The Basics: Preventing Flare-Ups of Nickel Allergies

Ways to Prevent Nickel Allergy Flare-Ups 

 Oh, those awful times when a nasty nickel allergy has a flare-up! The welts, teary eyes, the rash, and the itching is nasty! So what are the best ways to prevent these flare-ups?

Basically it comes down to this basic tip...AVOID EXPOSURE TO NICKEL.
Ugh! It's that simple. But simple is not easy to do!

What if I have a mild nickel allergy? 

Then you should avoid prolonged exposure to items containing nickel. And the biggest culprit for you is jewelry. Earrings, necklaces, bracelets are the items that often contain nickel and are worn for prolonged periods of time on bare skin.

What if I have a severe nickel allergy? 

The best way to avoid a nickel allergy flare up is to avoid ALL contact with nickel. Now we're talkin' food, cigarettes, cell phones, jewelry, water, vitamin supplements, zippers, keys, cosmetics, hair color, kitchen utensils, and more.

It becomes quite a task to avoid exposure when the nickel allergy is this severe. You will probably have real exposure everyday. So the mindset is to avoid any exposure that you are aware of and try to "deal with" the rest of the exposure.

Home test kits like Athena Nickel Solution are the best way to test and identify items that have nickel. Then avoidance to exposure becomes a reasonable task.


<<<<<<click here for the product info

 

 

 

4 Tips For Preventing Nickel Allergy Flare-Ups

 

>>Wear Nickel-Free/Hypoallergic Jewelry

The best bet for nickel-free jewelry will be made from the following metals:

• nickel-free stainless steel
• surgical-grade stainless steel
• titanium
• 18-karat yellow gold
• nickel-free 14-karat yellow gold
• sterling silver
• copper
• platinum
• nobium
• Argentium sterling silver 

Please check this in-depth posting about Metals Info from Naturally Nickel Free.

 Dump all the jewelry that contains nickel. Don't forget to check the backings on your post earrings.

 

 

Very soon I'll write a blog post about places to find earrings. My favorite site is Naturally Nickel Free   This shop is also on Facebook.  Donna Jo is the artisan/owner at Naturally Nickel Free. She has beautiful necklaces, earrings, and made-to-order jewelry. 

 

>>Choose A Piercing Studio Carefully

Each state varies in regulations regarding tattoo and body piercing. Make sure to check out the regulations for your state or local health department to find out what rules apply to your area and be certain to choose a reputable studio with licensed piercers.
  
Mayo Clinic recommends taking a visit to a studio before getting a piercing to make sure that the piercer: 

• Provides a clean, tidy, professional environment
• Uses sterile, nickel-free or surgical-grade stainless steel needles in sealed packages
• Sells only hypoallergenic jewelry and can provide documentation of metal content
• Doesn't use a piercing gun, which may not be sterile or nickel-free and may cause other complications, such as a bacterial infection

 

>>Use Other Materials As A Substitute

You can find safer substitutes that do not contain nickel:

• watchbands made from plastic, cloth, or leather
• zippers and clothing fasteners made from plastic or coated materials
• plastic or titanium eyeglass frames
• wooden or plastic bracelets and kitchen tools

 

>>Make Protective Shield

Let's face it....even with all these steps, we're going to have daily exposure to items containing nickel. Work place items like door knobs, keys, and home items like kitchen pans will be unavoidable.

If you MUST handle nickel exposure, you can create a protective shield between you and the nickel.  Consider wearing gloves to shield your hands to help. You can cover buttons, snaps, zippers with clear nail polish or Athena Nickel Solution (see the photo above).  Tool handles can be covered with duct tape. 

Read the Mayo Clinic article on Nickel Allergies here.

An important point is to recognize that once you develop a nickel allergy—which can occur at any age—it’s typically a lifelong condition. And prolonged exposure risks more severe allergic reactions. So limiting exposure will help prevent more severe allergies and reactions in the future.

Looking back on my lifetime of habits and all the nickel exposure I endured, I have regrets. I knew that cheap earrings caused mild flare ups. But add to that 20+ years of hair dyes and cosmetics, and that was all it took for my nickel allergy to become severe. I wish I'd known where this was going, and maybe I would have done things differently.  (sigh!)

