Allergic reaction to gold rings

A. Hope it helps and good luck!

A. Your dermatologist can help you by determining whether this is a yeast infection or a nickel allergy, or what. They have a simple test to see if you are allergic to nickel, and it certainly could be that you now are allergic but weren't formerly. This is an acquired allergy, but one that you'll have for life if that's what it is.

You can also check your jewelry for the presence of nickel with a Nickel spot-test kit, available on-line.

While I'm confident that your ring is gold, remember that 14k gold is 10/24ths something else. And in most cases in the USA today, with white gold that 'something else' is usually nickel.

A. Although the ring is gold, we're talking about nickel. 14K gold is 10/24ths something else. That something else can be the well known allergen nickel, or it can be a different "whitening" metal like palladium.

I'm not saying it's a sure thing, but your ring may be 10/24ths nickel while all your other white gold jewelry is 10/24ths palladium. The area under your ring, which fits reasonably tightly, may sweat (conductive salt water in the pores of the ring) a lot more than your neck, bringing about far more contact with nickel. The posts on your white gold earrings are probably surgical steel rather than white gold. It may be a little bit of everything: more sweat there, a growing allergy to nickel, higher nickel content in the ring.

Again, your dermatologist can be more definitive, but nickel allergy is a very common problem, and growing (it's estimated that 40 percent of women under 30 have it); and newly acquired nickel allergies are a commonplace too. Paint the inside of your ring with clear nail polish as a temporary measure to see what effect this has on your reaction.

Still, it is not necessarily a nickel allergy or metal allergy of any sort. Many women have responded effusively to thread 33777 , which suggests boiling your ring in vinegar [in bulk on eBay or Amazon] and hydrogen peroxide 3%) [affil links] -- it's worth a try! Good luck.

A. Ted is right. The only pure gold is 24 karat - anything less contains other metals such as nickel and copper. Pure gold is very soft and these metals are added to improve its hardness and wear resistance. If you have a pure gold ring, it will soon wear away, just by natural abrasion against your skin. To prolong the life of gold jewelry, jewelers use lower karat (or purity) gold alloys. Unfortunately some alloying metals such as nickel can cause skin dermatitis resulting in an allergic response to the metal. In the case of nickel, it is also known as "nickel itch". I suspect you suffer from this medical complaint, but be assured, you are not alone! It is reckoned that as many as 15% of females suffer from this complaint. Until the 1970's nickel dermatitis was reckoned to be a "female disease", but that was only because nickel was used in the clasps of bras and suspender belts and men didn't usually wear jewelry (or bras and suspender belts!); since then there has been an increasing trend for men to wear jewelry and the number of men getting dermatitis is increasing. The downside is that once you have become sensitive to metals like nickel, there is nothing you can do to overcome the problem, you just have to live with it and avoid nickel contact. You may be able to use barrier protection, but this is variable in its levels of success. The only thing you can do to avoid "nickel itch" is to insist on nickel-free jewelry (I'm sure no lady would find that a problem!). I know of some dermatologists who insist that people can become sensitized to gold, but their claims are based only on low karat alloys and they have conveniently forgotten that these alloys contain sensitizing metals. You would not have this problem if you lived in Europe because it is illegal to sell jewelry that contains nickel in levels sufficient to cause nickel itch. This legislation initially played havoc with the cheap jewelry industry, but it was soon overcome by the jewelry manufacturers and now both the industry and consumers are much happier and less itchy!.

A. Hello,
The EXACT same thing has happened to me, after wearing my white gold engagement ring for 1 1/2 years, I just recently got burn-like marks that itch and hurt.

The one thing I noticed is that this started happening after I brought it into the jewellery store to have it repaired and cleaned.

Q. Is it possible that they cleaned the ring with some sort of a chemical, or have removed something from the ring to give me these reactions? I am not familiar with cleaning procedures used on jewellery, or if they even use chemicals. If this is not a possibility, I will see a dermatologist to determine what my allergy is.

Thank you so much for the question (as I thought it was only me with this problem) and the great answers that were posted. I really appreciate your time!

