Symptoms of a sterling silver allergy include red, itchy, and bumpy rashes. You can prevent them by avoiding sterling silver products or by placing a physical barrier between the item and your skin. Most of the time, these skin allergies are actually nickel allergies. Because pure silver is often too soft to be turned into jewelry, a small amount of nickel is mixed together to keep the silver firm and shiny.
When nickel seeps out of jewelry, it comes into contact with the skin and can cause an allergic reaction. By avoiding nickel substances and using alternative metals such as sterling silver, you can wear silver jewelry without skin problems. If you are allergic to silver jewelry, you should see signs of contact dermatitis. The skin around and under the piece of jewelry becomes inflamed, itchy, and dry.
Severe allergic reactions make the skin look red, scaly, and scaly. Blisters and rashes may also occur. In less severe allergic reactions, the skin is only mildly irritated and discolored. Sterling silver jewelry is usually hypoallergenic.
Sterling silver is an alloy that mainly contains silver, in addition to other metals that add strength to pure silver. Some pieces of sterling silver do not contain nickel and others do not. Nickel can be used in sterling silver, but for most people, the small percentage isn't a cause for concern. Genuine sterling silver tarnishes due to its copper content, but that can be fixed with regular cleaning and use.
Allergic reactions to silver jewelry can take years to appear because it takes a while for the surface of the jewelry to tarnish. Jewelry can be misleadingly labeled as “nickel-free” or “hypoallergenic” because these terms can also be used to describe only the silver part of a design. Genuine sterling silver contains 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper and possibly other metals such as zinc or nickel. In addition, other types of silver jewelry (unstamped sterling) are known to contain higher amounts of nickel.
We offer a wide variety of faith-based sterling silver rings, bracelets and necklaces for women and sterling silver rings and necklaces for men that have been skillfully handmade in the U.S. UU. Technically, 7.5% of the metals used to create a sterling silver alloy can be comprised of many different types of metals. These metals are often mixed with silver to make the product stronger and more resistant to rust.
The thin layer of silver on silver-plated jewelry will wear out, flake, or scratch over time, exposing the skin to any type of base metal found beneath the plated surface. Although silver-plated jewelry contains a much thicker coating and represents a significant increase in quality compared to silver-plated jewelry, this thicker layer of silver plating doesn't guarantee that you won't develop an allergic reaction to the base metal underneath. Pure silver is too soft for use in jewelry because it bends and stretches easily, causing designs to deform quickly. Discolorations are caused by the oxidation of silver or by the repeated use of soap and lotions on the skin in conjunction with jewelry.
Silver allergy can cause a reaction called contact dermatitis, which includes symptoms such as swelling, rashes, or pain. Other less expensive solutions include keeping leather and silver clean, applying powder to the skin underneath the silver, and wearing jewelry less frequently. Because pure silver is too soft to be used in jewelry, nickel is added to sterling silver to improve its shine and strength.
