Nickel Sensitive

[RedsFan75]

I have a Gillette Slim Adjustable, I-1 date code. I also have a mild nickel allergy. I'm wondering if the exposure to the plating of the Slim could give me issues, or is my contact not enough to cause me trouble.

I don't react right away with nickel, but extended exposure does cause me issues. Example... I'm a bassist as my night/weekend job, and I had an extended set of gigs that involved me playing a couple of 3 hour gigs on Friday and Saturday then played at church on Sunday... normally not an issue, as I've done this several times... but I needed a certain sound for the Friday/Saturday gigs, so I put nickel strings on one of my basses to get the tone I wanted. At the end of the Saturday gig my fingers had started to blister under my calluses. Dr said it was the result of a nickel allergy. Needless to say I'm staying with steel strings from now on...

I know that realistic the contact with the plating on the Slim shouldn't cause too much trouble, but I'm wondering if it might be good to get one that's plated in say chrome or something else to switch out on occasion? Maybe even find a Weber DLC or something..

Thoughts?

 

[TheVez2]

I don't think the length of time the razor would be in contact with your face is long enough to be a concern.

 

[smalltank]

Well..my wife has an allergy to silver plated items including jewelery...try chrome or gold replate..even gunmetal color might be an option

 

[Copierguy]

I would do a search about "allergy" in this double edge forum. Next you may wish to have this talk with your Doc.
Also the blade could expose you to more if it scraped your skin during the shave.
I'm not a doctor here or on TV.

Happy New Year. and good luck.

 

[Krona Kruiser]

My wife has a nickel allergy and she found out by wearing these old nickel plated bracelets. The irritation occurs after having contact with the nickel for an about an hour.

 

[Foyle]

Gold plating would probably be a good idea. The thing with allergies is that the more you expose yourself to an allergen, the worse the sensitivity can become. Do chrome of rhodium give you any trouble? You could try one of those too.

 

[cb91710]

Did the doc (an actual allergist and not a GP I hope) actually test for a nickel allergy, or did he just assume?
Do you think that 6 hours playing on brand new strings didn't have anything to do with it? What is your typical weekend/practice time?
I used to play a lot in HS and college, but there were some weekends that we'd pull an "all nighter" and the next day my callouses would be peeling off.

 

[rxonmymind]

Definitely get tested instead of walking through life assuming. Aside from that the great thing about DE shaving is there are many, many alternatives to nickel. Rhodium, brass, Black military contract razor, gold, and finally silver. The only allergic reaction will be seeing your bank account collecting so many razors.

 

[RedsFan75]

Also the blade could expose you to more if it scraped your skin during the shave.

Did a lot of searching and reading the portion of the quote I left in is my concern.

..the more you expose yourself to an allergen, the worse the sensitivity can become. Do chrome of rhodium give you any trouble? You could try one of those too.

My fear, one of the reasons I brought it up.... Haven't noticed a problem with chrome, and haven't tried rhodium.

Did the doc (an actual allergist and not a GP I hope) actually test for a nickel allergy, or did he just assume?
Do you think that 6 hours playing on brand new strings didn't have anything to do with it? What is your typical weekend/practice time?
I used to play a lot in HS and college, but there were some weekends that we'd pull an "all nighter" and the next day my callouses would be peeling off.

I was seeing an allergist at the time, as they were working with me to diagnose some issues and it turned out to be a lot of food allergies, but he didn't do an actual test on me as the other ones that we were doing, he just examined my fingers. I do plan on talking to him about it next time I see him.

Playing wise, it only added a couple of hours to my time. I was playing with 3 bands at the time, and was usually playing regular 4 hour gigs on a weekend, and as to the nickel strings, they were actually smoother than the steel strings I normally used on my Lakland. The steel strings I was using there could be used as rope saw in a pinch! so I don't really think the playing was the issue!

... The only allergic reaction will be seeing your bank account collecting so many razors.

My biggest fear!!

I think I may pick up another razor to switch out occasionally, so as to help reduce exposure a bit. Thanks for the input guys.

 

[Mick]

As mentioned. Use a different plated razor.

Gold ones will be the easiest (and least expensive) to find as just about all makers offer some of their new products in gold plate.

If you enjoy your slim, you can have it re-plated but buying then having the plating redone will cost more than just getting a razor in a plated metal that you can use.

Don't tempt fate.

 

[chado006]

Gold plating would probably be a good idea. The thing with allergies is that the more you expose yourself to an allergen, the worse the sensitivity can become.

+1
If you really love your slim, look for an Executive Slim. Same razor except with gold rather than nickel plating. Should be able to pick one up for considerably less than getting yours re-plated.

 

[ateace]

Yes, it's best to avoid nickel wherever you can.
You can stay with steel strings and dial in your tone from the bass and amp if needed.

 

[raposo III]

like a physician, i must say you that "this fast skin touch will not cause of you alergic reaction in several rates.
buy one rhodium plated if you desire,but fast contact is not a problem...

 

[onotoman]

If you really like your Slim (which is a fantastic razor) and you prefer a silvery finish to that of Gold, then Rhodium, Black Chrome, Chrome or Silver are all possibilities.

Chrome, Rhodium, Gold and Silver are all actually applied over a coating of Nickel anyway and Chrome was introduced in more modern razors because of the allergy to nickel issue.

Rhodium and Gold are of course hypo-allergenic metals

If your razor plating is in good order, the nickel would just need to be 'activated' to remove the invisible layer of tarnish then one of the finishes above can be added.

 

[RedsFan75]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I've always had razor burn on my neck, didn't matter if it was DE, carts, or even electric. Heck it was worse the few times I used an electric. I know a lot of it is technique, but since I've been using my Slim it seems to have gotten worse, regardless of how careful I am with technique I still have bad razor burn like issues. This is the main reason I asked the question. I've been treating it with Tend Skin, and it has gotten much better, but I still get it flaring back even on a one WTG no pressure pass. Forget going ATG, half the time I don't even got XTG in that area, and still I get the irritation.

I've taken steps to remove nickel from other parts of my life, so I'll need to do it here as well. Just bought a gold plated Tech from BST...

ontoman, Awesome post. Thank you for the insight. I do prefer the silvery finish, I may have to consider the replate!

 

[Graybeard57]

Gold plating would probably be a good idea. The thing with allergies is that the more you expose yourself to an allergen, the worse the sensitivity can become. Do chrome of rhodium give you any trouble? You could try one of those too.

+1

 

[Ski-Patroller]

If your nickle allergy is severe you may need to worry about Stainless Steel also. Most of it has nickle as well as chrome as an alloy. Probably not a problem for short term exposure. S.S. Back watches are a problem for people with nickle allergies though.