Stop wearing earrings due to sensitivity? - YouLookFab Forum

Category

Dressing

Welcome! Read about what to wear and how to wear it on the YLF Blog. Join the YLF Forum to ask specific questions or just chat about fashion and personal style. Or check out the curated list of things we love in YLF Finds.

Outfits Ensembles Trends Advice

Stop wearing earrings due to sensitivity?

Astrid

Veteran

In the last few weeks I had to stop wearing most of my usual silver earrings due to allergic reactions. I've had that before and could wear gold earrings instead, but even these irritate me now to a certain degree. I could buy some titanium earrings that would hopefully work, something like this http://www.amazon.de/Pure-Grey.....038;sr=1-5.

Or I could simply stop wearing earrings. I only wear small ones anyway because I can't wear fashion jewelery and have enough going on near my face with my hair and specs. But I'm not sure if I won't regret it later on. Have any of you had pierced ears and went back to 'bare' ears? Why? Do you like it? Do you miss them?

Dressing

16 replies

Latest reply was from Astrid

ManidipaM

Veteran

Astrid, you might need to either have the earrings professionally cleaned (could potentially be buildup of detergent etc irritating you) or seek out a higher purity.

You can't be allergic to silver and gold per se, as they are non-reactive noble metals --- but the jewellery made from them is always going to be an alloy with a little bit of other things for tensile strength.

Look for sterling silver and 18k gold (at least, most is 14k); if you can find 22k, you'd be really lucky --- expensive, but worth it if you really enjoy earrings. Alternatively, look for a rhodium coating, which means the alloy is plated with a platinum-group noble metal, which is entirely inert.

Another option: If you aren't allergic to clear nail varnish, apply some on the back of earrings, the post and the 'push'. That way you skin is no longer in contact with the metal.

I feel 'incomplete' without mine, and have similar allergy issues, so I do feel your pain.

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

I stopped wearing earrings due to sensitivity- not just the metal, but the weight also. I don't regret it at all. Like you, I wear glasses- so I already have an accessory on my face. I still have my holes, and could put in earrings if I ever wanted to.

Anonymous

One of my daughters developed keloid scars in each earlobe after getting her ears pierced, and had to have them surgically removed. She cannot have any piercings or tattoos because she is prone to developing these scars. Now she wears the magnetic earrings when she's in the mood, but most of the time she just skips the earrings and wears a nice necklace instead.

I have sensitive skin and only wear high-quality sterling silver or gold (14k or 18k) jewelry. My new eyeglasses have titanium frames, which I was told is best for sensitive skin. It's expensive, but worth it not to break out in a rash.

Hope this helps!

Astrid

Veteran

Manidipa, I know that it's the other metals that bother me, not silver and gold. I already wear 'good' silver and gold earrings with a higher percentage of silver and gold and no cheap silver, but I still have problems. Thanks for the information about rhodium coating, I have to look that up. A friend of me tried the thing with the nail varnish too and it worked for her, so I'm going to try that with a pair.

Khris, good to hear you don't miss them. I only fear that I won't be able to go back if I leave them out, because the other holes I had in my ears (from my teens) closed up fairly fast when I left the earrings out.

Thanks, Ruth. Seems like titanium is the way to go. I only wear simple earrings anyway, I wouldn't have a problem to spend a bit more on one pair and then wear them again and again.

annagybe

(website)

Veteran

I rarely wear earrings now. I have some sensitivity. Now I just wear big statement necklaces or bracelets.

rae

(website)

Veteran

I made the mistake of piercing my ears at the mall when I was 13. Got a terrible infection and had to let the holes close. Never seemed important to wear earrings after that. My hair covers the ears mostly anyway.

I do have a bit of metal allergy for other jewelry, too. I got 18K gold for my wedding rings, and I still feel a tiny bit of irritation when the rhodium starts to wear off. I think there are also sites that sell nickel free jewelry (less $$ than 22K gold). I've heard good things about platinum, too.

Astrid

Veteran

Anna, you rock those statement necklaces and bracelets!

Rae, my sister had the same experience as you and had to let them close too. I never had a problem with it (I got them pierced three times), only later on. It's true that my hair covers almost anything anyway.

