The Basics: Lifestyle and Home Remedies

Lifestyle And Home Remedies

A few simple treatments may help to improve your contact dermatitis from nickel allergy.  If you find these treatments don't help or the allergy gets worse, contact your doctor. 

 

 

Here were the immediate lifestyle changes I made after I was diagnosed as having a nickel and iron oxide allergy:

Stop touching my face with my hands. "Touching doesn't cause the following but most definitely worsens acne, contact dermatitis and herpes simplex," explained Dr. Shamban, board-certified dermatologist and Heal Your Skin author. "Bacteria, viruses and allergens transfer from fingertips onto the skin. Also, repeatedly rubbing the skin can do some real damage."

Washing hands frequently, in order to lessen nickel exposure. Or at the very least, you can shorten the exposure time.

 


Wearing gloves when I cannot avoid touching nickel (such as a workplace exposure).

 

Home Remedies That Can 

Ease Nickel Allergy Rashes

• Use soothing topical treatments to ease itching:calamine lotion, lavender essential oil, roman chamomile essential oil.
• Moisturize regularly to build up a barrier for your skin.Your skin's natural barrier is disrupted when it reacts to nickel and other allergens. Using emollient creams, lotions, or essential oils could reduce your need for topical corticosteroids. Try petroleum jelly, mineral oil, or essential oils to build this barrier. 
• Apply wet compresses to help dry blisters and relieve itching. Soak a clean cloth in Burow's solution, an over-the-counter medication containing aluminum acetate; diluted white vinegar (1 ounce of white vinegar to 16 ounces of water); or tap water. Place the compress over the rash for 15 to 45 minutes. You can repeat this process several times a day. Oatmeal compresses can help too.

• Topical corticosteroids (hydrocortisone) can lessen itching and improve the rash. Try to apply the over-the-counter cream to the affected area before applying a wet compress. This could allow better penetration into the skin. Talk to your doctor about how long you can safely use the product because your skin can become addicted to it. Read this woman's story about it. 
• Try over-the-counter oral antihistamines, such as diphenhydramine (Benadryl), which may help relieve itching for a short time, but tend not to be effective for this type of allergy.

Avoid certain over-the-counter ointments, such as antibiotic creams, which may contain ingredients — particularly neomycin — that can worsen an allergic reaction. 

Read more recommended remedies from Mayo Clinic:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/nickel-allergy/basics/lifestyle-home-remedies/con-20027616 

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!


 

 

The Basics: Where to Start...I'm Overwhelmed By Nickel Allergies

"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.