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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Gel manicure burnt fingers?

13 replies

TheCountessOfGrantham · 02/02/2022 12:47

Aibu has the best traffic, so aibu to think it's like sunburn? Has anyone else had this?

I had a gel manicure four days ago and now my skin just under my nails at the fingertips is dry, cracking and peeling off to leave sore skin underneath, the nails themselves are lifting away from the nail bed and the skin just before the nail plate (about 2mm) on some nails, is covered in pinprick bruises. I've soaked off the gel and it looks like the nails have splinter haemorrhages too! My fingernails felt tight after the manicure, if that makes sense?

What. The. Fuck?!

OP posts:
Pyri · 02/02/2022 12:49

Ouch ouch. This can happen if the gel is left in contact with the skin and then cures on the skin; or it could be a fungal infection

See your pharmacist and I wouldn’t be back there again in a hurry

housemaus · 02/02/2022 13:25

They might have been using cheap gel which can cause reactions and cures too quickly, causing the nail damage and the tight feeling (and I wouldn't want it on my skin).

When you put your nails under the lamp, especially the base and top coats, did it feel hot on the nails?

Were all the tools (cuticle pushers/nippers etc) properly sterilised (my manicurist - my sister, haha - stores hers in barbicide disinfectant, for example)?

Definitely don't go back there, and get to the pharmacy as PP said.

Original poster
TheCountessOfGrantham · 02/02/2022 13:51

@housemaus

They might have been using cheap gel which can cause reactions and cures too quickly, causing the nail damage and the tight feeling (and I wouldn't want it on my skin).

When you put your nails under the lamp, especially the base and top coats, did it feel hot on the nails?

Were all the tools (cuticle pushers/nippers etc) properly sterilised (my manicurist - my sister, haha - stores hers in barbicide disinfectant, for example)?

Definitely don't go back there, and get to the pharmacy as PP said.

They didn't use any nippers, no gel touched my skin, just my nails, but I've got peeling of several skin layers on the top of my fingers under the nail and pinprick bruise where no gel was at all. I don't get it :

But yes, it felt really hot!!

OP posts:
picklemewalnuts · 02/02/2022 13:58

You could be starting to get an allergic reaction. I had to stop having mine done because I'd get a random, intense burning sensation under the lamp.

I also react when I scratch myself with gel nails- as in, scratch an itch rather than clawing at myself.

cherrytreecottage · 02/02/2022 13:59

I had this and it was an allergic reaction to cheap gel polish. It happened to me during lockdown when I ordered a kit and polishes online to DIY. When my nail salon opened back up and my nails had healed, I was really scared to have them redone but they checked the ingredients against the cheap polishes I purchased and the % of Acrylates(?) was so much higher in my ones, so we gave it a go and I was fine with their polish, as I always had been!

I really do sympathise - my nails were a state when I had the reaction and SO painful where they'd started to lift from the bed. I took regular anti-histamines and actually bandaged up my hands for a while!

SliceOfCakeCupOfTea · 02/02/2022 14:00

Have a look at pompholyx.
I developed this after having gel nail polish and now I get it every time my hands are out in harsh sun.

TheLightSideOfTheMoon · 02/02/2022 14:01

It’s an endothermic reaction.

Did you take your nails out from under the lamp as soon as you felt the heat?

Name99 · 02/02/2022 14:05

Yeah it sounds like an allergic reaction to the gel polish, I developed one too it was from overexposure to the gel.

housemaus · 02/02/2022 14:06

Sounds horrid, I'm so sorry!

Could be lots of things - what they used to prep the nail with (I'm allergic to lots of them), skin sensitivity to the lamp, the gel itself... even just the drying nature of some of the products used could cause a bit of dermatitis or it could be an allergic reaction.

I asked about the really hot gel because whenever I'd had a manicure at a cheap walk-in place and it's one that goes really hot like that, I have really sore nailbeds for days - it's like it contracts my nail and my sister says they're usually cheap gels that cure too quickly, which could maybe explain a bit of bruising if you've got sensitive nail beds.

I'd get them taken off if I were you, explain the situation and see if they can file them off rather than soak (so you don't exacerbate the issue further) and then slather on some Sally Hansen Hard as Nails to repair the damage for a bit.

Original poster
TheCountessOfGrantham · 02/02/2022 14:18

@SliceOfCakeCupOfTea

Have a look at pompholyx. I developed this after having gel nail polish and now I get it every time my hands are out in harsh sun.
I get this anyway, but this isn't that. For me it's hundreds of tiny weepy blisters on my hands when it flares up. This is dry, cracking skin and bruises. I don't want another hand condition!
OP posts:
Original poster
TheCountessOfGrantham · 02/02/2022 14:18

@TheLightSideOfTheMoon

It’s an endothermic reaction.

Did you take your nails out from under the lamp as soon as you felt the heat?

Yes, it was painful! I whipped them out immediately!
OP posts:
Name99 · 02/02/2022 15:00

The burning you had in the lamp is called a heat spike, it sounds like the nail technician had has used poor products and techniques.

Original poster
TheCountessOfGrantham · 02/02/2022 15:01

@Name99

The burning you had in the lamp is called a heat spike, it sounds like the nail technician had has used poor products and techniques.
But has that caused all my skin to crack and peel and caused bruises on the skin around my nails?
OP posts:
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