Wedding Ring Rash

I heard a woman ask the same question on Dr. Dean Edell's radio program. Just like the other mama's said, detergents can get under the ring and irritate. Also, the only metal that doesn't contain nickel is platinum, so even if you have a 24k gold ring, it's still going to have trace amounts of nickel which can cause irritation.

Hi A., My daughter and I both have that problem. My daughter is 25, in fact she has not been able to where her ring for a few weeks now. I get it too, especially when it gets hot. I really don't think it has anything to do with pregnancy, since my daugher nor I are pregnant. My daugher actually was told by her DR to use hydracortisone (sp) cream. It worked for her. I have used it too, but it comes and goes. You could try something like that, or call your DR for something stronger. Good Luck...and Congrats on your baby boy

Dear A.,
The same thing happened to me. I started to take off my ring when I was home and applying liberal amounts of petroleum jelly or neosporin to it. I would wear it while I was out but felt I needed to let my finger breathe as much as possible to heal. Since it has healed I make sure to take it off when peeling fruit (oranges), washing hand and showering. This way I limit the residual acids or soaps that get between my ring and finger.
At first I was paranoid about losing it but I put little boxes next to each sink and that helps out a lot.

Hope this helps,

S.

Hi. You know I had the exact same thing happen to me, not long after having my daughter (she's 11yr old now). It was actually a combo of things. Yes, detergents do get caught up under your ring and should take it off when using "any" kind of detergents. Also check the sizing, you may have changed. I ended up have excema, but it's one that only affects your hands and is actually nicknamed "House wives desease" (I can't remember the actual name) because of all the chemicals house wives use irritate the skin and make the excema worse. I ended up not wearing my rings anymore and have special cream when I have a "act up" which now has spread to my fingers and inbetween them. Otherwise the dermotologist said to use lotion all the time. Wash your hands and then use lotion...everytime. Hope this helps.

M.

It sounds like what I had years ago which turned out to be eczema . I think you should go and see a dermatologist for some cream. It quickly took mine away and it's never come back.

I am allergic to yellow gold (so was my grandma). It will almost blister me, and also cracks around bubbles. I found this out with my first wedding band. It was thick band and had birds and flowers inscribed around outside -so pretty. Right beneath it occcured the rash. I was not pregnant either. Then my mom told me about my grandma. I also have nickel allergies, by this I mean sometimes the rivets in jeans will cause a (small, not the crackly blisters) skin reaction. THAT SAID, I can wear white gold, platinum, and good sterling. I cannot wear necklaces AT ALL (they stain my neck in the collarbone hollows!). I have to be careful with earrings too - do not sleep in them, only GOOD gold/metals and even then I sometimes will get weird breakout below. (Earrings are my weakness though, since I cant wear necklaces of metal)
Nickel is often used in jewelry; gold or sterling alone is soft, other metals are used to strengthen.Sometimes nickle does NOT bother me which leads me to believe what I put in my mouth can affect it, but don;t know what. But pregnancy does do weird things, maybe yours will pass. I had to change perfumes every time I was pregnant! I am surprised the jeweler did not mention gold allergy! IF the ring didnot bother you this way for a long time before, I would assume it will/may change when yr body is all back to not preggers stage. But remember - just because you were never allergic to something before does not insure future protection. This applies to everything! Pollen, medicine etc. I was not allergic to penicillian until I was 35, but man I AM NOW! I know you hate NOT to wear it, but I suggest going ring free til finger is normal and try again. If still isssues, consider another type of gold? OH! and if i wear FILAGREED yellow gold, it will not blister me, but it can breathe see? And filagree is weak, not at all suitable for a wedding ring. I just avoid yellow gold and low carat gold, sounds snooty but Iam so not ! (: Good luck!

what is your ring made of? sounds like an allergy to me. i know people who are allergic to nickel and their skin reacts the same way.

if your ring is pure gold or platinum, that's weird. i've never heard of that happening with 24 ct stuff.

I too have the same problem of a rash between my pinky and ring finger. It was irritated after I had my ring cleaned at the jewelers. The jeweler also re-enforced the back of the ring with white gold.I think my skin was aggravated by the white gold. It finally went away with lots of lotion, and olive oil, and a better diet. I have also started to use gloves when cleaning the house, and that has helped tremendously. My sister is an esthetician, and she always says that our skin mimics our health inside our bodies. I wasn't eating right, nor was I protecting my skin from harmful chemicals. Those changes have helped me feel healthier. I'm almost ready to wear my ring again. I hope this helps! Congrats on your little one :-)

Happened to me (platinum). I was careful to keep my finger clean and moisturized, and left the ring off when I could. Eventually it just went away (after a few months, if I remember). Just had my 2nd baby 9 months ago and it didn't recur. Hang in there - it might not be chronic. :)

It happened to my mom, who in the end was joyous (Parents divorced.) and she painted the inside of her rings with clear nail polish. This protected her skin from the metal.

She does it to her watches too. When she had pierced ears, the posts were painted.

