I would think that if a patient comes in with a rash beneath their belt buckle, the first thought isn’t Lyme disease, it’s nickel allergy.
If they were told about the tick bite, maybe a shitty doctor. But nickel allergies are crazy common. Something like 4-5% of men and 15-16% of women. And I suspect, personally, that the number for men is higher but most men don’t wear jewelry and might assume belt buckles can just cause rashes without realizing it’s a nickel allergy.
Then there’s me, asking the lady selling pendants at the ren fair if they’re nickel free, and then sighing when she says, “No nickel at all, they’re stainless steel!”
“That doesn’t mean anything. Plenty of stainless steel has nickel.”
“It’s surgical grade steel!”
“Right. Sure. That can, and probably does, still include nickel unless it’s one of the more expensive 400 series alloys and not the more common 316 stainless. Ask me why I know this.”
I would think that if a patient comes in with a rash beneath their belt buckle, the first thought isn’t Lyme disease, it’s nickel allergy.
If they were told about the tick bite, maybe a shitty doctor. But nickel allergies are crazy common. Something like 4-5% of men and 15-16% of women. And I suspect, personally, that the number for men is higher but most men don’t wear jewelry and might assume belt buckles can just cause rashes without realizing it’s a nickel allergy.
Then there’s me, asking the lady selling pendants at the ren fair if they’re nickel free, and then sighing when she says, “No nickel at all, they’re stainless steel!”
“That doesn’t mean anything. Plenty of stainless steel has nickel.”
“It’s surgical grade steel!”
“Right. Sure. That can, and probably does, still include nickel unless it’s one of the more expensive 400 series alloys and not the more common 316 stainless. Ask me why I know this.”