I would love to know your experiences with nickel allergies and how you prevent flare-ups. Feel free to comment below or contact me.

Nickel Allergy Basics: How Do I Know If It Has Nickel?

The overwhelming fact with nickel allergy and iron oxide allergy is recognizing it is available in so many of our everyday items: cosmetics, cookware, clothing, metal surfaces around the house, and in foods.


Sometimes I'm just not sure if one particular item is causing me unnecessary exposure to more nickel and iron oxide than I should be experiencing. For instance, I have a Sterling Silver chain necklace that I wear on average 5 out of 7 days each week.  What if this chain has more nickel than I expect it to have? To me, that is question #1 for anyone suffering with Nickel Allergy or Iron Oxide Allergy

Well, a basic item every Nickel Allergy sufferer must have is a nickel testing kit.  Nickel Solution is a well known product that offers answers to these questions:

Here is a simple video showing the steps to take in testing for nickel:

I honestly haven't purchased this kit yet. It's next on my list of things to do in learning more about my Nickel Allergy and Iron Oxide Allergy. So I'll be getting this soon to start answering more of my questions. Have you tried the Nickel test kit?


Yesterday, my husband & I enjoyed a day in our local mountains... at Sequoia National Forest, The Big Trees.  It's one of my favorite places to go on a day off!

 

The Basics: List of ingredients that could mean nickel exposure

Is "nickel" the only ingredient I need to worry about in terms of my nickel allergy? Or does it show up in other ingredients, and by other names? As I searched for these answers, I kept finding possible answers on sites for scientists, chemists. Well, I'm embarrassed to admit I never took chemistry class. 

All these sites look like a foreign language to me. After changing my search terms a few times, I started to find some answers. And since it is a bit complicated, I'm copying and pasting the information along with links. I'm not going to pretend I've written this info. But I'm getting a better grasp on more names that will alert me to the presence of nickel and how to deal with nickel allergy.

Nickel is the only element named after the devil. The name comes from the German word Kupfernickel, meaning "Old Nick's copper," a term used by German miners. They tried to remove copper from an ore that looked like copper ore, but they were unsuccessful. Instead of copper, they got slag, a useless mass of earthy material. The miners believed the devil ("Old Nick") was playing a trick on them. So they called the fake copper ore Old Nick's copper.

Since then, nickel has become a very valuable metal. The most common use is in the production of stainless steel, a strong material that does not rust easily. It is used in hundreds of industrial and consumer applications. Nickel is also used in the manufacture of many other alloys. An alloy is made by melting and mixing two or more metals. The mixture has properties different from those of the individual metals.

Nickel is classified as a transition metal. Transition metals are elements between Groups 2 (metals) and 13 (non-metals) in the periodic table. The periodic table is a chart that shows how chemical elements are related to one another. Nickel is closely related to iron, cobalt, copper, and zinc. These metals are close to nickel in the periodic table.

Read more: http://www.chemistryexplained.com/elements/L-P/Nickel.html#ixzz3RBqNOKpb

Nickel is extensively alloyed with iron, chromium, molybdenum, and tungsten to produce stainless steel and other corrosion-resistant alloys. Nickel's high electrical conductivity lends itself to many electronics applications. For example, it is the basis of the nickel hydride battery and is an ideal component for ceramic anode formulations used in oxygen generation and solid oxide fuel cell 
applications. Nickel is also used as a pigment; its addition to glass and ceramic glazes results in a bright green color. Nickel is available as metal and compounds with purities from 99% to 99.999% (ACS grade to ultra-high purity). Elemental or metallic forms include pellets, rod, wire and granules for evaporation source material purposes. Nickel nanoparticles and nanopowders are also available. Nickel oxides are available in powder and dense pellet form for such uses as optical coating and thin film applications. Oxides tend to be insoluble. Nickel fluorides are another insoluble form for uses in which oxygen is undesirable such as metallurgy, chemical and physical vapor deposition and in some optical coatings. Nickel is also available in soluble forms including chlorides, nitrates and acetates. These compounds can be manufactured as solutions at specified stoichiometries.
http://www.americanelements.com/ni.html

