I spent thousands on a new pair of glasses, and she actually has an allergy to them?

According to statistics, the number of myopic people in my country has already exceeded 600 million. It is estimated that at least 2 out of every 5 people are myopic.

For most people, glasses are probably the "accessories" that they wear the longest against their skin. But for some people, this necessity that needs to be worn for a long time may be a potential allergen around them.

Some time ago, we received a request for help from a fan: she spent several thousand yuan to buy a new pair of glasses at an eyewear store, but after wearing them for a while, she developed an allergic reaction.

The area above the ear where the glasses arm touches begins to turn red, itchy, and peel.

After the consultation, the doctor suspected that it was an allergy, but after examining for half a day, he could not find out the cause.

What was even more unexpected was that after changing a pair of glasses, these symptoms actually disappeared on their own.

"Is there something wrong with the glasses?"

With such doubts, she found our technician to see if there was something wrong with her glasses.

After getting the glasses, the technician immediately thought of a word: nickel allergy.

Our old fans may be more familiar with this term. When we reviewed the r*fa beauty instrument before, we reminded everyone that it had a problem of excessive nickel content, and long-term use may cause skin allergies.

Unlike common allergies (such as drug and food allergies), even healthy people may have allergic reactions after being exposed to excessive amounts of metallic nickel. If the glasses frames really have excessive nickel content, then this fan should be the only one who has allergies.

I collected information from the company group and found that there were 11 cases of allergies within the company alone, with an allergy rate of 13%.

A quick search online reveals countless allergy cases:

We interviewed several colleagues with allergies, and most of them developed redness, swelling and rashes behind their ears after wearing glasses. The symptoms disappeared after changing glasses.

As luck would have it, two of my colleagues still had the glasses they wore at the time, so we collected these two pairs of glasses and sent them to the lab for testing, along with the glasses from the fans who asked for help.

After actual testing, we found that the culprit might indeed be this frame.

Next, let’s take a look at the test results.

01 Test Results 1. Nickel Release

The part of the frame that is closest to the skin is the temple, and most allergy cases occur behind the ears, so this time we measured the nickel release from the temple.

Since there is no standard requirement for nickel release from metal frames in China, we refer to the test methods and requirements in BS EN ISO 12870-2018 Ophthalmic optics - Spectacle frames - Basic requirements and test methods. According to the standard, the limit of nickel release from frames should be less than 0.5μg/cm²/week.

Our test results this time show that the nickel release of the three pairs of frames has exceeded the standard, and the excess is very serious.

Because there is a quantity requirement for the nickel release test samples, and considering that there may be deviations between the two temples, the laboratory only gave the results but did not make any judgment.

2. Metal composition

Before measuring the nickel release from the temples, we also specifically measured the metal composition of the temples.

Their main components are as follows:

It can be seen from the composition that nickel accounts for a large proportion, which is no wonder that their nickel release is relatively high.

02 Why do I suddenly have an allergic reaction? Some friends asked: Why didn’t I have an allergic reaction when I first wore it, but after wearing it for a while, I suddenly had an allergic reaction?

There may be two reasons.

1. Special allergy type

Nickel allergy is a special type. Even if you have never had nickel allergy before, you may still develop allergies after long-term contact. The allergy rate is not low.

According to a previous study conducted by the Department of Dermatology at Peking University Third Hospital, 26 out of 201 volunteers tested positive in the nickel patch test, including 2 males and 24 females, with a positive rate of 12.9%.

2. Wear leads to increased release

In their study on "Detection of Nickel Release in Metal Eyeglass Frames and Assessment of Its Hazards to Human Body", Lu Xiang and others found that if the surface coating is severely worn, it will easily lead to a significant increase in nickel release.

As the wearing time gets longer and the wear becomes more severe, it is not difficult to understand why allergic symptoms "suddenly" appear.

03 What to do if you are allergic to glasses? At this point, I believe many friends have already understood the reasons for their sudden allergies. If you also wear metal frames and have symptoms such as redness, swelling, itching, and rashes, it is likely that you are allergic to nickel.

Don’t panic if you have an allergy. Try changing to a pair of plastic glasses, which will usually relieve the symptoms.

In the future, it is best to choose glasses with plastic frames/plastic temples, or buy a pair of such plastic temple supports online. There are many styles, and you can choose according to your personal face shape.

Finally, Dad’s review tips:

In addition to glasses frames, there are many metal products that are actually potential allergens for sensitive people.

We have compiled some common types. If you are a sensitive person, you should pay attention to them:

1. Metal earrings, necklaces, etc.

Let me tell you something: many metal accessories on the market (including 925 silver needles marked by merchants) actually contain nickel to varying degrees. Long-term wearing by sensitive people can also cause allergies.

If you really want to wear it, you can choose gold and silver jewelry with higher purity.

2. Beauty instrument

The metal probes of some beauty devices may also contain nickel. It is best to check before use and try to minimize the usage time.

References: [1] Zhao Ling, Xu Manling, Liu Jing. Nickel allergy and its correlation with ear piercing among college students in Beijing [J]. Chinese Journal of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, 2013, 7(2): 178-181.

[2] Lü Xiang, Zhou Suzhen, Yan Ji. Detection of nickel release from metal eyeglass frames and assessment of its hazard to human body[J]. China Eyewear Science and Technology Magazine, 2015(1):146-148