Manicure and pedicures to adorn nails is a million dollar market. Gel and acrylic nails has taken the market higher. But not without it’s adverse effects. There can be various ways by which manicures and pedicures can damage the nails. Let’s see how the deleterious effect happens and how one can prevent it.
- Infections: Fungal, bacterial, viral infections might inflict the nail unit due to use of unsterilized instruments. Procedure related infections might also happen due to microorganisms harboring the foot baths. Trimming the cuticle, damages the protective barrier, providing an easy access of microbes inside the nail unit increasing the chances of infection.
- Allergic contact dermatitis: Plethora of chemicals used in primers, nail polishes and nail polish remover – acrylates, formaldehyde and toluene etc. might induce an allergic response. There has been many reports of acrylate monomer associated contact dermatitis.
- Discoloration of nail plate: It’s very common if nail polish is left on for a week or more .Discoloration resolves in approximately two weeks without treatment after polish has been removed.
- Onycholysis: Onycholysis is separation of nail plate from underlying nail bed. It can happen due to disruption of onychodermal band. This band binds the nail to the nail bed and can be disrupted while use of sharp instruments to clean the undersurface of nail. In people wearing acrylic nails, traumatic separation is very common because adhesion between acrylic nail and nail is stronger than adhesion of nail plate to nail bed.
- Brittle nails and nail thinning: A very common consequence to repeated application of nail polish, nail polish removers, gel and acrylic nails. Gel polish and acrylic nails are firmly adherent to nail, there removal inculcates damage to the nail surface leaving them weak and brittle.
- Peripheral neuropathy: Localized nerve damage induced by methylmethacrylate has been reported.
Take the following precautions when you go for your next session:
Make sure instruments have been sterilized by autoclave.
Do not let technician trim or manipulate cuticles.
Do not let technician clean under the nails with sharp instruments.
