Why you could be allergic to your bra: Nickel in coins has caused a surge in eczema. But that's just the start...

• One in ten Britons now suffers from nickel allergies
• That's because these days the cheap metal is everywhere!
• The more we're exposed to it, the more we become sensitive to it...
• Nickel can trigger eczema, dermatitis, and even a fatal anaphylactic shock

Flare up: Sadie and a rash caused by her nickel allergy

For nearly five years, the lesion on my stomach simply refused to heal. What started as a ten pence-sized cluster of red bumps just above my belly button, developed within weeks into an angry red sore patch the size of my palm.

Impossibly itchy, it wouldn't clear up, despite liberal applications of just about everything from antiseptic and anti-histamine creams to calamine lotion. Scratching, naturally, only made the condition worse.

But what had caused this extreme reaction? A tropical insect bite? A rare skin infection?

No. When I eventually consulted a private dermatologist, it turned out a belt buckle and the button on the fly of my jeans were to blame.

Why? They both contained the everyday, silvery-white metal, nickel, which is found in everything from costume jewellery to small change. Despite never having had a problem before, suddenly in my mid-20s I'd become highly allergic to it.

Since then I've been caught out by bra clasps, chain straps on handbags and even sunglasses with metal arms, all of which left angry welts on my skin, sometimes within minutes of coming into contact with them.

So when I read last week that there's been a massive surge in nickel allergies - one in ten Britons is now a fellow sufferer - I wasn't surprised.

It's an allergy that seems insignificant until you actually suffer from it yourself, and it is reported that one in five women, like me, does. That's because nickel is everywhere in places you'd never imagine.