi sevens one:

My daughter has the same problem with WG - PLUS she loves to wear all the new hanging costume jewelry earrings. She always puts neosporin on the post prior to putting the earrings on and it seems to work every time

LesleyH
www.whiteflash.com

 

[pqcollectibles]

Date: 2/22/2005 1:18:46 AM
Author: LesleyH
Hi sevens one:

My daughter has the same problem with WG - PLUS she loves to wear all the new hanging costume jewelry earrings. She always puts neosporin on the post prior to putting the earrings on and it seems to work every time

LesleyH
www.whiteflash.com

Well, Duh

Lesley,............ I didn''t even think to suggest cortizone cream. We''d put some on my daughter''s ears and the post of the earring before she put them in. That helped with the itching and irritation.

 

[sevens one]

Thanks PQ and Lesley. My friend was just telling me about the neosporin trick.

I have yellow gold studs now but I want to change over to white metals. (I''m too cheap to pay for platinum studs!

)

 

[sevens one]

Thanks Dave!

 

[JCJD]

WARNING! What you are about to read is icky and gross!!


Be really really careful about this sevens!! After I got my piercings healed for the first time in 4th grade, I put in some wg earrings of my mom's to wear to school. By the end of the school day, my ears were swollen, red, itchy, oozing pus (sorry for the visual guys), and my mom had to use needle-nosed pliers to get the back off the earring and the earring out of my ear. I had to let the piercings close up and re-pierce in 6th grade! And that was when I knew I was allergic to nickel.

So if your ears start itching or feeling hot or anything, take them out immediately!!!!! And make sure your jeweler can guarantee that the wg is nickel-free. I hear you on the cost of plat for earrings! I don't care if it yellows on me, it's in my ear - you won't see it!

 

[Gale]

I have this problem too, even with shepherd''s style hooks (no backs). All of my earrings are now rhodium plated, and now I don''t experience irritation. Replating has to occur every once in a while (2-3 years) with the earrings I wear the most, but that''s fine by me.

 

[sevens one]

So where do I get the rhodium plating done?


Oh and I think You should change your name to
Not So Cranky Dave !

 

[Paul-Antwerp]

Can I enter into this ''girlie'' subject? It is definitely not my specialty, but I have heard the following story about the cause of allergy to gold.

Apparently, when your ears are pierced, at least here in Europe, you first have to wear non-gold earrings.

Those, who immediately start wearing gold on this fresh ''wound'' have a great chance of developing an allergy to gold. Does anyone know whether this is correct?

Live long,

 

[sevens one]

you don''t fool me.

 

[pqcollectibles]

Date: 2/22/2005 11:31:33 AM
Author: Paul-Antwerp
Can I enter into this ''girlie'' subject? It is definitely not my specialty, but I have heard the following story about the cause of allergy to gold.

Apparently, when your ears are pierced, at least here in Europe, you first have to wear non-gold earrings.

Those, who immediately start wearing gold on this fresh ''wound'' have a great chance of developing an allergy to gold. Does anyone know whether this is correct?

Live long,

I don''t know, Paul. I think ears are pieced with "surgical steel" studs here in the US. I know my sister didn''t go to gold right away. Too expensive back in the day for teens then. And I don''t recall my daughter having a gold pair of earrings right away either. Both my daughter and my sister had problems with the allergic reaction when they finally did wear gold earrings. My daughter''s ears would get irritated and oozie but my sister had much the same problem JCJD discribed. My daughter did fine as long as we stuck with hypo-allergenic earrings. She could wear gold for short periods of time without problems as long as we prepped for it. Eventually, my daughter got to the point she could wear gold earrings so I''m thinking she grew out of her sensitivity (or developed a tolerance maybe). My sister was never able to wear gold earrings. Since most of the classier earrings are gold, Sis eventually gave up and let her "holes" close over. As a mature woman, she didn''t feel comfortable wearing girlie earrings anymore. I think different people have different responses and have to deal with their own situation in the way that works best for them.

 

[tomatoe]

I think this is purely a problem in the States cos of the tendency to use nickel? In Singapore, at least, we wear gold earrings because we have allergies to other types of metal, it does not give us allergic reactions!!! Best of luck 7s1!

