For the last couple of weeks I haven't been able to wear my (gold) engagment and wedding ring, because my finger has gone all yucky! The skin under my rings has gone really hard, but flaky, and in the right light it looks a little bit green, like when you wear costume jewellery.

I wear a gold bracelet and necklace and they are fine, so I don't think I have suddenly become alergic to gold, and I haven't used anything different as in creams or cleaners.

I have worn my rings constantly for over 4 years and never had a problem with them, even when I started hairdressing and had sore hands from the constant wet and chemicals involved then.

Does anyone know what it could be?

Have you cleaned the ring lately? Could be something underneath it irritating the skin?

Yes I tried that when it first started playing up, and left them both off for a few days to let the skin heal, it got better so I put them back on. They were back off within 2 hours and my sore finger was back to square one again.

Try leaving them both off until it heals and then put one on without the other. Perhaps there is something in one that is irritating the skin that is not in your other gold jewellery?

Well the skin does seem worse around my engagment ring which does have a diamond in it, but I have never heard of people having a reaction to diamonds.

Natalie I had to leave mine off for weeks and it took the whole year nearly to settle right down.

I took mine off after I divorced him :D :D  Haven't had a problem since :D

TEE HEE Chloe :-D :-D   My OH kept saying to me that someone was telling me something :-)

Could it be contact eczema, irritant or allergic?  I have suffered from this ocassionally in the past, under my rings too.  I've found a steriod cream, hydrocortisone etc to be beneficial in helping it to clear up, but you should really either speak to a pharmacist or your doctor to get proper advice. :)

I have never suffered with any eczema before, but I suppose there has to be a first time :) I think I will just show the pharmacist next time I'm down in the town.

I don't suppose anyone has a sharp knife or a pair of scissors? If it carries on itching as much as this, I am going to cut it off!! ;)

Thanks all for the advice :)

:) Absolutely there is a first time for everything, I had never suffered from it before either and I rarely have since that first time, but from your description it also sounds like your sore hands previously could have been some sort of irritant ecxema?  If you do a search, I'm sure you could come up with some descriptions, but I would definitely mention it to a pharmacist, I know how irritating it can be!

Hi Natalie,

I have sensitive skin a lot so I got Platinum Engagement and wedding rings had been fine for a few years but when I had my first litter of pups boy did my finger get sore under the ring.  I think my hands were wet more than usual and constantly cleaning and washing with detol etc caused a bit of a problem. It took a year nearly to setting down.

I think we maybe get more sensitive as we get older and also the body change theory.

I think I will go and see the chemist when I go in to the town. Apart from not being able to wear my rings (which I feel naked without!) the worst thing is the itching, and once I start scratching it, I can't stop for love nor money!

What you describe about your hands Blue, is very much the same as what I had when I started hairdressing, it is just because they get wet and dried so often and the chemicals (in your case detergent) just breaks down the skin, you can get a barrier cream that worked a treat with mine, and I never suffered with it again.

With this I have tried using a very mild moisturiser, but it hasn't done anything. I will see what the chemist says.

Thanks again everyone, at least when I am typing I can't scratch it!

It sounds like you have got a touch of dermotitus.  My husband gets it under his finger as well.  It might be worthwhile going to the doctors to get some steroid cream to solve it quickly then using some barrier cream to prevent further infection.

you could try eurax cream (think i spelt it right) from the chemist, works on all kinds of itchiness.
i had an allergic reation to a plant, came up in big itchy blisters on my legs. i used to have problems with watches aswell, didnt matter what metal it was. big round itchy sore patch. i had to wear the watch on the other arm which didnt react........ but that cream certainly helped me :-)
i can wear what i like now :D

Sorry Thomas-the-Spot, I mustn't have been very clear, I used the barrier cream whilst I was hairdressing, I haven't used it for my finger because I think it needs to be able to breathe whilst it is healing.

I feel silly going to the doctors for a tiny bit of dry skin! They will think I have gone bonkers! :D

I have had my rings off now for almost a week and it is actually looking a lot better, sorry for those of you that get a bit queasy, but a lot of the flaky skin fell off yesterday and it is almost healed, still itches like mad though..... :( Hubbie said to hold a peice of ice on it so it goes numb and then you wont feel the itch, not a good idea! It did work at first, but then it started coming back to life and itched more than ever!

I had a similar thing, what had happened was that I had put on a bit or weight :( and it was warm so fingers were a bit bigger from that as well. It was just enough to result in soap getting left under the ring. Took the rings off and treated with eurax to stop itching and aloe to heal. All ok now, except that I cannot get rings back on :O  

"the
worst thing is the itching, and once I start scratching it, I can't stop
for love nor money!"

That is exactly how mines was Natalie, in fact I used to wake up at night it was so itchy :-D

A right pain eh?

I am not a big jewellery person but always wear my wedding rings and felt so bare also.

Fingers crossed you will get to the bottom of it..

I've got exacty the same problem at the moment.  I first got the itching/soreness many years ago and I put it down to my wedding ring being 9ct and my engagement ring 18 ct.  Once I left off the engagement ring it healed completely and didn't recur. Wearing the wedding ring on its own was fine.
But recently hubby bought me an eternity ring which, although 9ct, has started the problem up again.  It's especially bad when my hands and figures get warm. Looks like I'll have to forego wearing 2 rings on the same finger.

7 year itch Blue? :D :D

LOL maybe that is what it was :-) better not tell him.

This is interesting as I haven't been able to wear my wedding ring or engagement ring for most of my marriage - I'm allergic to gold jewellery of any kind so I had silver replicas made.  I can wear any sterling silver jewellery but no type of gold.  My skin goes green/black then starts to break down and itch   I always thought it was psychological as I didn't reallywant to get married, I wanted to live 'In Sin' :D :D :D But it would have really upset our parents :rolleyes:

My OH reckons its a good thing as Silver jewellery is much cheaper than gold :rolleyes:

LOL Dill,

I got Platinum rings made ( don't ask how much) because it is supposed to be the most hypoallergenic. I think my problem isn't or wasn't actually the rings just that the were wet undeneath the rings for a good few weeks so much .

You will have to tell you OH about the platinum ;-) that will sort him out. :-D

LOL

I did, but he wouldn't buy me anything that could hurt my poor sensitive skin (bless) and we couldn't afford pure platinum :(  Luckily I really love silver anyway and you can even buy silver and Diamonds these days :D

My finger started to itch a while ago and it turned out to be the washing up liquid -It was just trail and error till I found what it was -sometimes the ingredients change and you're not aware of it 

I occasionally get these sorts of symptoms too - with me it seems to be a yeast or fungal infection and a standard athletes foot treatment does the trick ;)

Wait until your finger heals, then paint the inside of the rings with clear nail varnish.  That might do the trick!!

I am also allergic to gold...my fingers itch like mad and i have flaky skin on my fingers when i scratch them :-( sometimes they are so sore, when this problem first occured the doctor wasn't sure what was wrong so she took bloods and tested me for arthurtis of the skin :-( because i came out in a butterfly rash all over my face and fingers....so now i shouldn't wear gold.....but i do, when my fingers start to flare up i just take them off :-)

I have had this problem over the years been married more years than I care to remember (only joking) it occurs with me when I dont dry my hands properly you'll find if you leave rings off for a few days  after it heals up make sure you always take your rings off and dry underneath them and it should be fine.