Sensitive Earrings Are For Sensitive Ears (Let me Explain …)

Sensitive Earrings?  What’s That?

Not everyone can just pick a pair of earrings from a store display and put them into their ears as if it were nothing. A growing number of people now get an annoying reaction, largely because what they really require are sensitive earrings. When your earlobes respond with any kind of pain, inflammation, or infection you are most likely looking at the result of an allergy. Even if you are feeling a burning, itching sensation, it’s probably an allergic response. From now on, let’s avoid the frustration of buying earrings that you soon find are unwearable.

The common assumption is that if the earrings are labeled as “hypoallergenic” they will not contain any allergens. However, this is not exactly true. The most common cause is nickel, typically used as a way to reduce the costs of manufacturing. Some of the makers reduce the nickel amount to barely meet the guidelines rather than eliminate it altogether. Most jewelry metal almost always contains dangers for sensitive skin unless it has been specifically made to produce sensitive earrings.

Why Does This Matter?

Some hypoallergenic earrings may be very comfortable while others make your ears react almost immediately. This means that those which are not a problem for your skin are actually made with sensitivity in mind. Earrings that continue to bother your ears probably have just enough nickel in the content to cause your skin to react.

Occasionally it’s sufficient to just change to hypoallergenic earrings to stop the ear irritation. There are many wearers that are capable of withstanding a small percentage of nickel. Additionally, trying to limit the contact with your earrings to just when you need them will help. If possible, avoid sleeping with earrings in or it may lead to a more severe sensitivity. Also, be careful with painted surgical steel earrings. Often a small amount of nickel exists in many paints used for the coloring. This can cause further irritation of the skin if the paint extends far enough around the earring to come in contact with your ears.

That’s Not All…

Surgical steel earrings are tolerated well by many who are having a bad experience with the generic hypoallergenic kind. Jewelry makers create gold surgical steel earrings by adding a coating of gold around all parts of the jewelry. This adds an additional layer of protection. If you are going to choose gold plated styles, be careful with that, too. Gold coating is not always the same thing as real gold. Look for pure or 24 carat gold plating.

Gold and silver earrings are typically a great choice, and they do not have to be more expensive. Sensitive earrings in gold or silver are made without the typical nickel alloys or other irritants. The styles found at Sensitively Yours are the real deal, surgical stainless steel plated in 24k gold or polished to a silver finish, and you do not have pay unreasonable prices to find styles you’ll love. As many of our customers have told us, nothing has ever felt so good in their ears!