A. Heather S- It is quite possible to have an allergic reaction somewhere other than where the gold is. The residual amounts of gold left on your fingers mix with the moisture on them. If you then touch your eyelids or somewhere else the mixture will transfer and cause a reaction. I am allergic to both nickel and gold (found out today in fact). I never noticed the problem with gold because I would not get a reaction where I wore my gold jewelry, or it was seldom enough that I attributed it to something else. I suspected I was allergic to nickel, however, because every time I wore a cheap ring I would have extreme reaction on my ring finger and the surrounding fingers. Turns out, my family discovered a long time ago that I was allergic to nickel (it's in my medical file), but because I "have so many allergies" they forgot.

Both my mom & sis are allergic to nickel and they use clear nail polish to create a barrier to protect themselves. This should work with gold or other metals as well.

A. To Christopher W - my hand aches from my ring, too.
I have a white gold engagement ring that I am constantly having to take off. After wearing it for a while my ring finger will begin to ache. Eventually the ache seems to spread to the entire hand. I have to switch hands, but after a while the other hand experiences the same problem. I take it off to sleep, so that my hands can get a rest. I haven't been able to find any answers as to why this happens. I'm glad I'm not alone.

A. Have your white gold ring dipped in Rhodium by a jeweler. It's a hard metal and will whiten up your ring and you will not have sensitivity to it any longer. It will last about 6 months on average. I had the exact symptoms two years after wearing my wedding bands and I did always have my rings treated every six months while being cleaned. Then I moved away from my local jeweler and stopped getting them dipped...this is when my reaction began so it was easy for me to conclude what had been protecting my skin previously. It only costs about $25 to be coated.

A. My husband and I have been married for almost 3 years. We re-rhodiumed the ring during cleaning for the first two years but have not gotten the ring re-rhodiumed since last July. Just this month, I have started having a reaction on my ring finger. It is red and itchy with little bumps. I suspect that as soon as we get it re-rhodiumed I will not have this problem any longer. It also makes your ring look like new....just FYI.
Good luck everyone! I'll let you know if it works!

Just a follow up to my comment above. I had my rings re-dipped in rhodium. The jeweler insisted this would not fix the problem but he was so wrong. Ever since I got my rings back I have been able to wear them without any trouble. I have not had any reaction. The rhodium obviously helps. I know it won't last forever and definitely plan on having it done again as soon as it wears off. I definitely recommend it and thank you to Shelly for the heads up!

A. Hi, Cynthia. Even before trying the rhodium dipping I would suggest you consider boiling in peroxide & vinegar described in letter 33777. Many women have reported startling success and it costs almost nothing. Good luck!

Regards,

A. This has happened to me as well, and it wasn't due to a metal allergy, but a buildup of soap and moisture (possibly leading to some bacterial/fungal infection). I'll have no problems with my ring, until one day I find the skin under the ring is red, swollen, and flaky. When the rash was very bad, I would also develop small blisters as well. The rash is painfully itchy, so much that it can wake me up in the middle of the night and makes me want to tear off my ring immediately.

When this happens, I take my ring off and the rash usually goes away very quickly. By the next day, it doesn't itch as much, by day 2 or 3, most of the redness and flakiness has gone away. After a week, the skin looks normal again. Even if the rash is completely gone, DO NOT put your ring back on. Wait at least 2 weeks to ensure every last trace of the rash/infection is gone. Before putting your ring on, make sure you disinfect it. I soak the ring in a mixture of 1 part Hydrogen Peroxide and 2 parts plain white vinegar. Let it soak for at least 15 minutes, and then boil the ring in plain water for another 15 minutes. I usually string up my ring and dangle it from a wooden spoon so that it won't touch the bottom of the pot and get too hot.

Now, the ring is disinfected AND clean. (The diamonds are so sparkly again!) I recommend doing this step every month, to avoid having the rash come back. I got lazy and my rash came back after 7 months.

