Gel Polish reaction

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Had gel nails in November all ok.

Redone after 2 weeks and started to get sore fingers. Thought it was general dryness and cold weather.

Had them done again at Christmas which then caused a problem.

Fingers started to swell within a hour of leaving the salon. Took antihistamine to stop the itching and went back to salon to have the gel removed. Beautician thought it might be an allergy.

No more gel/polish applied since removal

Fingers have since been aggravated with skin constantly breaking open.

I have now got blackness underneath the new nail and the old nail is underneath as you can see in the photos.

I have been to the GP tonight who has taken nail clippings to be analysed and has advised is a fungal nail infection to all 10 nails.

She says it has probably been caused by the brush used to apply the gel polish as there is no way this can be sterilised between clients at the salon.

I work in an admin role and my fingers are so sore that the pressure when typing is almost unbearable.

My question is would it be worth claiming on the salons public liability insurance due to the 6 weeks of infection I've suffered and the fact the GP has advised it'll probably take 9-12 months for the nails to return to full health?

Any advice welcome

TIA

A similar thing happened to me a year ago. My nails all lifted from my nail beds and had to be cut off, leaving me with practically no nails. The photos show what they looked like after the gel polish was removed - you can see on my little finger how the nail broke off almost all the way down my nail bed. A couple of days after these were taken, all my nails were this short.

This happened to me but there was no fungal infection- the clippings were tested multiple times just to be sure but came back negative.

An allergic reaction to gel nails looks very similar to a fungal infection but from what I understand it’s usually a reaction to an ingredient called Hema. Or it can be caused if a nail technician uses a different brand of gel polish to the brand of the curing lamp- they should be the same. It took my nails a good 6 months to recover- I’ve found I can use regular nail polish but wouldn’t risk gel again.

Maybe the girls working there want you to make an official complaint because loads of them are trafficked here and probably would like to not be anymore

If it is a fungal infection then soak your nails in diluted Apple cider Vinegar for 10 mins a day, it will help clear the fungus

Unfortunately adverse reactions to gels is becoming more and more common and once you do have a reaction, then gels are off the menu for life

It's a village salon run by 1 English girl!

I'm a (qualified but hobby only) nail tech not a doctor, but that does not look fungal to me. It looks like an allergic reaction. You'd need allergy testing to know for sure what you've reacted to but hema is the best-known and one of the most common allergens. I don't know if you can get the allergy testing on the NHS. Unfortunately once you've developed an allergy you will always have it, so it's likely your days of gel nails are over, sadly.

You can't pick up a fungal infection from the brush. Pathogens can't live in gel polish. If the polish had lifted in places and moisture got trapped between your nail and the gel, you could have developed a "greenie" aka pseudomonas which is a bacterial infection, but that grows out and doesn't cause pain or the nail plate separation you see here.

I would try and see a different GP.

I decided to get gel nails around a year ago mainly because my thumb nails had both developed a split and it was rather uncomfortable. All was good until a couple of months ago. My gels started lifting and cracking less than a week after having them done. I had them soaked off by a different salon and reapplied. At that time my nails were fine. A week later I had the same issue & as I couldn't get an appointment with my regular tech, I bought the remover and tried myself but I didn't have much luck so I resorted to a local salon who filed them off (yes, probably wrong move there). Now my nails are tender, they are lifting, very soft and brittle. I tried Nails Inc After Gels but wondered if this had made them worse, so I'm just sticking to nail oil and cuticle cream. I'll never have gels again after this

@Soontobe60
I’ve just come across your post as something similar has happened to me.
Did your nails reattach in the end? How long did it take?

@NorthFaceofthelaundrypile this happened to me as well- I would say it took around 6 months for them to be healthy again. They do start reattaching though sooner than that. I have found now that I can use regular old style nail polish but can’t ever have gel nails again.

It's worth ascertaining whether it's an allergy or not, as the allergy can preclude you having certain medical treatments in future:

"The allergies can leave sufferers unable to have medical treatments like white dental fillings, joint replacement surgery and some diabetes medications."

"This is because once a person is sensitised, the body will no longer tolerate anything containing acrylates."

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65273991

I'm sorry to hear that. Yes they did and it took a couple of month I think for the worst to improve. A friend had an even worse reaction and did a lot of research into this. She recommended a treatment to me - Nailkind nail strengthener Tough Love. Expensive but it works. My nails actually started to look ok. I then tried the 5 in 1 by the same brand but my nails didn't like that. At the time, I didn't understand why. Recently, after using the Margaret Dabbs nails strengthener, my nails took a turn for the worst again. On talking to my friend she told me the ingredient in gel polish which causes the reaction is Methacrylate and that some regular (even vegan) brands contain acrylates copolymer which is the culprit. On checking those products I'd used, I found they contained this. Hope this helps

If I were you I would definitely be looking into getting allergy testing for an acrylate. The presence of a fungal infection doesn't mean you don't also have an allergy, and what you're describing sounds much more like an allergy. You should absolutely inform the salon about this, because if it does turn out to be a reaction to product this needs to be reported to the brand. Do you know what products the salon was using?

Mine was using BIAB and Gel in a bottle.

For those whose nails were lifting did you cut all the lifted nail out or just leave them?
I’m regularly spraying an antiseptic nail spray on the tips to try to ward off any potential infection.

@zzpleb - any ideas how you would go about getting allergy testing for this?

Hi no they didn’t reattach as such, I had to keep cutting them as they grew out.
Now my nails are fine but a couple of months ago I decided to have them done again to see if I had a reaction and bingo, same again almost immediately!

I cut mine back until they grew back from the cuticle. I actually ended up with thin slithers of nails for a while.

@NorthFaceofthelaundrypile I went through my GP for a referral to the dermatologist. Currently on a very long waiting list to confirm the exact allergens but the consultant asked me to bring the product I reacted to if possible as they like to test it to make sure the ingredients are what they say they are.

I was just very very careful with my nails as the tips were curling upwards. Fortunately though it was only the tips and small areas which became unattached from the nail bed. Having had a similar though far milder reaction recently to the product I mentioned earlier, I will now take care not to use anything containing that ingredient. I will add that it's only my finger nails that seen to be affected. I am still able to use anything on my toe nails.

So, I cut some of this nail out when it first happened. Is this what you did @Soontobe60?
My other ring finger is very similar. Interestingly they are the worst affected nails.

Once you have an allergy to Gel, its life long and it will always affect you going forward.

Esp for dental treatment unfortunately

The very quick reaction after having the nails down is clearly allergic. I'd be very suspicious the current issue is allergic not fungal - otherwise you'd have to have an allergic reaction AND a fungal infection which is possible but less likely than allergy alone.
I'm surprised gels aren't being regulated given the rate of severe reactions but then UK regulation of cosmetic procedures is pretty poor generally.

Take home message - if you have a minor reaction to a product, don't use it again. Repeat exposure is likely to make reactions more severe over time.