what metal is best for sensitive ears
What metal is best for sensitive ears ？
Hypoallergenic Earring Material
There are a variety of metals that can be used to make hypoallergenic earrings. These materials include surgical steel, silver, gold, titanium, and plastic.
Surgical Steel
Surgical steel is often used to make hypoallergenic parts for earrings. This metal is not as costly as gold or silver. Surgical steel is generally reserved for the post in stud earrings, or the wire in hoop earrings that goes through the piercing. Because of its superior hypoallergenic properties it can be worn by nearly anyone, from infants to adults.
Silver
Silver is less expensive than gold, platinum or titanium and is often used to make earrings. However, silver is prone to oxidation, and this can sometimes cause the silver to turn black. The solution for tarnished silver jewellery is to use a special cloth to clean away the tarnish. Silver is used for earrings, pendants, bracelets, and necklaces, and is varies in terms of ‘fineness’, which like gold relates to the amount of pure silver in the piece of jewellery. Generally, silver earrings are made from sterling silver. This is an alloy made from pure silver and copper, and is then plated with a thin coating of 99.9 percent pure silver. Silver plating is often used to give a base metal the appearance of being actual silver.
Gold
Most earrings are made from gold with levels of purity such as 18kt, 14kt, 12kt, or 10kt. These levels of purity relate to the amount of other metals that are alloyed with pure gold. Pure gold is not used for jewellery because it is too soft to hold its shape. The addition of other metals helps harden the gold. Palladium and nickel are often used for this purpose, but the nickel can often cause allergic reactions in wearers so a wearer should steer clear of earrings made from gold alloyed with nickel.
Titanium
Titanium is often used in the medical field for medical implants because of its hypoallergenic properties. Earrings made from titanium are a good choice for an intended wearer with a nickel allergy. Titanium is an attractive silvery metal that is worn with both casual or more formal attire.
Tips for Buying Earrings for Sensitive Ears
Buy jewellery from high-end jewellery stores instead of costume jewellery shops at shopping centres, or look online for jewellery that is listed as hypoallergenic. You can search online sites like eBay for earrings made from pure metals like platinum, gold, surgical steel, titanium, niobium, and sterling silver. Purity is key. The buyer should consider the karats when it comes to gold and the fineness when it comes to silver jewellery.
Just because the jewellery is purported to be safe for sensitive skin, it is still a good idea to read the description of the earrings carefully to determine the composition of the metal prior to buying the earrings. An earring that is at least 18kt yellow gold is a good choice, as are platinum earrings. Although platinum can be quite a bit more expensive than gold, earrings made from this metal are hypoallergenic and so do not cause metal allergies.
If the piercing is the problem, the wearer should allow the piercing to close up and rather opt for earrings with clip-on fasteners.
