You may find after wearing metal jewellery that your skin becomes inflamed, red and itchy around the area where the metal was touching it.
This is your skin having an adverse reaction to nickel; it’s an incredibly common allergy in the UK and can affect you at any age.
However many women don’t realise they have a nickel allergy until they use their Kegel8 for the first time and experience itching and discomfort as a result of the nickel in the electrodes on their probe.
Why Do I Get A Rash After Wearing Metal Jewellery?
This is because sensitivity to nickel does not always occur every time you come into contact with it. Some people may find they are allergic to the studs on jeans, but wearing jewellery which contains nickel does not affect them at all. Equally bizarre is that if you’ve had an adverse reaction in the past, let’s say on your wrist, you could wear nickel again elsewhere on your body and see the rash reappear on your wrist but not in the area that the nickel touched you.
Am I Likely To Develop a Nickel Allergy?
Some people develop a nickel allergy all of a sudden, having had years without any reaction to it at all. The medical world is unsure what exactly makes some people allergic to it and not others, which is why there is no proven explanation why nickel allergies can occur, or disappear, at random.
What has been discovered though is that nickel allergies are more likely to be developed in certain professions; hairdressers, nurses, caterers, cash handlers and anyone handling metals on a daily basis are more likely to become sensitive to nickel at some point.
Can I Use My Kegel8 If I Have a Nickel Allergy?
Because nickel allergy is so common, and more prevalent in women than men, we feel it’s important that gold-plated probes are available to you to use with your Kegel8 so that you don’t have to put up with the discomfort of using a nickel probe. We’ve recently developed the unique Kegel8 Gold-Plated probe, which is identical in shape and design to the standard Kegel8 probe but with gold electrodes which are kind to your skin. Our gold probes are made using a gold plated nickel-free process ensuring they are suitable for those with nickel allergies.
The great thing about gold electrodes is they’re more conductive than standard metal ones, so not only will you be protecting yourself from a nickel allergy, you’ll also be getting a more effective workout.
If you experience itching and discomfort after using a standard metal probe, you should stop using your Kegel8 for a couple of days and let the skin calm down. When you feel like things are back to normal start exercising again with a gold-plated probe, and you should find that you don’t have any problems.
Our brand new Kegel8 Ultra 20 electronic pelvic toner now includes a Kegel8 nickel free gold probe as standard, meaning that everyone, nickel allergy or not, can enjoy the benefits of a strong and healthy pelvic floor.