Finger Rash After Manicure: Causes & Solutions

Question
I just hung up a phone call from this man, he said his daughter was here a week ago and 2 days after she got her nails done, he finger started to get rashes from her finger nails down to her hand. so is that possible?.. I have been doing nails for 5 years now i have never hear of such a thing.

Answer
It's definitely possible and actually fairly common. Sounds like a pretty standard case of an allergic reaction. Could have been from a product, could have been from something she touched in the salon (hand inside a UV light that hasn't been cleaned, laying on a table that hasn't been cleaned off, soap, etc-- anything where she could have had her hand laying in dust, oil, product, or from someone else's perfume, lotion, etc.#

HOWEVER-- 2 days after being at the salon? That kind of time between the salon visit and the rash indicates that it could have been a reaction to something she touched any time between the salon visit and the break out.

Also, why did they wait a week before contacting you? That's the sort of thing you expect to hear about right away.

So there's no way to determine FOR SURE if her rash was, indeed, related to her trip to the salon.

Allergic reactions are pretty common to acrylics that are made with MMA #Methyl Methacrylate Monomer# so check the MSDS for your nail liquid and make sure you are using a cosmetic-grade acrylic that is made with EMA (Ethyl Methacrylate Monomer.# Make sure you are keeping your desk surfaces and inside your UV lamps disinfected between clients. And make sure you avoid getting any product on your clients' skin-- these practices will help ensure that you aren't contributing to anyone #including yourself# developing a chemical sensitivity. And always make sure you use properly disinfected implements in all your services-- and make sure you rinse implements that have been soaking in disinfectant off before using them too, since that could also irritate skin.

If this client is trying to insist that something you did caused her rash, then I would refuse to service this client in the future in order to avoid another outbreak and possible legal action against you. But I would definitely expect to hear immediately from any client who thought she got a rash from a visit to me-- not a week later.