Letter 38045

Nickel allergy caused by Violin  

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My name is Jenna and I am 16 years old. I played the violin for 7 years, before stopping earlier this year, after I developed an extreme allergy to nickel. On the violin, there is a chin rest that is attached to the instrument via metal arms. Because of the constant contact this had with my neck throughout the 7 years, I have rashes that appear all over my body at any time. If I touch anything at all for a matter of seconds that contains nickel, a rash will appear anywhere, never only at the place of contact, but on my arms, legs, neck, stomach, etc. It makes me very unhappy and I have been to the doctors a number of times but nothing they have given me works and I hate what has happened. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what may help? Thank You.

Jenna C.
student - Guisborough, Cleveland, England

Jenna, I sympathise with your situation. I have to say up front I am not a dermatologist or medical doctor, so my first advice is that you see a dermatologist and get your situation sorted out. It sounds as if you have become sensitised to nickel; this normally happens if you have had the metal in prolonged and direct contact with your skin for some considerable period - perhaps as long as years. You are not alone in this situation; approximately 15-20% of the UK population are allergic to nickel, but many do not even realise it as they will only see a reddening of the skin near to where the nickel has been. Most nickel allergies are associated with cheap jewellery, as they used to contain nickel. However, for a number of years, it has been illegal within the EU to sell nickel containing articles that are "...in prolonged and intimate contact with the skin..." . This gives me hope that a chin rest for the violin meets these criteria. If it does, all you need to do is to buy a new rest, but check with your musical supply shop that it is nickel free before spending any money! There is also a musical instrument manufacturer in the UK called Boosey and Hawkes who do electroplating of their products. (I am not sure if they have changed their name recently, but they will certainly be on the Internet in some guise and under Boosey and Hawkes). Try contacting them to seek further advice on whether they can help you; they may not manufacture violin chin rests, but they do have suitable plating processes. If they cannot, try contacting the Institute of Metal Finishing and/or the Metal Finishers Association for help. They are both based in Birmingham and should be able to tell you who can take your existing chin rest and replate it with a nickel-free coating. One useful thing about your situation is that you should only use good (and expensive!) jewellery with high purity gold, platinum, palladium or rhodium and you have a built-in test method that will give a fast response if some-one tries to cheat or mislead you - this will be very advantageous where prospective partners are concerned! Good luck and don't give up the violin.

Trevor Crichton R&D practical scientist - UK

Dear Jenna,

Trevor has given you the proper advice.

I have a very severe allergy to particular types of chemicals and the only way I have found to avoid a reaction is to know where they might be used (detergents, foodstuffs etc.) and to avoid these thingsor to protect against touching or ingestion. It takes quite a bit of detective work and observation to spot this but it can be done.

It is known that nickel must be solubilized before causing the allergic reaction so anything that will prevent this can be helpful.
Coating the violin parts which touch your skin with something like nail polish or some sort of heavy lacquer should help the situation but this coating must be renewed periodically because it will wear through.
You could also wear some sort of protective material between your skin and the metal part and discard it after use. Saran wrap which is very thin and clingy would do the trick.
Please don't give up on this because although it is a battle you can win it through perseverence!

Regards,

John Carlotto
Innovative Coatings LLC - Barrington Rhode, Island, USA

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