• Titanium rings are beautiful and strong, but they may also be dangerous.Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Amanda Yepiz
  
  

Titanium

• The strength and durability of titanium has been known, and often inflated by the public for years. Titanium is a metal that's usually gray, which is also strong, lustrous, and resistant to corrosion. Titanium is most often used in lightweight alloys, especially those found in airplanes.
  
  

Piercings

• When titanium is used as a piercing such as a nose, eyebrow, ear, or bellybutton ring, there are very few dangers that a person needs to beware of. Titanium is generally a hypoallergenic metal, which means that people getting pierced with this jewelry shouldn't have any allergic reactions. The only exception to this rule is if the ring is a titanium alloy, and the metal it's alloyed with provokes a reaction, so it's best to check that piercing jewelry is pure titanium.
  
  

Wedding Bands

• Titanium wedding bands have become quite popular over the years. Having a metal that's as strong and resilient as titanium is quite symbolic when it's used to represent a wedded union. However, there have been a number of reported incidents where individuals have injured their hands, and because their wedding ring is titanium it can't be cut off without doing more damage to the hand.
  
  

Truth

• There are some claims, many of which are backed by professional jewelers, that say that titanium rings can be cut off like any other ring. There are also a number of anecdotal stories that would claim otherwise. One story, posted at cafemom.com, claims that a man's ring was caught on something as he jumped down off of a truck bed. This caused the ring to split his skin to the point that the ring had to be removed. Supposedly the local hospital used a ring splitter, which did cut off the titanium ring, but the machine broke in the process.
  
  

Safety

• The best solution to staying safe while wearing a titanium wedding band is to be cautious. If you're going to be using your hands to move heavy objects, or working with tools that could be dangerous, it's probably a good idea to take the ring off. Other ideas are to wear it on a necklace, or to keep it on a key-chain until after work. This won't stop all possible risks, but it does avoid a great deal of trouble.