- 1. Art Materials
- 2. Professions
- Ceramics [17]
- Drawing [4]
- Glasswork [8]
- Metalworking/ Sculpture/ Jewelery [15]
- Museum Work [9]
- Music [20]
- Chin Rests and Violin Players
- Ergonomic Musical Instruments
- Fog and Smoke
- Guitar Strings Cause Dermatitis
- Hand and Upper Limb Problems in Children
- Medical Problems of Musicians
- Musicians Can Be Victims of Peculiar Skin Problems
- Return to Play After Injury
- Rosin Hazards
- Secondary School Musicians Hazards
- Shared Musical Instruments
- Singing and Dancing with Pain
- Hearing and Noise
- Painting [4]
- Papermaking [1]
- Performing Artists [8]
- Photography [5]
- Printmaking [9]
- Theatre, TV, Film [27]
- Woodworking [7]
- 3. General Safety and Health
- 4. Health Effects/Disorders
- 5. Special Subjects
- 6. Local Health and Safety Resources
- Glossary of Terms
Guitar Strings Cause Dermatitis
Two atopics that have played guitar for years during their leisure time developed allergic contact dermatitis reactions on their hands. The lesions clearly corresponded with the sites of contact on the guitar. Patch tests with nickel were strongly positive. Aetiologically, the nickel-containing strings were found to be the sensitizing material. Occupational exposure to metals led to exacerbation, so the activities had to be stopped.
(If you have or develop a nickel allergy, you should consider switching from stainless steel guitar strings, which contain nickel, to nylon or brass strings. -Ed.)
The preceding abstract was reprinted with permission from Section 35, Occupational Health and Industrial Medicine, of Excerpta Medica.
Nickel allergy in amateur guitarists (Germ.) - NICKEL-ALLERGIE BEI GITARRENSPIELERN - Hausen B.M. and Noster. U. - Univ.-Hautklinik, D-2000 Hamburg 20 GFR - AKTUEL. DERMATOL. 1988 14/8 (244-245) - summ in ENGL.
Art Hazard News, Volume 12, No. 1, 1989
This article was originally printed for Art Hazard News, © copyright Center for Safety in the Arts 1989. It appears on CAR courtesy of the Health in the Arts Program, University of Illinois at Chicago, who have curated a collection of these articles from their archive which are still relevant to artists today.