Red burning skin and blisters under my rings, what is it?

[WitchOfEndor]

I've never suffered from allergies before but a couple of months ago I started getting sore skin under my wedding/engagement rings. Didn't think much of it, tried putting on cream etc but now it's got a lot worse.

I've had my rings off for two weeks while the skin got less red and put them back on on Friday, started getting itchy after the first few hours, by Saturday morning I had two red rings round my finger with blisters developing, took my rings off last night and the red rings and blisters are still there and occasionally feel red hot. what can this be? I can't think of anything in my environment that's changed in that time. I want to be able to wear my rings again, help!

[mausmaus]

sounds like a contact allergy.
what kind of rings are they?

[wingcommandergallic]

Are you just not drying your hands properly under your rings?

And do you clean your rings?

[WitchOfEndor]

mausmaus They're platinum and I've worn them for over five years so not sure why I would enact now.

wingcommandergallic I'm drying them as much as I've always dried them! I think. Not sure what I would use to clean them?

I tried wearing the rings on my other finger last night to see if the reaction spread but had a panic when I really struggled to get them off this morning! I have put on weight, maybe they are just rubbing more?

[MrsMinton]

Mine does this randomly. My ring is very wide and if I leave it off it heals and is fine. I'm not sure if it's a bit of dermatitis from getting soap under it and not drying it right.

[coastergirl]

I've had this problem on a couple of occasions, different causes both times.

The first was with just my engagement ring (with my ex) which was 18ct white gold. I was getting soap caught under it, so took it off for a few days to allow it to heal and then was just extra careful about making sure I rinsed soap and dried properly under my ring. That really helped.

The second occasion was worse really. This was with my engagement and wedding rings, again both are 18ct white gold. I'd worn my engagement ring for 14 months prior to the wedding with no problems at all. Was fine with the wedding ring at first too, then 4 months after the wedding I noticed that the skin under my rings was red and blistered, and flaky. With a bit of trial and error I realised that my skin was only reacting to my wedding ring, and not my engagement ring. Despite my husband's insistence that the reason was that my wedding ring was blessed by a priest (ha bloody ha), I was determined to figure out why! I could only wear the ring for an hour or so before my skin reacted. Eventually a jeweller suggested that it might have been the polish that was applied when the ring was first made, so I sent both rings off to be cleaned and replated by H Samuel. Had them resized at the same time as I've put on weight. This has solved the problem! I'm so pleased, I can wear my rings again. So you might have developed an allergy to the polish that's been used? Maybe get them repolished and see if that helps. Sorry that was a long ramble for a tiny bit of advice!

[PassTheCremeEggs]

This happened to me recently. It was just a build up of soap and hand cream under the rings causing a skin irritation. Make sure you twist the rings round as you wash your hands to get the water underneath them, and ideally take them off when putting hand cream on. That should sort it.

[trixymalixy]

Got this when work changed the hand soap in the toilets. I stopped using the soap and the irritation stopped.

[WitchOfEndor]

Thanks coastergirl think I need to take them in for polishing and maybe get them made a bit bigger (although I'm hoping to shift some weight!)

passthecremeeggs yes will try twirling them round.

trixymalixy actually now I think about it we have had a new soap at work but I thought it was a bit earlier than the problem started. I've been told that nettle soap is good for sore skin so I've ordered some and I'm going to take it to work when it arrives so I can avoid using the work soap.

[suzannec091982]

I get this if I wear any metals other than gold, I can't even wear a watch and doctor told me it is contact dermatitis.

[Iamblossom]

My rings have gaps under the jewels where water gets trapped and I get this when that happens. It helps if I take them off at night.

[merlehaggard]

It happens to me if I don't dry my hands properly. I take them off for a bit and let it dry off.

[WitchOfEndor]

The blisters have dried up and peeled off now but the skinbdoes get red when I use the soap at work so I cant wait till my nettle soap gets delivered, I hope it works. I have been so careful to completely dry my hands after each eash, I cant remember what it was like before when my skin didn't react!

[BasketzatDawn]

I get this now and then, quite randomly, and find what helps is a few ring-free days. To keep it at bay, I try to be really careful about rinsing and drying when I wash hands. And use some prescription ointments when it gets bad. Also keep them moisturised and use very mild soap.