A reaction to earrings is usually contact dermatitis from nickel, and nickel is extremely common because it is cheap, hard and useful for alloying. The confusing part is that it appears in materials people assume are safe. White gold is typically gold alloyed with nickel to make it white, and a great deal of white gold is a genuine problem for sensitive ears, particularly once the rhodium plating on the surface wears through. Sterling silver is mostly silver and copper, and better tolerated, though some silver alloys include nickel. Plated pieces are the most common culprit, since the base metal underneath is frequently nickel and the plating is thin enough to wear through within a year. Even solid gold at a low karat has room for a meaningful amount of other metal. And earring posts and butterfly backs are often made of a different alloy from the earring itself, which is why a piece can be fine on a finger and cause problems in an ear.

The reliably safe options are surgical grade titanium, niobium, and platinum, none of which contain nickel. High karat yellow gold at eighteen or above is well tolerated by most people, because there is simply less room for anything else in the alloy. Solid fourteen karat yellow gold is fine for most, and worth testing rather than assuming. Rose gold is gold alloyed with copper, which is a separate and much rarer sensitivity. If white metal is the look you want, platinum or a rhodium-plated palladium white gold are the routes that avoid nickel, and both cost more. On identification, nickel dermatitis presents as itching, redness and sometimes weeping at the exact contact point, appearing hours after exposure rather than immediately, and it recurs with the same piece. An immediate sting is more likely irritation from a rough post or a piercing that has not healed. A dermatologist can patch test if it matters, which is worth doing before buying anything expensive.

If your ears react, stop buying plated earrings entirely. It is the single change that solves most cases, and it means buying fewer and better rather than a drawer of pieces you cannot wear. Titanium is the best value answer for anyone genuinely sensitive, and it looks like polished steel rather than like silver, which some people love and some do not. High karat yellow gold is the elegant answer and costs accordingly. Do not trust the word hypoallergenic, which is unregulated and means only that the maker believes it is unlikely to react. Do check what the posts and backs are made of separately from the earring, since that is where the surprise usually is. If you take one thing away, treat white gold with suspicion rather than confidence, because nickel is often what makes it white in the first place.