Ok this is going to sound odd but I am only posting a thread about this b/c my husband suggested that I should.
My ring finger on my left hand has had some kind of alergic reaction to my wedding ring. I've been married for 6 years and have had the same ring the entire time, it is 14k white gold. This reaction has only showed up in the last month or so. If I wear my ring the skin underneath turns red at first and if I don't take it off within that first day it will flake and start to peel. I have cleaned my ring since this started with the same cleaner that I have always used so I don't think there is any kind of weird bacteria on it. I don't wear any other jewelry though so I'm not sure if my body is rejecting metal lol. Oh and I'm not preggers so its not because of hormones or anything like that. The "rash" clears up in about a week if I leave my ring off but returns within one day of putting it back on. I really miss wearing my wedding ring so I'm hoping someone has some kind of advice that does not start with "go to the doctor"
Thanks all for your responses and comments ahead of time.
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So there you go. Allergies can develop over time. See if you cant get a coating for the inside of the ring. If you're particularly budget conscious, you could probably just cover the inside with nail varnish or something.
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You may also want to consider getting it checked by a professional to see whether it's possible it may have nickel in it if that's possible.
Edit: Apparently it's very possible that it may have nickel in it if the posters above are to be believed. That's a pretty common allergen in a lot of silver colored metal jewelry.
1. Residual cleaner on your ring is causing a reaction. (Jewelry Cleaners are really really really really REALLY caustic)
2. You are having an allergic reaction to a substance on the ring.
3. Your ring is too tight and causing a reaction.
4. Your ring is not fitted properly and is causing localized chafing.
Jewelers can sometimes re-plate the ring depending on its design, or you can look at something with less allergens like a higher carat white gold or platinum.
Yeah, this is what I was talking about. Some brief research (read: wikipedia) says this is indeed legit.
Also - rings that are worn all the time capture everything you touch and hold it close to the skin. Try a good cleaning in one of those sonic cleaners. Every jeweler has one as a customer service. If you're just reacting to something like a cleaning product that got trapped against your skin, a clean ring and 2 days off from wearing it will do the trick.
My nickel allergy is really bad. Nickel is in everything, Zippers, rivets, belt buckles. Any rubbing creates a rash that can quickly develop into a weeping open wound. My ring is tungsten with an extremely low nickel %. I keep the skin under my ring dry and apply some hydrocortisone cream every night. This keeps it in pretty good shape.
I will have to try the clear nail polish some time.
Just to be clear, most people have absolutely no problem with nickel. And there is enough nickel to be found in regular gold to produce allergic reactions as well.
The next time I wear through the plating on my ring I am probably going to get a titanium band.
mens styles are more common in titanium or tungsten, but there are a lot of womens' rings as well.
I had the same problem with my glasses, the rash/flaking/peeling being on the bridge of my nose. It was nickel in the frames.