One of the biggest ways we allow toxins to seep through our skin and into our bodies is by wearing costume jewelry. Costume jewelry is considered any jewelry made with copper, brass, silver, titanium, and more. Each individual person’s body reacts differently to costume jewelry; however, when someone is allergic to costume jewelry, it is very noticeable. There will be a green line or mark on your skin (wherever the jewelry is located). The reason that there is a green line or mark is that your skin is eating away at the chemicals in the jewelry. So, what are ways to combat these issues and still wear a piece of jewelry as a statement?

If you are allergic to copper, titanium, or any other material that you notice, it is best that you limit the number of times you wear these pieces. For instance, if you notice your earrings starting to bother your ears by making them become itchy, swollen, or you may have a bump around your earlobe (this means you are highly allergic to the chemicals used in the jewelry). 

To help stop an infection in your ear, remove your earring and place a stem of garlic into your ear. The garlic should be a replacement for an earring post or bar, and it should be cut enough to hold in place and easy to take back out (leave it in for a week). The reason that this remedy works is that garlic is one of the best antioxidants, and it kills bacteria. 

In Southeast Asian culture, children get their ears pierced at a young age; however, families will leave the garlic stem in their ear hole for a week, and because it kills the bacteria, the ear hole will never close. It does not matter how long someone goes without wearing an earring; it will always stay open. 

At Stone International Wellness Center, we have many different treatments that vary depending on the skin texture. Some issues that patients may have are keloids, which form after a skin injury, either from a surgery or acne that never healed properly (just a few examples of a skin injury). Due to the complexity of the wound trying to heal itself, the healing process can be interrupted by an excessive amount of skin trying to heal the wound, causing a keloid to form and raise the skin.