Q Re: Skin Irritation for Permanent/Long Term Cuffs

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AnastasiaLoures
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Q Re: Skin Irritation for Permanent/Long Term Cuffs

Unread post by AnastasiaLoures »

I'm a Permanent Slave/Wife to my Master and I wear leather cuffs 95% of the time, but usually after 3-5 days, my skin under my cuffs start to itch, then a few days later, my skin starts to peel and rub off, leaving a painful and sensitive spot under my cuffs. I'm trying to figure out what's causing it. For now, I wrap my wrists and ankles with medical tape where my cuffs are and that seems to do the trick, but id rather not have to do so. How do other people who are permanent/long term slaves deal with this problem? Do they have this problem?

I don't think I'm Allergic to the leather, the cuffs are handmade with very good/soft/comfortable materials
I do bathe with them on, they almost never come off unless its unsafe or in public (I'm kept at home mostly, so I dont go out much)
The irritation is in one specific spot (backs of my wrists, rather than the underside), I would imagine if its a reaction to the leather, the reaction would happen all the way around my wrists, not just the backs. Both wrists have the irritation in the same spot, ankles have them in the back of the ankles.

Anyone have any experience with this issue?

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ruru67
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Re: Q Re: Skin Irritation for Permanent/Long Term Cuffs

Unread post by ruru67 »

Could it be a nickel allergy from rivets or any other hardware in contact with the skin? Most "silvery" types of leatherworking hardware is, sadly, nickel plated.

I'd note that rashes from nickel allergies usually show up within hours rather than days, and they're usually highly localised under the hardware - which when you say it appears on the backs of your wrists makes me wonder if that's the problem. How long it takes to become a problem I assume depends on how bad the allergy is and how much the metal moves around.

The thing about nickel allergies is that the actual allergen is not the nickel itself, but a chemical that forms from the reaction between the nickel and natural chemicals found on the skin. That's why there's a a delayed reaction as enough of that chemical needs to form to cause problems before you see any symptoms. It's also why nickel coins, buckles et c that only contact skin for short intervals don't figure as problems.

If that is the issue, you have a couple of options: replace the hardware - most likely rivets - that is causing the problem, or cover them by (e.g) gluing some thin leather over the rivets. You can often get leather offcuts from craft stores for very cheap, and you don't need large pieces.

You're already effectively doing that when you use medical tape. As an experiment, you could try sicking the tape to the cuffs instead of your skin. That might help you figure out if it's a chemical allergy or just abrasion.

Whatever the cause, have you considered going to stainless steel cuffs rather than leather? SS doesn't have allergy problems (most "allergies" are just abrasions largely due to grit accumulating under the cuff). However, ankles can be a problem, because of the way the Achilles tendon moves and changes the shape of the ankle. You do need to make sure your "stainless steel" is actually SS, because I have had problems with "stainless steel" actually being nickel plated pot metal. And of course metal cuffs don't have the same "give" as leather - when your cuff chains go taut, steel is going to hurt a lot more...

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AnastasiaLoures
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Re: Q Re: Skin Irritation for Permanent/Long Term Cuffs

Unread post by AnastasiaLoures »

None of the Nickel actually touches my skin. There is a layer of soft leather covering the rivets between the cuffs and my skin and none of the hardware reaches around the leather enough to contact my skin.

I have a theory that maybe the fact that im bathing with it, and my conditioner/soaps are getting between my cuffs and skin and since I cant really get under the cuffs to dry it, maybe the residue of the conditioner/soaps or maybe even just the water not being able to dry and the skin being constantly wet under the cuffs might be causing it.

I prefer leather over SS cause leather conforms a lot better and softer than SS, and its less painful to wear on a day to day/permanent basis, though my Master has threatened to have a SS collar/cuffs welded on if I didn't smarten up :#

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JaniceNoyb
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Re: Q Re: Skin Irritation for Permanent/Long Term Cuffs

Unread post by JaniceNoyb »

Maybe try stainless steel cuffs?