I think I'm going to try it with some titanium earrings and if that doesn't work out I'll leave them out.

Isabel

Veteran

Astrid, I have struggled with this my whole life. I tend to go through flare ups...especially if I am run down or have a cold. I also have used the nail polish trick and it helps me allot. I don't buy cheap earrings, but I will buy stainless steel/surgical steel ( there is allot here in the States now ) and copper/bronze. Many of the cheaper earrings made in places like China have heavy metals, like arsenic, also.

Sometimes, I put a little cortisone cream or antibiotic on the post before putting it through the ear hole.

You probably don't have to completely give up. Now a days, at least here, there are allot of options that we didn't have years ago.

rachylou

Veteran

I've got 5 holes in my ears. But I have metal allergies and most of the time can't wear jewelry because of my work. I don't miss earrings at all.

The clear nail polish helps - but you have to really cover the posts/hooks, which is difficult when they're thin wire. Posts also have the problem of having the polish scraped off when you put the backs on. AND the polish does wear off as it would on your nails.

Sara L.

Veteran

I have problems with sensitivity to earrings too. I've never heard of using clear nail polish, I'll have to try it. I'm lucky that even though I only wear earrings on special occasions my holes have never closed up.

shoppingisfun

(website)

Veteran

I got my ears pierced at age 13, and wore earrings off and on for years, but found that they always irritated my ears, even the ones that had gold posts or were supposedly hypoallergenic. At one point, I even got a 2nd hole in each ear, but have since stopped wearing earrings altogether. The last time I wore a pair was around 2006. I don't really miss them, as I never got really 'into" wearing them due to the irritation.

taylor

Veteran

I can only wear real gold or certain sterling/surgical steel.
It is the nickle in metal that most people are allergic to. I do wear some costume jewelry but only for a short time because I itch ! My ears are extremely sensitive so I don't mess too much with them...usually only the real thing gold/surgical steel posts.

ManidipaM

Veteran

Astrid, I'd also keep an eye out for wooden and bone earrings. I mention this specially because if you're used to shopping for silver, they might be in entirely different kinds of stores. They're a bit of a trend in Asia, with the post or hook too made of carved bone or wood. I find those are kinder to my skin.

Here in India, we use tiny twigs of the neem tree cut into a centimetre length to pop into piercings between wearing earrings. It is antiseptic and absolutely non-irritating. I know some health stores in Europe stock neem dental sticks (toothbrush alternative) and you could conceivably sharpen these with a pencil sharpener, and break off the point to use likewise. But I'll confess this is just a desperate, out-there idea --- I doubt I'd go to the trouble myself. I'd probably try to wrap my head around losing my favourite accessory group and find another...

Freckles

Veteran

I find that jewellery cleaners use products that I am allergic to. Can you start by giving your ears a break for a week or two, swabbing ears twice daily with isopropyl alcohol and cleaning all your earrings really well with the alcohol. I find sometimes when I get busy I don`t clean my earrings with the alcohol as often as I should and in some climates or locations (dirtier cities) it needs to be cleaned more often.

Angela

I react to most metals and am lucky when I find a pair of earrings I don't react to. I'm quite allergic to metal--I tried nickel-free glasses frames but reacted to that, so the salesperson suggested I try titanium. The salespeople were shocked when I reacted to that as well. They tried putting a plastic coating over the titanium and were shocked once again when I told them I was still reacting. Most people who react to nickel won't react to titanium (I'm told) but I'm proof that it's still possible to react to titanium! Also, for me, when I phased out of wearing earrings I found I could keep the hole open if I popped a pair of gold studs I don't react to in at night whenever it felt like they were closing up. I think bare ears are fine and you get used to it pretty quickly, just like you probably got used to wearing earrings when you first had them pierced.

Astrid

Veteran

Thanks everybody for your input! I just wanted to say that I found the surgical steel studs from the last time I got my ears pierced and my ears behave well since I put them in this morning. I'll continue to wear them until I can try all the other suggestions you made so that my holes don't close. I haven't been wearing earrings for the last week and had problems to get them in already!