Using iPads and iPhones may no longer be a safe option health wise, as studies show that these products could lead to severe rashes on the skin.
The study published by Pediatrics shows that people who have certain types of allergies to metals could get rashes from using an iPad or an iPhone. The most common rash caused by these products is nickel rash.
However, not everyone is liable to getting rashes from their iPads. It is only those people who are allergic to nickel and other metals similar in chemical composition to nickel, who run the risk of getting a rash from their iPads of iPhones.
An 11-year-old boy was recently diagnosed with nickel allergy at the Rady Children's hospital in San Diego. The boy's back was covered with dark burn-like rashes, which is generally associated with nickel allergy. The doctors at the hospital concluded that it was from excessive use of his iPad, after they found nickel on testing the outer coating of the iPad.
"He used the iPad daily," Dr. Sharon Jacob, a Dermatologist at Rady Children's Hospital, told Daily Mail. She advised the boy to put the device in a protective case, after which the latter got better. Meanwhile, Apple spokesperson declined to comment, when questioned on this issue.
Nickel allergy is one of the most commonly found allergies in the world. It is compounded by the fact that the common man can find himself surrounded by objects made of nickel, in their everyday life. This type of allergy has mostly been related to everyday objects like jewellery, spectacle frames, coins and zippers of jeans.
Although nickel allergy has been found in people across all age groups, a child is usually not born with it. This type of allergy is developed mostly after prolonged exposure to the metal. Although it is possible to curb the allergy and bring down the intensity of the symptoms, once someone develops nickel allergy, they would, in most cases, remain allergic to the metal, throughout their lives.
Nickel allergy may not surface for up to 48 hours after a person's skin comes in contact with the metal and when it does, it can last for a period of two weeks upto a month.
However, it may re-surface, when the person comes into contact with the metal again. While the rashes generally appear at places where nickel comes into contact with the skin, in select few cases, it has also been found that the rashes have formed at a completely different place in the body.
The symptoms of nickel allergy include severe itching, bumps or rashes on the skin, burn-like dry patches on the skin, drastic change in the skin colour, and blisters (may be oozing out fluids in severe cases).