Stainless steels

The majority of the stainless steels contain 8-10% nickel. In all cases it is the combination of chromium with the nickel that does the job. Stainless steels are also useful as fire retardant materials since they retain their strength to higher temperatures than structural steel.
The most common stainless steel is the 304 grade with 8% nickel and 18% chromium and the balance iron. This is used for such common items as spoons and forks, saucepans and kitchen sinks. Where extra corrosion resistance is required, such as for roofing in marine applications, type 316 is used. This has about the same amount of nickel and chromium as 304 but with 3% of molybdenum added. The balance is again iron.
There are many other stainless steels to cover the wide spectrum of demands of engineers and architects such as nickel plated steel (NPS).

Nickel Copper Alloys

These nickel copper alloys are sometimes referred to as MONEL or NICORROS and contain nickel with copper and small amounts of iron and manganese. A typical nickel copper alloy is the 400 grade (UNS N04400). This nickel copper alloys contains 63% nickel minimum, 28-34% copper, and a maximum of 2% manganese and 2.5% iron. There are also a small number of impurities kept at limited values to ensure the metal's properties are not harmed.
These nickel copper alloys are used where a higher strength is required compared to pure nickel. Nickel copper alloys have a wider range of environments where they resist corrosion but in some specialised applications, such as strong alkali contaminant, nickel or commercially pure nickel would be superior.
Nickel copper alloys find wide application in oil refining and marine applications where long corrosion-free life is required. Because of good thermal conductivity of nickel copper alloys, they are frequently are used for heat exchangers where sea water is one of the fluids concerned.

Nickel Chromium Base Alloys

These nickel chromium base alloys are used extensively in applications where heat resistance and/or corrosion resistance is required. In some members of the group, where conditions are less demanding, some nickel is replaced by iron to decrease the overall cost.
Metals fail at high temperatures by both oxidation (scaling) and through a loss in strength. Alloys in this class are designed to resist failure from both of these mechanisms. Nickel alloys are not suitable for high temperature sulphur rich environments.
Where corrosion resistance is significant, molybdenum is used as an alloying addition in nickel chromium based alloys.
This group of alloys are frequently sold under trade name specifications but most are listed in the Unified Numbering System. Common trade names are HASTELLOY, INCOLOY, INCONEL, NICROFER, NICROM and NIMONIC.
The more recentnickel chromium base alloys in these groups also have a wide range of ancillary elements added to give special properties - some of these can be quite complicated and require very close control over composition and heat treatment.

Trade Names and Owners of Nickel Alloys

HASTELLOY is a registered trade name of Haynes Intl.
INCOLOY, INCONEL, MONEL and NIMONIC are registered trade names of the INCO family of companies.
INVAR is a registered trademark of Imphy S.A.
MU-METAL is a registered trademark of Telcon Metals Ltd
NICORROS and NICROFER are registered tradenames of Krupp UM GmbH

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http://www.nickel-alloys.net/nickelalloys.html

Once a person shows a nickel allergy, it remains with him or her forever. So if you have a nickel allergy, it is very important to "get your learn on" regarding all the ingredients that could mean nickel in your foods and daily items that you touch.

>>See the Disclaimer Below

A Cup of Tea For My Nickel Allergy

I'd like a cup of tea, but what about my nickel allergy?

I have been an avid tea drinker for over 20 years. Tea bags are OK, but don't give me Lipton tea! My favorite kind of brewed tea is loose leaf, steeped long and strong.


Well, it occurred to me that I've been boiling my water in my trusty, 15 year old metal tea kettle. Now that I have been diagnosed with a severe nickel allergy,  my task is to try to reduce the daily exposure to nickel and iron oxide.  I've loved that kettle ever since my husband gave it to me in a kit of tea items as a Valentine's gift. I love the brick red color and the whistle tone it has!




The first thing I decided in regards to tea, was that I better microwave my tea water until I found a better solution.  It worked, but tea just doesn't taste as good after it's been microwaved.


So NOW what am I to do about a tea kettle? I ran a quick little search on Amazon, and saw there are glass tea kettles. These kettles remind me a bit of the restaurant or church kitchen tea kettles from long ago.

