Avoid Jewelry Rash: Tips to Overcome Jewelry Allergy & Rashes

What happens when our favorite piece of jewelry betrays us? To complete an outfit, we select our favorite jewelry. To celebrate our special day, we put on our famous ring. And we wear our favorite bracelet because it reminds us of a sentimental moment. Jewelry is a big part of our lives, so what happens when putting on jewelry causes a red, itchy rash? Unfortunately, if your jewelry causes inflammation or any redness, this indicates that you have a jewelry allergy. What causes these irritating rashes? What are some of the jewelry pieces that should be avoided to know how to prevent an allergic reaction? What are the tips to avoid getting perpetual jewelry itch? Here's what's going on with your body and what you can do about it. 

Jewelry allergies occur when you are allergic to one or more metals found in jewelry that come into contact with your skin. Piercings exacerbate this allergic reaction, and the response is more robust because the metal passes through the skin rather than just lying on top. Another leading cause is the nickel component; the higher the nickel content, the bigger the reaction to those sensitive to it. When the jewelry makes contact with the skin, it causes irritation and hives that can ultimately result in itchiness and swelling.

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3 Things You Should Do If You Have a Jewelry Allergy

Do you have to quit wearing jewelry altogether if you have an allergic reaction? First, if your skin has become increasingly sensitive to a piece of jewelry, immediately remove and take off the jewelry. If a part of the jewelry triggers a reaction, take it off for a while. Next, make good use of steroid creams such as cortisone cream or any other anti-inflammatory steroid cream for the rash to accelerate healing. Finally, you can wear the jewelry again after the rash has healed to see if it triggers another inflammation. If it does, you'll know you're allergic to one of the metals in the jewelry, and you must avoid this particular metal altogether. 

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Keep the area where you will put the jewelry nice and dry to prevent rashing out. For example, bracelets tend to cause itchiness to the skin once the wrists aren't completely dry. Bacteria start to settle, the odor will start to emerge, and skin itchiness will promptly follow. To prevent rashes, wipe any remaining water from your wrist. If you are engaged in physical activity, remove your jewelry pieces, so the sweat and metals won't negatively react against each other.

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Choose Jewelry That Won't Cause a Rash 

Often, the leading cause when it comes to jewelry rash is cheap jewelry. Costume jewelry may be affordable and helpful fashion-wise, but you can be susceptible to jewelry irritation if you frequently use them. The presence of the metal nickel in fake jewelry pieces is usually much higher than in other jewelry, causing allergic flair-ups. In most cases, affordable jewelry has a coating that prevents the nickel from irritating the skin, but this coating can sometimes wear off over time. Investing in expensive jewelry can be pretty hefty, but it can save you from the skin's annoying rash in the long run.

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Jewelry rash can be expected when you wear cheap costume jewelry. However, suppose you are wearing expensive jewelry and still have skin irritation due to the bling. In that case, there is a high probability that your jewel has come into contact with an irritant that causes hives to your skin. A simple thing to do is to bring the jewelry to a professional cleaner. Once the tainted jewelry has been cleaned, you should see a change in your skin's reaction to the trinket.

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We know that nickel is the main culprit when it comes to what's causing jewelry rashes. If you want to get rid of rashes, one great thing to do is invest in pieces with less nickel content. This could be the easiest solution, but it can be pretty expensive. For example, if you opt for a 10 or 14 karats gold accessory, there's a high chance of getting jewelry rash because of its high nickel content. To prevent this, you can opt for 18 or 24-karat gold jewelry so your exposure to nickel will be minimal. 

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To help assure you that you are getting jewelry of the purest quality, you can invest in metal testing kits. So, what exactly do these kits do? Jewelry pieces can all look the same, and it's sometimes hard for us to know which bling is authentic and which contains metals that can cause reactions. Metal testing kits include a solution that changes color once it comes into contact with a cheap, strengthening alloy like nickel.

The higher karat of the gold is, the alloy content is lower. The purest form of gold is 24 Karat. Anything lower than 14-karat gold is believed to have a much more critical and immense alloy content. The alloyed content can include metals such as copper, brass, or nickel. The same goes for silver pieces tagged as gold-plated. You should invest more than 18 karats to 24 karats of gold to save yourself from getting annoying jewelry rashes to be on the safe side. It may be more costly, but your skin will thank you later.

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If you've had severe breakouts and suspect your jewelry is to blame, hopefully, this blog has delivered some much-needed relief to you with some solutions. Jewelry allergies are unpleasant in more ways than one. Not only is our skin itchy, but we also have to give up some of our unique pieces or find a means to replace the metal. We know that's not pleasant, but neither is a rash.