Maybe. But sensitivity to steel rarely causes pain. A general wetness and itching are more common.

You mentioned foreskin...this requires a bit more expertise at placement and jewelry selection than others.

Take this with a grain of salt:

A friend of mine was having crusty problems on his PA and his piercer told him to change to gold (Solid-Not plate)
He wasn't having a problem with extreme soreness, but different people react differently.

If you can afford it, it might be worth it. The larger gauge of most PA's might make it prohibitive. Maybe after the initial healing, you could stretch to a bigger gauge with the surgical metals.

I'm having some problems with frenum crusties and have some gold on order, so I can't report any success yet.

For, me, it's worth a try. But, if you read my crusty thread, I've been told on here it won't work.

Good luck!

Titanium would be a much cheaper alternative to gold.

Implant grade titanium will not only be cheaper, but it will be less likely to cause an allergic reaction (it's not common, but some people ARE allergic to even pure gold).

and, of course they don't make piercing jewelry out of pure gold.

robinaero,
I tried looking up justification for a friend recommending 14k gold and to back up the old wives tale that earrings should always have 14k gold posts and

I couldn't find any justification for using gold!

It could be that it would be right for you, but I have nothing right now.

My gold jewelry should be here Saturday or Monday at the latest. All I can do is report back if it helps my crusty problem.

Best wishes.

To clarify the gold thing.

I don't know if solid and pure are interchangable words in connection with gold, but it should be solid (all) gold of the variety (22k, 18k, 14k or 10k) you choose and not plated with gold.

Pure gold (24k) is seldom used and is too soft for jewelry.

Rad, anything other than 24k gold has impurities (or more specifically, they are alloys) that could cause allergic reactions.

I dont know about the exotic metals but some folks say the acryllics are a colorful? way to change what mey be affecting a piercing, My PA had a different situation but has healed nicely now is a pleasure to have I tried to do it myself but had to get it finished professionally poked with a 10g and a 8 g horseshoe inserted going to 6g shortly SL

Acrylic cannot be autoclaved and is a major no-no for healing piercings.

I tired acrylic jewelry in my healed PA and found that it quickly became brittle and broke. Perhaps due to uric acid in urine....wouldn't recommend it in a PA.

Hi. I know nothing about male genital piercings but I do have a nickel allergy. It causes itching, redness, heat in the infected area and yes, pain. I have used titanium (Neometal), nickel free gold (white or yellow) and platinum body jewelry with no allergic reactions. Hope this helps.

Yellow Gold does not have nickel.

18k gold is 75% pure gold and 25% other metals.
When mixed by a reputable body jewelry company it is extremely safe and hypo-allergenic.

14k gold is 58% pure gold...more alloying metals. Still extremely safe but can discolor and react to chlorine.

Implant Grade Titanium is also an alloy containing some aluminum and vanadium. But like any metal, some people will react to it even though the alloy doesn't release ANY of the alloying metals into the body.

"Pure" gold should NEVER be confused with "Solid" gold. Completely different things. Pure gold would be 24k (100%).

Gold is, in my experience, an amazingly safe and comfortable metal for most people is they can afford it (white or yellow).

Titanium is lighter and cheaper. So it depends on whether weight or cost is a factor. Either would be about the same as far as reactions go.

Just a bit more gold info...

Gold can be discolored due to many different things, extremely oily skin, different medications you may be on, even just your body chemistry.This can be polished off, but if it happens once, it generally will again.

Solis gold refers to whether or not there are "air pockets" so to speak, in jewelry. Generally, this is with large hoop earrings and thick chains, to keep the weight and cost down, though it can be with other kinds of jewelry. It's kind of like a shell of gold.

Another thing on the steel.... are you sure that when you were pierced you were pierced with the proper grade of steel? I know of shops that buy and use jewelry that's not 316LVM but they still tell people that its implant grade steel. You have to be careful, some people are in this for money and don't care about the customer.

I agree.

I never saw the package mine came in. All I know is it was stainless steel. I trusted them. Why else would I allow them to do the piercing?
My problems totally resolved after I took a recommendation to switch to gold.
A better steel product may have done it for me, I don't know.
I am not sorry I made the switch.
Healed. No crusties. No tenderness.
Anybody that really wants a piercing and has problems with other metals, it's worth it to give gold a try.