 

[dobie]

Date: 2/22/2005 11:31:33 AM
Author: Paul-Antwerp
Can I enter into this ''girlie'' subject? It is definitely not my specialty, but I have heard the following story about the cause of allergy to gold.

Apparently, when your ears are pierced, at least here in Europe, you first have to wear non-gold earrings.

Those, who immediately start wearing gold on this fresh ''wound'' have a great chance of developing an allergy to gold. Does anyone know whether this is correct?

Live long,

Girlie subject? I''d my ear pierced about 15 years ago while I was visiting friends in London. At that time, it was done with a gold plated stud. I recall I had to keep it on for the first couple of weeks. I never heard of allergy to white gold before finding PS. Lucky for me I don''t have any problems with yellow or white gold. And I wear stud or small loop earring 24/7 for months at a time.

 

[JCJD]

I had my ears pierced with surg steel that first time I believe, or at least hypoallergenic studs, and actually they''d been healed for quite a while when I tried Mom''s earrings. FI got me some 24kt gold earrings a couple birthdays ago, and I got a reaction to those too - not nearly so spectacular though, just a little oozing. I can get away with the hypoallergenic earrings now (also wear them 24/7 like dobie), but my sis, one bro, and mom have nickel and metal allergies so bad they can''t wear a watch unless it''s all plastic! My sis and bro get eczema rashes from the metal rivets on their jeans even! So Paul - my reaction seems to be genetic, not from wearing gold on a fresh wound... don''t know about others of course. Also, the jeweler where FI got my ering told us that they''re finding that nickel (common alloy in wg that causes these allergic reactions) not so much causes allergies, but it''s actually toxic! Europe has already discovered this and has (I think completely!) moved away from using nickel in jewelry, but the US didn''t believe it and is discovering it on its own (cute, huh?). So our jeweler now has guaranteed nickel-free wg from their supplier.

So back to sevens one''s question! I have heard of the plastic post covers, but have never really searched for them. My sis paints clear nail polish on her jeans rivets sometimes, but I''m not sure this is a good idea for earring posts... Probably the best bet is to make sure the wg is absolutely guaranteed nickel-free by both your jeweler and their supplier, and get them rhodium plated too. What about sterling silver??

 

[sevens one]

They don''t offer the silver.

Btw- Thanks for all the visuals ! Haaaaaaa

 

[JCJD]

No Problem!!!

 

[dobie]

Is this WG allergy common? I''ve never really noticed WG in earrings in the past. I''m not sure if my GF has problems with WG or not. Glad I went with platinum for the studs I gave her. When I was getting them made, I did drop by the mall jewellers to check out their studs and they told me either that studs don''t come in platinum or it was a waste of money.

 

[ame]

I am only able to wear Platinum and Stainless Steel ("freak" piercing jewelry) or I react something fierce, neosporin, cortisone, not a single thing has worked other than those two metals. I tried some rhodium plated studs at one point and it didn''t really help, I still itched though they weren''t nearly as inflamed as usual. Just not quite enough.

I hope you find something that works for you. Im allergic to like..everything..so I can relate to this.

 

[chantal990]

In Australia I tink all piercings are done with stainless steel. When I got my belly ring I was told that silver was the main thing people have allergies to an most people are ok with gold. But the guy did mention it was mostly due to what''s alloyed with sterling silver also there''s a lot of market stall kinds of places that sell cheap silver jewellery and he warned me away from buying belly rings froom there as once again it could be alloyed with things that are likely to produce an allergic reaction.

 

[JCJD]

Date: 2/22/2005 5:48:48 PM
Author: Emeraldgirl
In Australia I tink all piercings are done with stainless steel. When I got my belly ring I was told that silver was the main thing people have allergies to an most people are ok with gold. But the guy did mention it was mostly due to what''s alloyed with sterling silver also there''s a lot of market stall kinds of places that sell cheap silver jewellery and he warned me away from buying belly rings froom there as once again it could be alloyed with things that are likely to produce an allergic reaction.

Interestingly, my sister, the one who can''t have the metal rivets in her jeans touch her skin, the one who can''t wear metal watches, the one who can''t wear earrings or necklaces, the one who can''t wear metal ANYTHING, has both her tongue and her belly button pierced, and has had zero trouble with them! Each piercing she makes sure the jewelry is guaranteed surgical-grade surgical steel. So that''s another option! The stuff they use to pin bones in place!

