Well, I’m relieved to learn that I’m not actually allergic to being married. I developed this unpleasant rash/allergy to my wedding rings! I continued to wear them even though it was itchy and red and and painful — finally took them off for two weeks to let them heal.. put just my band back on a few days ago — and today, red, puffy ring around my finger. Craptacular.
I really was worried that I was causing it somehow because we all know I’m a freak like that. I’ve always reacted strangely to metal. Most watches only last a year for me because some form of acidity/magnetism in my skin kills them. I actually thought I might have been abducted by aliens for a while there because my watches would stop and start on me all the time and I’d wake up missing hours in the morning…. and gold that is purer than 14K, my skin eats right through it. It develops little pock-marks where it touches my skin…. anyhoo… I’ve been all worried about it… and Kory has obviously been upset that I suddenly can’t wear my wedding rings without pain. So, it was a relief to find entire message boards filled with tons of women who have the same exact problem. Many of them wore their rings for years and years before developing the allergy.
Looks like the culprit is nickel. My rings are white gold and it’s nickel that makes ’em white… even the women wearing platinum were having the same problem- because the cobalt or other substances making up the 5% of non-platinum are actually by-products of nickel.
So. There weren’t a lot of solutions. One woman takes an antihistimine every single day of her life so she can wear her rings. Others coat theirs in clear nailpolish and take them off every night. Another recommended soaking the rings in peroxide for 24 hours. Another boiled hers with some success. A jeweler said the only real solution is to (amazingly) plate the gold and platinum rings in silver, as it contains no nickel… so I’m going to try the old wives tail remedies first and see what happens….
Like every other weird thing in my life, I’m pleased to at least have a name for the monster. Even if I can’t slay it, I like to at least be able to name it and perhaps sing a mocking song about it…
nickel, nickel
bo-bickel
banana-fana fo fickel
me my mo mickel!