Bed Bath & Beyond had the Primula 2 quart glass tea kettle with a whistling feature for $19.99.  The only color it was available in was this Spring Green color.  But the color is one of my favorite colors, so that's just fine with me.

 

Bed Bath & Beyond lists these features:

• Classic whistle sounds when the water is boiling
• Pouring is easy with its lever-action flip lid
• A silicone insert in the stay-cool handle provides a secure and safe grip
• Capacity: 2 qt.
• Completely removable lid provides for easy filling and cleaning, whether by hand or in the dishwasher

After a week of waiting, my new nickel allergy friendly tea kettle arrived. The label on the box made me giggle for a couple of reasons:

1. Fragile warns the shipping carrier to be careful with this box.  But look at the banged up box!
2. Fragile reminds me of the dad on A Christmas Story.

Anyway, the Primula tea kettle arrived safe and sound. The 2 quart size is perfect for brewing a full sized pot of tea.

Now it was time to wash it up and try it out.



It became apparent that the lever-action flip lid presents a challenge when I am trying to wash out and fill the kettle with water. We have a nozzle hose at our sink, so sticking the nozzle inside the kettle helped hold it open for rinsing.  I use filtered water, so here is how I decided to handle filling the kettle.  So now it's time to fill the kettle with filtered water....



In reading reviews other people left for the Primula kettle, I noticed many people said you MUST place it on a smaller burner. That is the best way to avoid overheating the handle.  The directions on the side of the box recommended placing the kettle on medium heat,  I guess that is to avoid cracking the glass on high heat.  But that means the full kettle boils up quite a bit slower that the metal kettle set on high.



At last the water came to a boil, and I got to hear the whistle...


Reviews recommended using an oven mitt to handle the hot kettle.  But I found the handle comfortable and not hot. Pouring the water into the tea pot is a bit tricky.  Just pop up the lid, then aim the water into the pot. But I had to be careful of the steam that rose up around my hands, as I was pouring. I had the same issue with the old kettle. So I just use my lips and blow cool air on my hand as I pour.  Reviewers said they burned their hands while pouring. "Just pucker up your lips and blow."



That's it! I'm sold on this new kettle to help me handle tea in a way that helps my nickel allergy!

The next step is figuring out whether black tea or green tea is better. Here is all I found, so far:

A Korean study found significant nickel content in the following (mg/kg): a green tea bag contained 235.57; a black tea bag, 62.79

More on that front later.  I've taken some positive steps in improving my life while having a nickel allergy!


 

 

Valentine's Day & Nickel Allergies

I love Valentine's Day! It is full of cards, 

notes, flowers, candy, and love! 

It is really important to make sure you don't cause a flare up of allergic reactions on this special day. Here is a reminder of common Valentine's gifts that are a problem for someone with nickel allergies: 

• Chocolate 
• Nuts 

But of course, I can ALWAYS eat these for Valentines!

Many kinds of lower priced jewelry will probably contain nickel. So make sure to get highest grade of gold, white gold, sterling silver.  Also shop for "nickel-free" jewelry.

 

So What Kinds of Gifts CAN I Have At Valentines'?

Sweets: Caramels, taffy, hard candies, jellies

Jewelry: Aluminum, Titanium, Platinum, possibly Nobium

Valentine's Dinner often includes some food items to avoid: 

• Raspberries 
• Multi-grain breads 
• Fish 
• Lettuce 
• Black tea Coffee 

 Wine and Beer can also aggravate a nickel allergy if other listed foods are  eaten. 

 

So What CAN We Eat For Dinner?

Steak or Chicken

Potatoes (baked/mashed) OR White Rice (moderate portion)

Pasta with fresh marinara sauce

Asparagus

Berries (any except raspberries)

Soft drinks

Tea, coffee, wine, beer (all OK IF the rest of the menu is nickel free)

 

 

And remember to be careful for an allergic reaction by kissing someone who has made contact with nickel...you really want to prevent a "kissing allergy". If the other person has braces, metal dental work, or has been sipping from a stainless steel container, an allergic reaction could occur.

Here is my Valentine, my love of my life!