Do they make titanium earrings??? I would think this would be incredibly labor intensive and not worthwhile, but I''m not a jeweler.

 

[Munchkin]

JCJD (I think!) You mentioned that you sister can not let any metal touch her skin. Chances are VERY strong that she is actually allergic nickel. (It is used in tons of decorative metal items presumably because it is cheap. The reactions can be fierce. To the best of my knowledge, stainless steel does not contain nickel, hence it is safe to use in medical procedures.

Someone above commented on a gold allergy being due to having the piercing done with gold. While the vast majority of "gold allergies" are allergies to white gold due in actuality to nickel, some people are allergic to gold in general. Most people are inherently allergic. However, it is possible that what you wrote could be true. I have never heard of that specific allergy developing because of early exposure, but there are a bunch of current studies in a similar field. It is now thought that many food allergies exist becuase of too early introduction of the offender. Specifically, people think that many peanut, egg and dairy allerigies are due to introducing the offender into a child''s system. Thus, the body recognizes the food as something bad and mounts a response every time it is reintroduced. (Does that make sense?)

That (among other things...like risk of anemia with cow''s milk) are why it is not recommended to give any child under the age of three any kind of nut, no cow''s milk before one year and no eggs before (oh shoot, I''m blanking) at least a year, but the current recommendation may be two...I''m not sure.
So, after babbling

I would not count that out as a possibility. But, regardless, some people will still be allergic.

To the first poster, I actually have the same problem. I am definitely "sensitive" but not allergic. I think my ears are more likely to give me a problem because there is a lot of friction going on in a piercing hole when wearing jewelry. So, I am sure that there are a bunch of tiny cuts, scratches/abrashions that I can''t see which are an open place for a potentially irritating metal to do its dirty work. Neosporin always helps. I actually have a tube just for my earrings. I push a little just up to the opening, and push the post itself into the tube opening. It works like a charm. (That and frequent cleaning of earrings and my ear piercings!)
Good luck!
Munchkin

 

[chantal990]

Do they make titanium earrings??? I would think this would be incredibly labor intensive and not worthwhile, but I''m not a jeweler.

They do over here but you''re basically stuck with what you can get at a tattoo place I think. I haven''t seen anything anywhere else that I can think of.

Try this site. They seem to have quite a few nice pieces. http://store.yahoo.com/titanium-rings/tiea.html

 

[Momoftwo]

My ears, and my sisters, were pierced at 14 in a Dr''s office (only place my dad would allow it) with 24kt studs. I still have them. I can wear any earrings I want and so can she. I used to joke I could wear 99 cent dime store earrings, and I could. 24kt is more pure than 14kt. My mom had her ears pierced at age 40 in a jewelry store with 14kt studs and developed a nickel allergy. There is nickel mixed in with the lower kt gold. Apparently, that''s the leading cause of nickel allergies since it comes into contact with the new wound where the piercing is as it heals. I''ve never met anyone with an allergy to gold, but quite a few with allergies to nickel. My dad jokes my mom developed the allergy so he''d have to buy her only gold. She can''t even wear a watch unless it''s gold. Another way to deal with it is to paint the posts with clear fingernail polish on a regular basis to coat them so they don''t actually come into contact with the ear. You can also coat the back of a watch if that''s a problem.

 

[TLS]

that is an interesting idea about the nail polish. I am expecting a white gold ring soon and paranoid about allergies...If i have any problems maybe i will try coating the inside of the ring with clear polish. I am assuming the rhodium is going to have the same effect and keep the nickel from coming in contact with my skin.

 

[luckyhonu]

When I first got my ears pierced at 12, I developed an allergy to my earrnigs. I ended up wearing Chinese gold which didn''t give me a reaction, but somehow in high school I was able to wear trendy earrings as long as I put clear nail polish on them. Over the years I haven''t had any problems as long as my earrings are gold, but in the past 6 months I''ve developed an allegy again...I try to rest my ears and wear my platinum hoops and that still irritates me so I might just stop wearing earrings altogether for a few months.