If you’ve developed a dry, itchy patch on the side of your face, your mobile (cell) phone is probably causing it.

The phone contains nickel, a common allergen, and prolonged use can cause an allergic skin reaction, say allergists. “Patients come in with dry, itchy patch on their cheeks, jaw lines and ears and have no idea what is causing their allergic reaction, “says allergist Luz Fonacier.

Nickel affects 17 per cent of women and 3 per cent of men, and is also found in keys, coins and paper clips.

Nickel allergy symptoms include redness, swelling, itching, eczema, skin lesions and sometimes oozing and scarring.

(Source: Annual Meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, Phoenix, November 11-16, 2010).

via Mobile phone users getting allergic skin reactions | What Doctors Don’t Tell You.