"You have a SEVERE nickel allergy."
The dermatologist's words didn't make a full impact for a few minutes. My thoughts were, "Ok, no big deal. I avoid cheap jewelry, so I'm good." As the doctor talked in greater depth, I came to realize that I probably touch nickel every single waking minute of the day. I've been applying nickel and iron oxide to my face every day, plastering it on my hair every month, and the list goes on!
The dermatologist's advice:
The diagnosis is the easy part. Now comes the hard part. You will have to become Sherlock Holmes to figure out all the ways you are exposing yourself to nickel daily. Your response shows that you are getting exposed daily. So look for all the items you are touching at home an in your classroom, like scissors, doorknobs, keys, and so on.
And thinking of home... pots, pans, doorknobs, silverware, the dog bowl, leash, faucets, on and on there, too! Nickel Allergies are going to be a pain!
I think I missed about 1/3 of what the dermatologist said, because my mind was fast forwarding through a typical day at home and in my Kindergarten classroom. OH MY GOSH! This is a big hairy deal! The impact on my Nickel allergies really pop up everywhere!
The dermatologist's explanation went on:
Most likely your biggest exposure happens with your hands. The skin on the hands is tough and pretty resilient to irritants. The problem comes in when your hands perspire and then you touch your face. This is what has been irritating your eyes, causing the chronic conjunctivitis and ocular rosacea to appear.
There you have it. After two years of seeing numerous eye specialists, living on steroid eye drops that risk glaucoma in the future, pink eyes, tears, and ugliness. The answer at last....nickel allergies. Some friends respond, "Well, at least you now have an answer." Some days, I'm not so sure I wanted an answer like this.
I'm not proud of how I look without makeup. But this is why we are here, right? If you look carefully, you can see the rosacea on my cheeks and all the ways it affects my eyes. I hate it!!!!
So in the last two weeks I have ditched my makeup,and started researching alternative sources of makeup. Even my reliable and "natural" Bare Escentuals items have Iron Oxide (that is one of the other names for nickel). Makeup is a tough area for nickel allergies. Iron Oxide/Nickel is the ingredient that makes the colors darker. Even the light colors have Iron Oxide. The items are on order and will arrive next week. I'll be writing about my adventures in mixing my own makeup in the very near future.
My hair color is another big problem. There's enough gray hair that I must touch up color every 4 weeks (and that is stretching it about a week too long). Iron Oxide/nickel is included in hair color, too. I've ordered some alternative hair color, and will write about that adventure soon, too.
So needless to say, I'm feeling fairly ugly these days. Let me admit that I'm moderately vain about my looks. I've always felt I wanted to do my best with what I've got... makeup and hair color were part of what made me feel best. This is going to be a learning process.
I'd love to hear from you. If you have any tips or products to recommend, let me know. I'm open to new ideas. I'm always up for new adventures. But this Nickel Allergy, Iron Oxide Allergy is NOT an adventure I'd recommend.
