Once I was diagnosed with a nickel allergy, my doctor gave me a pamphlet of common items I should avoid. Jewelry and watches were the most obvious items. Earrings, necklaces, and watches are notorious for causing a rash on an unsuspecting allergy sufferer. However, the list doesn’t stop there – belt buckles, door knobs, chairs... Take a look around you and see if you can spot how many items around you are made out of metal. I bet it’s a lot? Metal is everywhere! My daily task is to spot and avoid the items that potentially contain nickel.
How do I do that?! Nickel is a very strong, cheap metal, and it's added to other metals to keep costs down and make the end product stronger. Even stainless steel contains about 30% nickel. Stainless steel is usually safe for nickel allergy sufferers because the nickel is very tightly bound; however, that will vary with the quality of the metal. If it’s metal, it’s suspect. Here is a sample list of some of the things that nickel allergy sufferers have to avoid:
The list is much longer than this, but that’s a good example. The list my doctor gave me came from the makers of the allergy test I took. Their updated list can be found here. (I have to add a note that when I was diagnosed, this list had no mention of orthodontic equipment or of any dietary exposure, like it does now. Have I mentioned how happy I am that doctors are being informed about this now? I am!)
The take-away lesson: avoid all things shiny and silver! Actually, avoid all things metal, regardless of color - nickel can be found in gold and copper. If it’s metal, I assume it’s guilty of containing nickel and trying to kill me until proven innocent!