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ruru67
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Re: Q Re: Skin Irritation for Permanent/Long Term Cuffs

Unread post by ruru67 »

AnastasiaLoures wrote: 16 Dec 2021, 00:43 I have a theory that maybe the fact that im bathing with it, and my conditioner/soaps are getting between my cuffs and skin and since I cant really get under the cuffs to dry it, maybe the residue of the conditioner/soaps or maybe even just the water not being able to dry and the skin being constantly wet under the cuffs might be causing it.
Right. Water is never really going to be good for leather cuffs, and there's also the possibility that it is still a nickel allergy, with water et c carrying the allergens from the hardware to the skin. I'm not sure if that's even a thing or not, but I've seen medical tape fail to manage nickel allergies before, and it could explain why you're seeing the effects in days rather than hours, as is usually the case for nickel allergy.

It's worth figuring out if you are allergic to nickel though. If you are, and want to use any restrains long term, you really need to look at eliminating the nickel, going to brass or stainless steel hardware instead. It's a nuisance because there is so much nickel plated leather hardware out there and not very much in the way of alternatives.
I prefer leather over SS cause leather conforms a lot better and softer than SS, and its less painful to wear on a day to day/permanent basis, though my Master has threatened to have a SS collar/cuffs welded on if I didn't smarten up :#
I get that. But for washability and sheer stuckness it's hard to go past... I had a single SS cuff that never came off for a couple of years, and my then partner had with a SS collar that had epoxy in the closure necessitating cutting it off when we finally removed it (because we'd moved on, not because of any problems with it). Nothing is ever completely permanent, but stainless is pretty much the way to go if you want to come close...

Stahlketten
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Re: Q Re: Skin Irritation for Permanent/Long Term Cuffs

Unread post by Stahlketten »

Leather generally does not do well with constant exposure to water.
Perhaps the tanning chemicals are leaching out and affecting you.
Maybe wearing the cut off tops from a pair of white cotton socks under your wrist cuffs for a couple hours after a bath until the cuffs dry off might help.

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Re: Q Re: Skin Irritation for Permanent/Long Term Cuffs

Unread post by RAE123 »

Any drugstore caries Aquaphorin a tube. It is an ointment for your skin.
It will heal and eliminate rash on your skin. Try it, it works for me.

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Re: Q Re: Skin Irritation for Permanent/Long Term Cuffs

Unread post by RAE123 »

In ant drugstore you can find an Ointment called Aquaphor
Rub a small amount on your skin in the affected areas.It will fix the rash.
It works well for me.

Stahlketten
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Re: Q Re: Skin Irritation for Permanent/Long Term Cuffs

Unread post by Stahlketten »

Aquaphor is mostly mineral oil. Works well for dry skin but may not be a great idea for undera leather cuff.

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AnastasiaLoures
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Re: Q Re: Skin Irritation for Permanent/Long Term Cuffs

Unread post by AnastasiaLoures »

He ended up putting me in Stainless cuffs/collar. Problem went away though it doesn't tell us what the culprit was.
For now its what he wants and he always gets what he wants, but It definitely hurts a lot more when he pulls the chains on my cuffs tight. Its like, because the cuffs are round, and my wrist is oval, the cuffs can kinda "twist" on one axis and bite into my wrists, which hurts a lot. I feel like cause the cuffs/collar are all round instead of oval, they just don't fit well and it kinda hangs off that axis. Why don't they make them oval instead of round? :/

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Petrajane
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Re: Q Re: Skin Irritation for Permanent/Long Term Cuffs

Unread post by Petrajane »

Have you considered Opera gloves? I wear them when I'm cuffed and so far, no matter how much I may struggle, never had any issues with skin damage and I'm usually cuffed with leather cuffs fastened to the back of the chair legs, steel round cuffs clipped together at the wrists, as well as a plastic figure of eight strap fastened to the chair bottom.

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ruru67
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Re: Q Re: Skin Irritation for Permanent/Long Term Cuffs

Unread post by ruru67 »

AnastasiaLoures wrote: 13 Jan 2022, 22:35Why don't they make them oval instead of round? :/
There are plenty of oval cuffs out there. I'd note that oval cuffs don't easily rotate around your wrist like round ones do, so you often find the chain pulling at a funny angle, trying to rotate your wrist for you. But, yes, oval cuffs are a lot smaller and less in the way than the equivalent round cuff.

Paradoxically, they can also be a little looser while remaining secure than an equivalent round cuff, because a round cuff that's only a little big will leave space for your thumb to slip through, while an oval cuff with otherwise similar tolerances closes that loophole...

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