[ Hypoallergenic Earrings ]
What is Metal Allergy ?
Metal allergy is a common occurrence, especially in people who wear pierced earrings. Symptoms of metal allergy, if you are indeed allergic, such as redness, itchiness, and localized swelling usually appear within 6 to 24 hours after close contact with certain metals.
Allergies that occur when wearing jewelry are most often a contact dermatitis called "nickel allergy". It can happen at any age and people react differently to nickel depending upon their sensitivity level. It is estimated that 10% to 20% of the population is allergic to some degree to nickel.

What Causes Nickel Allergy?
Jewelry nickel allergies are caused by trace amounts of the nickel in jewelry dissolving in moisture to form salts. Bathing, washing your hands, or sweating while wearing jewelry containing nickel, can transfer the nickel salts to your skin causing irritation if you do indeed have a have nickel allergy.
Another common problem for jewelry wearers, and one for which many people mistake metal allergies is red and itchy skin due to detergent or other chemical residue becoming trapped between jewelry and the skin. The problem might be solved with rinsing, but it is smart to remove your jewelry before using chemicals and cleaners.

What About Gold and Silver?
It is rare in the extreme to have an allergy to gold or silver. However, pure gold and silver metal are too soft to be useful on their own. Jewelers mix small amounts of zinc, copper, and or nickel into the pure gold and silver to form alloys such as 14 Karat gold and sterling silver in order to make metal hard enough to retain its shape and be durable.

Which metals make the best hypoallergenic earrings?
For people with a metal allergy, it is possible to wear jewelry, you just have to be aware of the severity of you allergy and what metals work for you.

The vast majority of people can safely wear:
24 karat gold
18 karat gold
14 karat gold
14 karat gold fill
Sterling silver
Fine silver
Niobium
Titanium
Aluminum
Stainless steel.

Some people are just extremely sensitive when it comes to metals. If you find that you are unable to wear sterling silver, which can contain a very small amount of nickel, try going to fine silver or 14 karat gold. If those still bother you, try gold only and up the karat amount to 18 karat gold. Pure gold is 24 karats and is very soft so it will be rare to find 24k gold jewelry, as well as pricey.