Here are some conditions that make it likely to be a soap/bacterial/fungal rash and not a metal allergy:

Ring is platinum (though even some platinum can contain alloys that cause allergies, this is much more common in white gold. This infection can easily happen with any type of ring, but allergies are less common with platinum ones.)
Ring fits snugly (I did not have an issue until I got my ring resized to be smaller after almost losing it.)
Stones use a channel, or low-profile, setting. (The holes on the underside of the ring can trap moisture)
Rash occurs on the right side of the finger (towards the middle finger, or on the left side if the ring is one the right hand). This is probably because it's easier to trap moisture on the higher side of the ring.
You don't take off your ring when washing hands, showering, cleaning dishes, exercising, etc.
It seems that many people also start experiencing this issue when pregnant or shortly after giving birth. That didn't apply to me, but I wonder if people start washing their hands much more often after having a baby (all those diaper changes!) or if bloating is making their rings fit more tightly. I wonder also if pregnancy causes the body to react more strongly to potential irritants. No idea, this is just a theory on my part.

Good luck! Try the vinegar/peroxide solution. It worked for me.

A. Hi Frank. Some white gold is palladium based instead of nickel based. Try a "nickel-free" supplier like nonickel.com, or buy them when traveling in Europe where leachable nickel is not allowed in jewelry.

I am not an earring expert, but I think the posts of most gold earrings are surgical stainless steel rather than gold.

Regards,

I just want to say thank you to everyone for posting about this "mystery rash" and for posting helpful hints on how to take care of it!! The vinegar/peroxide soak and then boil in water seems to have worked!!

Just a background, I have been wearing my wedding band set for three years without any problems. The band and engagement ring are both 14k yellow gold and have been soldered together by my jeweler. The engagement band has to diamonds set on either side of an oval ruby.

Anyway, I do take my ring in for cleanings maybe two times a year, but I also clean it at home with a sudsy ammonia/water mixture and a toothbrush. In the past 8 months, suddenly I started having a rash appear on my ring finger on the side closest to my middle finger all the way up to the area behind where the ruby sits, but NOT ALL THE WAY AROUND my finger. My finger begins to itchy really, really bad, but just in that area. It turns fire red and gets little tiny water blisters and I have to keep my ring off. After a few days, the rash gets very scaly and sometimes my skin peels. Once the rash would go away, I would try wearing my ring again but within about an hour or two of putting the ring back on, the rash would appear.

At first I thought that I might be having an allergic reaction to the antibacterial soap used at work. I thought maybe that it was getting trapped under by ring and maybe it was causing my skin to burn. Especially because on the inside of my engagement band, there are a couple small holes, and I figured that the little blisters were right wear the holes in the ring are.

I brought my own soap to work that does not contain triclosan and I would wash my hands without the ring on. Nope, that did not stop it. I read on-line that athlete's foot cream would help--which it did...I used it for ten days/twice daily without wearing my ring. The rash did go away, but within an hour or two of putting on my ring, the rash appeared.

My jeweler told me that it was more than likely a nickel allergy. However, I had a hard time believing this, because I wear costume jewelry on a daily basis (I am a receptionist) and I never, ever, ever itch, have gotten a rash, or anything from any of that jewelry. The lady told me that my only option would be getting a new ring in platinum...well, I don't want a new ring. I like MY ring and I like the yellow gold as I think it goes well with the ruby. Plus, honestly, I can't AFFORD a new platinum ring right now!!!

I came home on Friday, searched the internet, and this site came up. When I started reading that this same rash was happening with so many who are wearing platinum rings, I knew a knew ring was not the answer. My husband was worried about me boiling the ring, but at the jeweler they use a steam cleaner [on eBay or Amazon] and I am sure that is much hotter than boiling water!

I soaked my ring for 15 minutes in a 2 to 1 solution of white vinegar and hydrogen peroxide. Then I boiled the ring in water for 15 minutes. I suspended the ring on a string tied to a spoon. Then I just gently scrubbed it off with a soft toothbrush.

I was so worried about putting the ring back on. I didn't want to break out in the painful rash again. It used to itch SO bad. I have been wearing my ring since Friday (took it off to shower, wash hands, sleep) and it's now Tuesday and there is NO rash.

