Is it good for sensitive ears? Yes. The stainless steel used in jewelry is almost 100% free of nickel, the main cause of skin allergies. Therefore, stainless steel earrings are generally safe for use by individuals with sensitive skin.

Generally speaking, Stainless steel and titanium will appeal to users who are comfortable with the more generic body jewelry pieces and are not predisposed to allergy reactions. For people who have heightened sensitivity and are predilect to allergy reactions, gold is the better option.

The best earrings for sensitive ears are generally made with gold, platinum, or silver. Make sure you buy earrings that are 14k gold or above or sterling silver 925 to avoid the possibility of nickel being mixed in.

If you take good care of your earrings but still end up with an earring hole infection, the type of earrings you’re wearing could be to blame. “Allergic reactions to jewelry are generally due to metal allergies, most commonly nickel but also cobalt and gold,” Shah said.

Some background on earring allergies: Fine earrings, particularly gold earrings, are almost always an alloy as well because pure gold is too soft for jewelry. Alloys can be particularly bothersome for the human body, because they can contain trace amounts of many different highly reactive metals.

Jewelry containing nickel or gold can cause allergic contact dermatitis if a person has an allergy to these metals. It’s important to keep in mind that, even if your ring is gold, traces of nickel in the metal can trigger an allergic reaction.

Nickel allergy is a common cause of allergic contact dermatitis — an itchy rash that appears where your skin touches a usually harmless substance. Nickel allergy is often associated with earrings and other jewelry. But nickel can be found in many everyday items, such as coins, zippers, cellphones and eyeglass frames.

An allergic reaction to metal looks similar to an allergy like poison ivy. You’ll notice redness, bumps, and/or blisters, and it feels itchy and irritated. It can look like other allergies but we know it’s jewelry because of the placement.

Symptoms typically include redness, itching, rash, and swelling around the earring area, she says. If this sounds all too familiar, she recommends cleaning your ear with fragrance-free soap and water before applying hydrocortisone cream to the affected place until it heals.

The good news is that crusting is quite common after getting a body piercing, and it’s the result of your body’s natural healing process. This crusting is the result of the dead blood cells and plasma drying out when exposed to the air – these body fluids will always make their way to the surface during healing.