Jewellery & rashes

[Sally]

I get an rash now and again under my wedding ring. My finger starts to itch, then it gets little tiny blisters under the wedding band. These then burst and scab over. It's quite painful. I deliberately had my wedding and engagement rings made from platimum as I was told there was less chance of being allergic to the metal. But this is not so. This also happens to someone else I know.

Any tips to stop this from happening?

Thank you .

[Dr Anton Alexandroff]

Hello,

although skin reaction to platinum (allergic contact dermatitis) is rare, it is still possible. Alternatively you may react to nickel contained in the ring. Alternatively soap may get trapped under the ring and irritate skin (irritant contact dermatitis).

You need to see a dermatologist first and she/he may arrange patch testing (allergy test) first and take it from there.

with best wishes,

[Wendy Green]

Hi Sally,

This sounds like dyshydrotic dermatitis (also known as pompholyx) which is often triggered by contact with an irritant. As Dr Alexandroff said, this could be a component of the ring such as the platinum or nickel, or soap trapped under the ring.

I've suffererd fom this myself in the past and found that steroid cream helped to relieve the itching and clear it up.

To prevent it from recurring, you could try using aqueous cream instead of soap to wash your hands - you could carry a small pot around with you for convenience. I would also recommend moisturising your hands regularly with an emollient like Oilatum, which would help to lubricate the skin and protect it from irritants.

I hope this helps,

Best wishes,

Wendy

[Nurse_Janet_Keyworth]

Hi sally
As well as the good information given by my colleagues it is always worth looking at everything you are doing with your hands. wear rubber gloves for any pot washing and wet work as well as plastic gloves when pealing vegatables and fruit and any food preparation. When the hands are bad everything irritates them so wear gloves for washing hair and also gardening ect.

Washing with a moisturising wash or even your moisturising cream just reduces the contact you have with irritant substances.

Regards
Janet