Money Allergy

Could you imagine being allergic to money? It sounds like a great excuse for not being able to find a job, being in debt or maybe even the reason why you can’t repay your friend the $50 you owe him.

To most people, having an allergy to money seems nothing more than an excuse – and a bad one at that. Like something your teenage son would say when you asked him to mow the lawn to earn his allowance, right?

But what if a person were actually allergic to money? Not the act of making money (hard work), but the physical form of money – coins or paper bills?

There are numerous reports (unconfirmed in the news and confirmed in the medical literature) of people having allergic reactions to money. Many reports include the development of rashes on the hands when handling money; symptoms of nasal allergies and asthma when handling large sums of paper money; and even a report of a life-threatening lung disease in a bank teller. While most likely a rare occurrence, it’s quite possible to experience a wide variety of allergic symptoms as a result of exposure to money, from a wide variety of different causes.