I have been married for less than a year and I am no longer wearing my wedding rings. No, my husband and I are not separating. My rings and my skin do not seem to be as compatible as my husband and I are.
A few months ago, I noticed that my finger under my rings was getting red. I thought it was just irritation from the normal swelling that my hands go through when it gets hot outside. Since we were into the warmer months already, my fingers were swelling and squeezing against my rings more than normal. I showed it to my husband a couple of times and he showed me his finger where his ring had dug into his skin, leaving an impression. Mine had an impression but they were also starting to become a bit red. I dealt with it for a while until one day, it started itching. Crazy itching. I couldn't stop fiddling with my ring finger because I wanted to tear through my skin to get to the itch. I ran into this while I was out of town on business and did not want to leave my rings in the hotel. I kept them on until I got home, put them in a safe place and let my finger breathe.
This is what it looked like a few days after I got home from that trip. It had healed some by this point. There was a red ring around my finger, almost like I had taken off my ring and gotten a bad sunburn on the normally unexposed area of my finger. The area in and around the red portion was itchy and dry and scaly. There were also red bumps on the sides of my finger where it meets the other fingers.
Yes, I know I have man hands. Insert Seinfeld jokes here.
It's been two and a half weeks since I took my rings off. I put my wedding band on for travel this past week and within a day, my finger had exploded with red bumps again. I removed it and placed it on a very secure and sturdy necklace so I wouldn't lose it while I was out of town.
When I got home last night, I did some research. This problem appears to be common and even has a name: Wedding Ring Dermatitus. The Wall Street Journal did an article on it that you can read here. I also found out more information about it here, here and here.
I read through this and it appears that the majority of the issues are caused by an allergy to Nickel. While I don't have a large history of my rings, I know they're not gold and I'm guessing they're not just Platinum plated, if that is even possible. They were my Grandmother's engagement and wedding ring from the 1940's. The inscription inside both rings is 10% Irid-Plat. I'm not a scientist but I don't believe there is Nickel in Platinum or Iridium.
I researched Platinum allergies and they're very rare. The only other idea I have is that I am getting water and soap stuck under the rings and that is what is causing the rash. Both rings are tighter than I would prefer. The jeweler who sized them for me sized them a half size smaller than what I asked for. Once that was done, he told me he didn't want to size them again for fear of compromising the integrity of the ring. Well yeah, they are 70 years old and were sized from a 5 to a 7 1/2 but at the same time, they're squishing my finger. The engagement ring has a hollow square that the round diamond is centered into the center of. This box-like section of the ring is hollow and could possibly be retaining soap, water or lotion.
I decided that I'll go to a dermatologist to have her take a look. If I'm allergic to my rings, I'm going to cry. For now I'll wear them around my neck since I'm just not comfortable not having them on me at all times.
Safe and secure around my neck
Have you ever experienced this before? What did you find? Was it an allergy to the metal in the rings or just stuff getting stuck between the ring and your skin?
13 comments:
Boo to that! It might be possible for you to get the rings rhodium plated and hope you are not allergic to that. They will look the same if you do that. I am going to think about this one for you. It is strange that it is just happening now. I wonder if the heat has anything to do with it. I would think if it was an allergy it would have been a problem from the beginning. I will let you know if I think of anything.
Beautiful rings! I hope you figure it out, that would make me sad too. I have never heard of that.
Oh no, that's too bad! I have heard of a few friends getting rashes from their rings, and it turned out to be just water/soap getting trapped. I'm very mindful to always dry under my rings when I wash my hands, because I have really sensitive skin. I can't even wear cheap pendant necklaces on my skin unless I paint the back with clear nail polish, or else I break out into a rash after a few hours.
And my husband got me these beautiful jade stud earrings on a trip to China that literally started eating the skin off on my ears! I've learned over time that except for cheap french hook earrings, I can't wear anything that isn't gold or platinum close to my skin, or I just break out like you have been.
And my mom can't even wear her wedding ring or watches, she's so allergic to metals, and when she got her ears pierced it didn't heal for 7 months, so she gave up.
Maybe you could try the clear nail polish trick on your wedding band (since it looks a little flatter), just to see if it really is an allergy to the metal? I know someone who did that for a good 6 months, repainting it every week or so, until she could get her rings re-plated into something she wasn't allergic to.
Good luck!
My nickel allergy is the bane of my existence! I have to be very careful when it comes to "costume" jewelry and I can only wear real white or yellow gold in my ears, otherwise infections happen. I had the biggest problem with the button backs on my jeans. They started creating a rash right underneath my navel. It was not a fun experience.
I haven't experienced that...maybe because I don't wear rings when I'm just at home especially when I'm doing chores. :)
This is really interesting. I wonder if a jeweler could somehow tell you what they're made of?
My husband doesn't wear his wedding band because it gives him a giant callus inside his palm, which is so weird. But I'm ok with him not wearing it. I would be devastated to not wear mine though, I hope you figure it out!
Been there, Jill, and yes, it is one of the most intense itches! My rings are yellow gold, but what you described is exactly how my outbreak was. At the time, my rings were also quite snug. In addition, my wedding band is wide and sort of concave on the front where there's a "stripe" with 3 tiny diamonds, which made it easy for soay water, etc, to get trapped in there.
Eventually, I did get my rings enlarged and that ended my problem. I guess there has to be enough space for air to circulate a bit. I'm also careful now to dry under my rings very well after handwashing, dishes, etc.
Your rings are so beautiful and special - I hope this gets resolved soon.
HUGS! ~ Lynn
I have had this occur for several years now. A few months ago my husband and I decided to try sterling silver rings... For my sake. I haven't the problem since then. I had the same EXACT thing you discribed! My finger looked just the same. We tried several different rings for me, prior to the sterling silver. I thought maybe it was the soap/water too..until I no longer had the problem with the SS. Best of luck with this!!
I had that develop about 1 1/2 yrs after we were married. We went to visit my inlaws in Costa Rica and I showed my mother in law. It was very red and itchy. She put a cream on it (couldn't tell you what it was because the name was written in spanish) that I'm pretty sure was just a rash cream and it disappeared within a couple days. Ocasionally it will reoccur if I don't take my rings off to wash my hands, etc. and it gets too wet for too long under there. My ring is white gold, but I was told it's fairly common to experience that if you were not already accustomed to wearing rings on that particular finger.
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