Now, I don't think that this will work for every single person that gets a rash from their ring--some people are having nickel allergies...however, this does lead me to believe that this strange rash that appears on the ring finger, only towards the middle finger side, with tiny water blisters (which there are TONS of messages on the internet about!) is caused by a fungus or bacteria. I don't know if it's the vinegar/peroxide soak, the boiling, or the combination of both that fix the problem. But, I am not taking any chances. I think I may try doing this once a month just to keep the ring clean and the rash at bay. My fingers are crossed and I am SO glad I can wear my ring again. It's a daily reminder of the sacrament of marriage that I promised, and, the ring is too dang expensive NOT to be able to wear!!

I sure hope this helps anyone else with this problem.

Just wanted to post an update...it's been well over a week since I used the vinegar/peroxide solution to soak my ring and then followed it up by boiling my ring for 15 minutes in water... No signs of the rash at ALL!

Before, I would wear my ring for an hour or two and the rash would start.

So, again, thanks for the suggestion whoever posted it first!

A. What you might be experiencing is not actually any kind of allergic reaction to metal, but in fact an allergic reaction to what is trapped in your ring. Is your ring hollow in any part on the inside of the shank? If so, what might be happening is that you have lotion, body soil, soap, etc. getting caught inside your ring and building up, to the point of actually damaging the skin it touches. I read that many of you would take off your ring and it would clear up in a few days, but then would put the ring back on and it would return. I would recommend either taking your jewelry to a jeweler to clean, or do it yourself with some Windex Commercial Line [on eBay or Amazon] and a toothbrush, really getting in to any nooks and crannies to clean out the junk that has built up. This is a very common thing that my husband and I see in the jewelry business. While allergies to nickel are also quite common, a lot of times an allergy to a metal is mistaken for this problem. The best solution to prevent this is to either invest in a solid banded ring, to prevent this problem, or be very, VERY diligent in removing your ring(s) to clean, bath, apply lotion, etc. And to also keep your ring clean as part of that regimen. Good luck to all.

Thank you everyone who has contributed to this discussion.
It is the middle of summer in Australia and my rash has returned.
Up till now I have tried to ignore the red itching on my ring finger but I am tired of it.
Because we are having a beach holiday I thought it might be the salt water as it happened last year at the same time but all your responses have given me an incentive to act.
I will buy some peroxide tomorrow and follow your instructions.
Failing that I'll try dipping it in Rhodium.
I feel so much more positive as I had thought I might need to stop wearing my rings that I have had for over 10 years.

A. Hi, Amberlee. It is possible to get jewelry with no nickel in it. In fact, nickel is not allowed in jewelry in Europe and much of the world. It is also possible to get 24 kt pure gold, although it's very soft and may not work for filigrees, engravings, and mountings. Maybe a ring with a 24 kt shank or inlay on the shank would do.

Regards,

A. MY RING DID THE SAME THING AFTER WEARING IT FOR 2 1/2 YEARS ... IT IS A SOLID BAND WITH DIAMONDS ... SO I AM GOING TO TRY THE vinegar SOLUTION.

A. Hi Susan. What will your auto mechanic do for you for $25? Or your plumber? Businesses have to charge for their time and I doubt that a good job can be found for $25 :-(

Regards,

Hi Kathleen, sorry for your loss. 48 years!

Regards,

A. Hello, I don't have an answer of why the problem of itching only occurs on your left finger and not your right. You could have the ring plated in rhodium to solve the issue. Apparently the deep recess in the ring is causing the problem. It will probably be less expensive to have it plated than filled with a precious metal. Good Luck.

A. Hi Tala, sorry for your troubles. I doubt that rhodium plating will protect you from the nickel allergy because it is but millionths of an inch thick, and not pore-free. Nickel-free white gold (any white gold from Europe) should be fine; unfortunately, the USA allows nickel in jewelry despite the well-known and widespread problem of nickel allergy.

I am not asserting that nickel caused the infection though; that's a question for your doctor or dermatoogist. Good luck.

Regards,

This is a real interesting post! And informative as well. I know I am years late after this post started, but just wanted to say it's still relevant in 2020! I also might have a nickel allergy, and after reading this, I am gonna ask my dermatologist about it. I seem to have the scaly skin, sometimes, but not always, with a few rings on my finger - and actually different rings. Most are the 14K white gold, and another is 10K white gold. Never really knew what this was. Thanks to all for your info and suggestions!