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Many people avoid imitations due to allergic reactions that occur afterward, but buy genuine jewelry made of gold. Although many people buy jewelry to make an investment, many others consider it the only type of ornament that won’t cause allergic reactions. However, there are still people who are allergic to gold, and have no other choice of ornament jewelry. In this article, we plan to discuss this problem and provide you with some solutions.
Gold Allergy
We have already discussed gold in details, in previous EG articles. Gold is among the most expensive and most popular metals that can’t be ever found in its pure form. Pure Gold which is also called 24 Karat gold, can’t be used alone and the pieces you see in different shop-windows are made of an alloy that is a combination of several metals which strengthen gold. Knowing this, the reasons for gold allergy must lie somewhere among the metals that are used to make the gold alloy.
What Is the Gold Alloy
In order to make the gold alloy, several other ,metals such as zinc, copper, iron, aluminum, silver, platinum and palladium are used, not all of them are found in every alloy, though. In other words, each metal both add to the color and makes the final alloy strong enough.
Gold and copper are the only colorful metals of this alloy, one of which is yellow and the other has a brown-red color. The other metals which are introduced here are either white or silver and can affect the final alloy to a great extent.
Anti-Allergy Gold
While producing yellow gold alloy, they usually use gold, silver, copper and zinc. However, with regard to the fact that gold is among the anti-allergic metals, you can use your pieces of jewelry safely. Furthermore, since silver is anti-allergic, gold will be stainless as well. As a result, in most cases we never notice allergic reactions to yellow gold, and such issues happen after wearing white gold.
Why Can White Gold Cause Allergic Reactions?
The metals used in white gold alloy are different from those used in yellow gold alloy. The final white gold alloy looks like platinum and palladium in terms of color, since both metals have been already used in white gold combination. In addition, nickel and zinc are added to the white gold alloy as well, so as to make it strong enough.
Nickel is the main cause of allergic reactions in white gold alloy that can lead to different allergic reactions. The reason for why nickel causes allergic reactions is not clear yet, and many people believe that the human immune system detects nickel as an invader.
Signs of Gold Allergy
We discussed the reasons to gold allergy. Whether one is afflicted with gold allergy or not, has some signs that will be explained in the following.
rash or red spots
Itchy skin in the parts that have been in contact with jewelry
Slight to intensive change in the skin color where it has been in contact with gold.
What should be done to prevent gold allergy?
If your jewelry is made of any metal except gold, you can replace them easily or even put them aside. However, gold is so precious that you can’t simply put it aside. Therefore, in this section, we provide you with some simple home remedies that can solve gold allergy to a great extent.
Gold Karat Grade
In order to prevent gold allergy, try to buy a piece of high karat grade gold. It was mentioned in the beginning of this article that jewelry is made of the gold alloy that is a combination of pure gold and strong metals like nickel, palladium, silver and platinum, all of which add to its strength. It is clear, however, that as the amount of other metals increase, the amount of gold per gram will decrease. As a result the gold karat level decreases which gives a rise to the possibility of gold allergy.
Shop at reliable jewelry stores.
To make sure there is no nickel in the pieces you buy, and you won’t face allergic reactions, we suggest you buy jewelry from very reliable jewelers who produce jewelry products from high-quality raw materials. Besides, buying jewelry from salespeople who mention the real gold Karat in the invoice, will ensure you that you won’t buy low-quality pieces instead of high-quality ones.
Ask the Goldsmith to Re-plate the Piece of Jewelry
Many pieces of gold lose the outer layer on their surface as it goes on. The very layer is usually made of rhodium which not only adds to the beauty of the jewelry, but it also protects the skin against direct contact with gold. However, by the passage of time and using chemical substances like cosmetics, detergents and even body sweat the plated layer will go away soon. As a result, re-plating will prevent allergic reactions.
Keep your Jewelry Clean
The piece that has caused allergic reactions may not be really of poor karat grade, and may be even free from any allergy triggers. Cosmetics’ residue, dust and even moisture left on jewelry can lead to gold allergy. Thus you always need to clean them with a dry napkin, before use.
Wear Some Moisturizing Cream before Wearing Your Jewelry
Although using creams usually decreases the glitter, we suggest you use them to lessen direct contact of gold with skin. The protecting layer that is formed on the skin, prevents direct contact. After using these creams you need to wait for a short while and then wear the jewelry.
Use a Layer of Colorless Nail Polish
Colorless nail polish is another solution that creates a protective layer between the skin and any other allergy triggering surface. You only need to cover the inner part with colorless nail polish and repeat it after it dried out. You may need to do so on a daily basis for the pieces of jewelry that are in direct contact with skin, but it is still an inexpensive method that pays off.
Dry Your Skin before Wearing Jewelry
One of the most frequent reasons for allergic reactions is using jewelry on your wet skin. Wet skin prepares the necessary conditions for allergic reactions, that is why we suggest you wear jewelry on dry skin.
The skin may get wet due to sweating or washing other parts of the body. If you plan to do exercise or have any type of physical activity that will make you sweat, we suggest you take off your jewelry afore hand.
A Solution for Allergic Reactions
You might not know you are allergic to gold before you experience allergic reactions. As a result, there won’t be a chance to prevent the problem and it will be time to look for a solution. We will provide you with some solutions In the following that can help you treat allergic reactions.
If you are facing symptoms such as skin redness, rash, or any other type of skin irritation, remove the piece of gold in the first step.
Dry the part of your skin that is irritated, and try to reduce the inflammation with cold compress.
Use anti-allergic OTC ointments and don’t wear the piece of gold again.
I Gold Jewelry Curable?
The last point to take into account, is the final solution for gold allergy. With regard to the fact that gold allergy usually has skin manifestations, the solutions that have been suggested in this article, can be applied only if the symptoms become visible. However, if the skin irritations keep repeating after using the solutions suggested here, we advise you not use those special pieces. In other words, there are no special cures for gold allergy and the only way to handle this problem, is to compromise with it.
Gold Jewelry Conclusion
In this article we discussed gold allergy which is seen among the rarely- occurring problems, but yet causes undesirable skin issues such as skin irritation, redness and rash. In order to prevent skin issues, we suggest you wear them on dry skin and if the skin became wet, dry it immediately. Finally, if you face such a problem, remove the piece of jewelry and use cold compress the reduce the undesirable irritations.
EG jewelry productions are made of the highest quality gold and are nickel- free which are in-line with the latest designs of the day. As a result, we suggest you buy EG jewelry with no concerns about the authenticity and quality of gold.
