@moprea I had discussed my concerns of metal sensitivity with my doctor who was an environmental medicine doctor when I needed spine surgery. He told me about the practice in Texas, and that if I had to have internal hardware and had issues, there were treatments for it. I was able to have a spine fusion without hardware. When I broke my ankle, I couldn't avoid it, and I had pain and hives for months. I had to stay on antihistamines all the time until I was able to have the titanium plates removed. It's an alloy and has some other metals in it. I did have problems with pierced earrings long ago and had to give that up. Are you making plans to go to Texas?