I think I'm allergic to my wedding rings :(

[sjh722]

I got a red, raised, itchy spot on my ring finger a few weeks ago. I quit wearing them for awhile and it pretty well healed. (After peeling, yuck.)

It looked better, so I gave them another test run for a few hours yesterday and today and it's bright red and painful again. Google seems to find a lot of other people suddenly allergic to their rings after a long period of time.

Has anyone else had this? I'm wondering if getting them re-dipped would help.

[havarti]

They need to be cleaned. By a jeweler or yourself with a toothbrush and some mild soap.

[lilac05]

My fingers will go through phases of being irritated by my rings. Re-dipping might help. The biggest thing I notice is that it's better when I thoroughly dry my hands after washing them. I take off my ring and dry my finger (& usually the inside of my ring, too). It's a pain, but my fingers are much happier when I do.

[mrsGreeko]

I'm allergic to mine as well. Getting them redipped helps very temporarily for me. I'm pretty sure I have a nickle and possible gold allergy. My rings are white gold and white gold is alloyed with nickle usually and gold. I had a lot of trouble with earrings when I was a kid too and we never put 2 and 2 together that it was probably an allergy.

I just mostly don't wear mine. I have a steroid cream to help heal it if it gets bad as well. I want to eventually maybe get it reset in a rarer metal, but I will do metals allergy testing before I do that and it's more involved than regular allergy testing and I just haven't wanted to make the effort to get it done yet.

[Deleted]

Jul 27, 2015 23:15:30 GMT -5 lilac05 said:

My fingers will go through phases of being irritated by my rings. Re-dipping might help. The biggest thing I notice is that it's better when I thoroughly dry my hands after washing them. I take off my ring and dry my finger (& usually the inside of my ring, too). It's a pain, but my fingers are much happier when I do.

All of this. I find that mine are especially irritating when I'm stressed out. It's like an automatic that I will start getting an itchy ring finger. My grandma called it contact dermatitis.

[jln]

I've been dealing with this same thing. It's only my band, though. I thought it was because the band isn't flush on the inside and that maybe the ridges were irritating my skin. I can wear my anniversary ring just fine on that finger, but the band is flush. But I'll try to clean it and see if that helps.

[Deleted]

Jul 27, 2015 23:18:16 GMT -5 @idaholakelady said:

Jul 27, 2015 23:15:30 GMT -5 lilac05 said:

My fingers will go through phases of being irritated by my rings. Re-dipping might help. The biggest thing I notice is that it's better when I thoroughly dry my hands after washing them. I take off my ring and dry my finger (& usually the inside of my ring, too). It's a pain, but my fingers are much happier when I do.

All of this. I find that mine are especially irritating when I'm stressed out. It's like an automatic that I will start getting an itchy ring finger. My grandma called it contact dermatitis.

Same to all of this.

It sucks. I just realized a few weeks ago that I need to get my diamond stud redipped - my ears kept getting infected. I finally realized it wasn't an infection but my nickel allergy.

[kate1482]

This happened to my boss. Ended up being handsanitizer she used daily that was on the counter at daycare. She didn't realize it was getting trapped under her ring and the skin was getting flaky/red.

[elleblue]

Jul 27, 2015 23:36:50 GMT -5 jln said:

I've been dealing with this same thing. It's only my band, though. I thought it was because the band isn't flush on the inside and that maybe the ridges were irritating my skin. I can wear my anniversary ring just fine on that finger, but the band is flush. But I'll try to clean it and see if that helps.

I had a similar issue until I realized that I was getting soap and water from washing my hands trapped underneath my ring which was causing the rash. A good cleaning and being careful to dry under my band has kept it from happening again. 

[swimmette]

Yes, turns out I have a nickle allergy. I re-dip (white gold) every few months and it helps tremendously.

[carolinagirl831]

I get an exema spot under my rings if soap gets caught under them from washing my hands alot. Leave them off a few days and use a cortisone cream on it

[Deleted]

Dup

[Deleted]

Mine did that the other day but I'm pretty sure it was because of a cleaning product I used without gloves and it got stuck under the rings. Bleach and skin do not go well together

[humpforfree]

I'm allergic to the nickel in white gold. Wasn't until I got my college class ring (that is now un-wearable). My ring finger and both fingers around it got all red, itchy and swollen. I ended up with platinum wedding rings and they are good, though in the summer heat the old nickel reactions will resurface occasionally. Oh, and the cost of platinum

[holly116]

I also have a nickel allergy but it really only flares up with earrings and belt buckles. My first engagement ring that DH proposed with was white gold (because we're insane and got engaged after 2 1/2 months, so he had no idea.. about a lot of things.. lol), but we swapped it out with platinum, even though I had wore the gold one for a few months without a reaction.

I hope it's something like soap getting stuck under your ring! Fwiw, I've always had issues with nickel/gold. It's not something that just popped up.

[Deleted]

Could it be a heat rash?
I get all sweaty under my rings and it burns and stings and gets all red and itchy.

I also have a nickel allergy. It's why my rings are rose gold and I've been wearing the same diamond studs for the last 8 years...lol.

[auntie]

It could be something getting caught under your rings- soap, dish liquid, hair products, sunscreen, sanitizer, etc.

Or it could be the rings. I developed a reaction to some metals in my 40's. Earrings became a problem. I can only do platinum, 18K yellow gold or sterling these days. Even surgical stainless reacts.

[nachos]

They call it "housmaid's finger" - it comes from moisture being trapped in the ridges of your ring. It's common in rings with cutouts or raised sections.

pennypenny - for earrings, try coating the posts in clear nail polish and letting them dry. Works like a charm!

[Deleted]

I had this year's ago. It wasn't actually the rings but the fact that soap and water kept getting stuck under my rings when I washed my hands 100x a day. Once I started removing my rings and drying my hands really well before replacing my rings it stopped.

[booboo173]

I had this happen. I stopped wearing them for a while to let everything heal. Unfortunately the rings were stolen so I no have replacements but have yet to have an issue with them. I tend to notice it happens in the summer more often

[ECB]

Jul 28, 2015 6:52:24 GMT -5 @justdairy said:

Could it be a heat rash?
I get all sweaty under my rings and it burns and stings and gets all red and itchy.

This happens to me a LOT in the summer.  Each of my bands are wide and then put them together?  Very wide.  So I'll get a rash under there occasionally.  I can usually get past it  my taking off my e-ring and just wear my wedding ring - it keeps enough of the skin exposed that it clears up in a day or two. 

[greencrayon]

I used to get a rash under there when I didn't get all the soapy water out like pp said. I made an effort to take them off and dry thoroughly each time and it helped.

[af1212]

My H has a nickel allergy and is therefore allergic to his white gold wedding band.

You can buy a paint on product that lasts about 2 weeks (called nickel guard) or our jeweler can dip it in a hypoallergenic coating about 2x a year. Pretty cheap.

Not sure if a nickel allergy is your issue but if it is I would try either of those options.

[dr.girlfriend]

My coworker had that when she gained weight...her rings were tighter and water was getting trapped underneath. Now she just lets her hands air-dry thoroughly before putting them on.