tell me about nickel allergies :(

[Erii]

alright, let me start off, I stretched my ears on June 1st with stainless steel, 14g pinchers. if you don't know what they are, this is what they look like exactly, its the same purchase (pinchers are the curved one) 14g is small, and I plan on just staying at that size for a while, well at first, one of my ears was a bit red and swollen, I got some saline solution and after a day it looked almost back to normal, about 2 days ago, the cartlige part of my ear (not by the piercing) began getting very very itchy (it feels more itchy than a bug bite) it is very uncomfortable. It happened in both ears, they are hot, red and itchy like I said. (that rhymed) and well its moving down my ear, its by the piercing now, but not the piercing itself, my ears feels like they have mini bumps on my ears. Now they are red and itch all over. I had my own guess, but its probably wrong, I got the saline solution on that part of my ear, so i don't know if that caused it, i have been cleaning them daily though so its not an infection I called a local pharmacy, and talked to the person and she said she thinks its a nickel allergy, although it took 2 weeks to show? and I have never had any other problems with nickel that i am aware of....she told me to get hydrocortisone cream and to take the earrings out, and possibly take benadryl to prevent spreading. Well I have a few problems/questions... 1. i don't want the hole to close, so I would need to replace the earring (could I maybe try putting the small plug in, instead of the pincher) 2. its only been 2 weeks since the stretch, would it be safe to put acrylic in 3. do you think it is a nickel reaction? do i even need to remove the earring 4. will the hydrocortisone cream help alone? will someone tell me what is going on...??? my ears hurt so bad from the itching, I have to like tie my arms to something so i don't itch them haha I can upload a photo too if that would be helpful edit, I have also been putting neosporin on the itchy parts of my ear (NOT on the piercing)

[Marvo]

99% of the time, stainless steel is not nickel. 1% of the time, which is most of the time, this nickel does not cause allergic reactions. Your issues might be related to the fact that you're destroying your body for reasons you will regret in no more than 2 years. Take a picture of your ears and post it in this thread: http://www.dreamviews.com/f48/this-thread-117039/

[dakotahnok]

I wouldn't think that those would be nickel.

[Erii]

I wouldn't think that those would be nickel. I know they are stainless steel, they have nickel in them FUCKING FUCK MY EARS HURT ahhh. 99% of the time, stainless steel is not nickel. 1% of the time, which is most of the time, this nickel does not cause allergic reactions. Your issues might be related to the fact that you're destroying your body for reasons you will regret in no more than 2 years. Take a picture of your ears and post it in this thread: http://www.dreamviews.com/f48/this-thread-117039/ it's not at the peircing, and the size is only 14g, look at how small that is. Regardless if its from the piercing or not, how can i get rid of this

[Marvo]

Ok. Are you sure it's not an infection? A bit of googling told me that the nickel is very unlikely to cause an allergic reaction, due to how it is bound in the steel alloy.

[Erii]

Ok. Are you sure it's not an infection? A bit of googling told me that the nickel is very unlikely to cause an allergic reaction, due to how it is bound in the steel alloy. Yeah I am almost 100% sure its not an infection, because the actual hole in my ear is fine, its mostly my cartilage and behind my ear....its sort of on my neck behind my ear too. I think I am just going to put my original earrings in I got when they were first pierced, then let them close back to original size and heal completely before I do anything else... I read these symptoms and they are exactly what I have Rash or bumps on the skin Itching, which may be severe Redness or changes in skin color the only thing is, after 2 weeks? that's a bit late, the pharmacist said that even though its been 2 weeks, the ears recognized it and it could still possibly be the nickel

[Marvo]

Leprosy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Erii]

Leprosy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Marvo]

It fits.

[Erii]

I seriously need some help here xD would the hydrocortisone cream work if it wasn't an allergic reaction? I just cleaned my ears really good, and they are itching a bit less and are a bit less red...I think this all might have happened from me just itching my ears really bad one day from them being dry or something similar It fits. hopefully my ear doesn't fall off

[Dannon Oneironaut]

Dude, take the fuckin earrings out. Seriously. If you just cannot live without stretching your ears they have cool stretching earrings made of bone, ivory nut, wood, etc. I think that saline solution is just salt water. How are you disinfecting anything? With H2O2 or Alcohol? EDIT: yes they can get dry from too much cleaning.

[Erii]

Dude, take the fuckin earrings out. Seriously. If you just cannot live without stretching your ears they have cool stretching earrings made of bone, ivory nut, wood, etc. I think that saline solution is just salt water. How are you disinfecting anything? With H2O2 or Alcohol? EDIT: yes they can get dry from too much cleaning. I know, but I don't have the money for those, and I'm just gonna stay at this size, and no I don't use alcohol, its too strong. My ears have stopped burning and itching, and yah saline is just salt water, it helps a lot

[MadMonkey]

Did you ever consider going to the doctor?

[Erii]

yes I did, I wouldn't go to the doctor until it gets worse... I went to the pharmacy and talked to the pharmacist, it is an allergic reaction. I got some hydrocortisone cream, it helps already except my ears still itch badly, it is starting to spread to my neck and part of my cheek, but its just bumps there, D: