Emma Killilea finds money hard to handle - because she's allergic to nickel.
The 39-year-old's palms erupt in swollen sores that cause severe itching pains whenever she handles coins.
She suffers from a severe allergy to anything containing nickel - including coins, jewellery, metal buttons and zips.
Her condition means that coming into contact with products containing the harsh metal can cause her skin to break out in painful, irritable welts.
And despite being diagnosed with the allergy, there is nothing she can do to prevent the effects, which can last as long as 24-hours.
The bizarre condition has forced Emma to turn to her credit card in a bid to avoid using coinage when out shopping.
"It is difficult and frustrating because you are always discovering new things with nickel in."
"Coins, buttons, jewellery, zips - the list is endless. So many things have it in. It does make shopping a bit of a nightmare."
"Thankfully in this day and age we can use cards to buy pretty much everything and can almost do without coins."
Emma first discovered she had the problematic condition aged nine when her aunt gave her a gold necklace.
After wearing the gift she began developing irritating hives wherever it came into contact with her skin.
Then as a teenager Emma noticed that holding coins for too long had the same effect on her palms - forcing her to begin avoiding coppers and silvers as much as possible.
Nickel allergies are said to be on the increase in the UK because of the high quantity of products containing the metal - but severe cases are still quite rare.



据英国《每日邮报》10月5日报道，艾玛•克里利亚发现她难以触摸钱币--因为她对镍过敏。
这位39岁的妇女双手只要触摸硬币，就会立刻红肿疼痛，并引发严重的瘙痒。

包括硬币、珠宝、金属钮扣和拉链在内的任何含镍物品都会使其严重过敏。
这种状况意味着，只要该女子接触含有重金属的物品，她的皮肤就会立刻布满疼痛的、过敏引起的伤痕。

尽管已经被确诊为过敏，艾玛对这种会持续24小时的过敏反应仍然无能为力。

这种特殊的体质使得艾玛不得不申办信用卡，以免她在外出购物时使用硬币。
"这真是很艰难，而且令人沮丧，因为你总是能发现新的含有镍的东西。"

"硬币，纽扣，珠宝，拉链--列出清单来实在是没完没了。太多的东西含有镍了。它让购物变成了一场噩梦。"
"幸运的是在这个时代，我们几乎可以用信用卡购买一切，几乎可以做到无硬币消费了。"

艾玛第一次发现自己这种有问题的体质是在九岁的时候，她的姑姑给了她一条金项链。
当艾玛戴上这条项链后，所有接触到的皮肤上开始出现大量刺激性的荨麻疹。

接着，十几岁的艾玛注意到一旦她把硬币握在手中太久，她的手掌上就会出现相同的反应--这使她开始尽量避免接触铜制品和银制品。

据称，由于英国大量物品都含镍（常见的就有钱币），镍过敏症在该国有不断增加之势，但严重的过敏现象仍然极为罕见。

• severe [si´viə] a.严厉的；苛刻的 (初中英语单词)
• whenever [wen´evə] conj.&ad.无论何时 (初中英语单词)
• contact [´kɔntækt] n.接触；联系 v.联络 (初中英语单词)
• despite [di´spait] prep.尽管 (初中英语单词)
• wherever [weər´evə] conj.无论在哪里 (初中英语单词)
• nickel [´nikəl] n.镍 vt.把...镀镍 (高中英语单词)
• painful [´peinfəl] a.痛(苦)的；费力的 (高中英语单词)
• swollen [´swəulən] swell的过去分词 (英语四级单词)
• coinage [´kɔinidʒ] n.造币；货币；新造词语 (英语四级单词)
• irritable [´iritəbəl] a.急躁的；过敏的 (英语六级单词)
• holding [´həuldiŋ] n.保持，固定，存储 (英语六级单词)