Titanium plate in neck and have severe metal allergy

Hi, @tia2 - welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. That sounds challenging to have a titanium plate in your neck and be allergic to it.

I thought the topic of metal allergy and spinal surgery merited its own discussion, so I moved your post to start here:

- Titanium plate in neck and have severe metal allergy https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/titanium-plate-in-neck-and-have-severe-metal-allergy/?

What does your spine doctor suggest you do about this? Will you be having the plate removed?

@lisalucier I am not a real fan of the Mayo Clinic at this time, but we’ll see how this works. One of your allergists when he found out that I did have a titanium allergy and found out he was wrong and never even one as far as contacting me after the blind pill test, just put me on medicine and forgot about me your heart doctor. They wanted to replace my heart when he found out all the stuff he was hooking me up to was making things worse, plus the drug he had me on never got back to me either even though he had me on drugs. I just thought maybe there’s somebody out there dealing with this thank you.

Unfortunately since issue hasbeen found out. This has happened to me several times each time they don’t have an answer so my faith in the medical profession isn’t very high. Do you think they’d be interested in trying to figure something out so if someone else came into them with the same issues, they would have some answers when you have a titanium issue which is in almost everything. It makes it very interesting.

@tia2 - it sounds as though you have some concerns, and I'd suggest contacting the professionals at this office:

Mayo Clinic Office of Patient Experience
Phone: 844-544-0036 (toll free)
Email: opx@mayo.edu
https://www.mayoclinic.org/about-mayo-clinic/patient-experience
Staff are available to discuss comments or concerns regarding your medical care or privacy at Mayo Clinic.

I had to contact themselves once about an issue I noted in a waiting room, and they were very nice and promptly got back to me.

@lisalucier the spine doctor has said I would not survive a fifth neck surgery. I’m stuck with the plate in my neck. One is already fallen out. that’s when it should’ve been figured out I thought when I went to the Mayo Clinic, they might come up with an idea, but as I already told you that ended up to be a joke.

@tia2 I am also allergic to titanium in my body. I had a spinal fusion done without hardware for that reason because I suspected it could become an issue. When I broke my ankle, I reacted to the titanium plates. Luckily, I was able to have them removed. I would suggest looking at the website for the Environmental Heath Center Dallas. They did have protocols for treating allergies to surgical implants. It might also involve treating other allergies too. I had an environmental medicine doctor who had recommended this if I needed any permanent implants. They are in Texas in a suburb of Dallas. It may be ehcd.com. I’m sorry you’re in this predicament. Allergies can be a lot to deal with.

@jenniferhunter thank you for your feedback. This is kind of what I was hoping for. I’ve been dealing with this for years. I’ve already contacted the Texas allergy folks again thank you

@tia2 This is the practice that did the pioneering work for the environmental medicine specialty. My doctor spoke highly of Dr Rea who started the practice and told me it was there if I needed treatment after spine surgery. Dr. Rea passed a few years ago. They look at trying to prevent problems and the biochemical processes in the body rather than treating symptoms. There have been other members on Connect who have been seen by the Environmental Health center. I don’t know if the discussions are still here but you could try a search on Connect. I think they were doing allergy shots.