Stephanie

Hi A.
it's probably not the ring in as so much as detergent/soap residual getting caught under it. When you wash your hands, take the ring off and make sure you wash the soap completely off and dry your hands thoroughly. I have had that rash MANY times, in fact I have had it on fingers where I don't have a ring. I used to get it right before my period (which made me think it was hormonal in part) I very seldom get it these days. BUT the things that are different for me are as follows: one.. I used to eat more sugar and that would really spark it (another reason why I think it was candida related) two, I drink less than 4 oz of coffee a day (used to be up to 20 oz) and three, I drink lots of water. I definitely think diet played a role and when I ate better, I felt better and low and behold the rash was cleared up. Believe me, sometimes I would get those bumps and they were sooooooooooo itchy!! it would drive me nuts.. also, you might have a bit of hayfever, which I think makes matters worse.. a little benadryl helps but does make you sleepy.......
The doctor can give you cream for it, but that only wks so well... eventually, I just had to make dietary changes.
best of luck to you!!
p.s. my son is also named Lorenzo :)

I had the same thing happen to my finger. My wedding ring is white gold. I thought maybe I had an allergy to the metal but then I discovered it was the hand sanitizer that I was using. I stopped using hand sanitizer and just washed my hands with soap and water and it went away. Hope that helps!

Maybe try coating the inside of your ring with clear fingernail polish to creat a barrier.
J.

I had really thin fingers when my husband and I got married ( 4 3/4). Then I developed rheumatoid arthritis. Since I have erratic swelling in my hands, it didn't make sense to have the rings resized, sometimes they would be too large, sometimes they would be too small. So I wear them on a necklace instead.

Sounds like it might be excema. Try a cortisone cream along with all the great suggestions already given.

This also happened to me when I had my first baby. It was caused by soap and moisure getting trapped under the ring. What I did was take the ring off completly until the rash went away. I lost the weight I had gained during my pregnancy so my ring was not as tight. Then for a while I always made sure to rinse my hands well and keep it dry under the ring. I haven't had any trouble since (13 years ago). I still wear the same ring and never take it off. Good luck!!

The same thing happened to me while I was pregnant and for about 6 few months after. I do not have any skin allergies so I was surprised by this. My sister who is a doctor did confirm it was a rash and probably caused by the friction of the ring against the skin. It could have been hormonal because once I was finished breastfeeding it went away and has not returned.

I would vote for the "water and detergents getting trapped under it" as the chief suspect. My husband has always had trouble under his wedding band so he takes it off every night and makes sure it doesn't get wet underneath it. I never had trouble until I upped how much I washed my hands after my daughter was born.

I have three rings, and while the two wedding bands sit directly on my skin, my engagement ring has a cavity directly under the stone where water and lotion can get trapped. If I only wear the bands then I don't have a problem. When I wear the engagement ring while washing my hands and putting lotion on and the skin underneath sits in the moist environment under the ring then I get a little itchy rash. I just take off the engagement ring and the band that matches it for a day or so and it heals up just fine.

H.

I know it sounds gross or silly, but it can be a fungal
rash like athletes foot. Simple to rule it out by using a topical antifungal like lotrimin. Also avoid old rubber gloves, and dry the area before replacing the ring, whenever it gets wet...
And baby can get a fungal diaper rash too...
If you have it , other may too...

I have the same problem with my wedding ring (and ONLY my wedding ring) since my daughter (now 3) was born. My finger would burn, blister and swell so bad I couldn't get my ring off unless I soaked my finger in ice. Ended up taking it to a jeweler that sized my ring up a size so I could get my ring off it my finger became swollen but not so big it would fall off. We also had it deep cleaned and he suggested I keep a coating of clear nail polish on the inside. His only suggestion was if that didn't work I'd have to change my setting from White Gold to Platinum or Titanium. I don't wear my ring unless we are going someplace and always try to remember to take it off before I go to sleep at night. Good luck!

A.

Yes, this happened to me too before I was ever pregnant. I took it off as much as I could, only wearing it out of the house. I think the design of mine trapped a lot of water under it (and soap, etc.) so I began to dry carefully when I did wear it too (removing it to wash and dry...just don't forget it in a public restroom!) That helped a ton, and yes, hydorcortizone (sp?) cream for the itching and rash.

Another friend of mine got the same thing (also not pregnant at the time) and had her jeweler put a coating on it which cleared her rash up. I personally would not use clear nail polish--have you ever read what's in there?!? Things like Formaldyhide (sp?)--yes, the stuff they preserved the dead frogs in back in HS Science class! Maybe ask another trusted jeweler or two.

Good luck!

I am so glad that you asked this question. I have the same problem and was concerned about it. Alot of people responded that it could be a nickle allergy but my ring is platinum so now Im thinking that it is due to the detergents etc... that get stuck. Thanks again and good luck, hope it clears soon.

I got this, too - it's an allergic reaction, unfortunately, and I don't think there's any real way to be rid of it other than changing rings :-( I ended up having to get a new wedding ring in order to wear one again (but I have bad metal allergies to begin with, so it may have been more significant for me).

My wedding band used to do this all the time (in fact I hardly wore it because of this). It has stones in a channel setting - so there is room for lotion/soap/dirt to get trapped against my skin. The jeweler sized it up a bit and now the rash doesn't happen. Good luck!

Hello A.,
I too had that problem after my son was born. I was told that I had become sensitive to one of the minerals (due to hormonal changes) used to make my ring. Unfortunately, I was unable to wear my wedding ring for more than a few hours for several years. The good news is, it's not forever, I am back to wearing my ring again. Give it a little time.