Piercing Allergies
How can you avoid and treat allergic reactions to piercings? Our experience explains.
Piercing Allergies
Piercings can bring great pleasure to their wearers. They beautify the overall appearance and can also serve as a statement. However, they also have the potential for unpleasant secondary reactions, such as infections or wild flesh. This also includes allergic reactions. With piercings, contact allergies are often a reason why the piercing canal does not heal without problems. Here you can find out everything you need to know about piercing allergies.
- Piercing complications with allergies
- Nickel allergy
- Allergy to piercing tools
- Allergy to care products
Piercing complications with allergies
The symptoms of a contact allergy are manifold and usually appear about 24 hours after contact with the skin. For example, the skin around the pierced area may itch or ooze. Redness and swelling are also signs of an allergic reaction. In the worst case, small blisters can also form around the puncture site or an inflammation can be triggered by the allergy.
If you notice one or more of these symptoms on your [piercing] and think it may be an allergic reaction, you should see your piercer. He or she will be able to tell if it is an allergic reaction or a normal reaction after piercing.
Nickel allergy
The allergy most commonly associated with piercings is nickel allergy. About one out of five people in England suffers from this. Women are affected more often than men because they wear nickel-containing jewellery more often, for example, in the form of earrings.
Nickel enters the body through the pierced earlobe, where sensitisation to the substance takes place. The allergy is mainly manifested by redness, itching and a skin rash on the part of the body that came into contact with the nickel.
Affected people should definitely have Nickel Free Piercing jewellery inserted. We recommended you Titanium Piercing is made of titanium, as this metal is 100% nickel-free. PTFE body jewellery and Bioflex Piercing can also be worn without hesitation, because these materials are made of plastic and are therefore nickel-free.
It is better to avoid jewellery made of surgical steel if you have a nickel allergy. However, yellow Gold Piercing jewellery is also suitable.
Allergy to piercing tools
Allergies to the tools used for piercing are less common, but they do occur. For example, a latex allergy can cause problems when a piercing is pierced, because the disposable gloves that are used are typically made of this material. When the latex comes into contact with the skin, it can cause allergic reactions that have a negative effect on the healing of the piercing. If such a latex allergy is already known in advance, it is absolutely necessary to inform the piercer about it before the piercing so that he uses latex-free gloves. It is also advisable to inform the piercer about any known allergies so that he is able to advise you as well as possible and contact with allergenic substances can be avoided.
Allergy care products
The care products used to treat the pierced body Jewelry during the healing period can also lead to allergic complications if you are allergic to any of the ingredients. Therefore, it is recommended to inform the piercer about all existing allergies and additionally to check the ingredients of the care products before application.
If no allergens are known beforehand, the diagnosis can be difficult, because the symptoms of an allergy can easily be confused with the usual difficulties in the healing phase. If none of the usual treatment measures help, it may be advisable to have an allergy test done.
