Hi,
I'm writing this thread in the hope that it will help at least one person to realise the dangours of overexoposure,I would hate to see anybody have to go through the pain and irritation I'm going through.It is directed mostly to those nail techs that have been as unlucky as myself with their training and anybody thinking of becoming a nail technician

Over exposure was never mentiond in my origional training (college) the only thing we were told not to do was not to get any primer on the clients skin and not to touch the 'sides' with product because it would cause lifting.

My overexposure issue started with my face swelling up at the end of the day (I used to sit back after finishing a set and rub my face it didn't occur to me that I had anything 'bad' on my hands)
I used to work hunched up over my clients hands (yes I did need an eyetest ) therefore my face was directly exposed to the monomer vapours.
My fingers started with a mild itch(that I ignored) yes,of course I washed my hands before each new client but I never thought to wash my hands immediatly after completing a service.

I am suffering the PAIN of overexposure, my hands are in a mess,I can not work or touch anything in the salon now without wearing cotten gloves and nirlie gloves over them.I wear a barrier cream on my face and take allergy relief tablets every working day.

Most of us will take care to look after our clients hands and reduce any risk of anything untoward hapening to them while we do our job...
BUT
Please,please take care of your own well being and don't let yourself fall victim of overexposure.

Thank you for sharing! It's so important and hopefully anyone who had the same training has seen this and learned from it. I really feel for you and hope you are ok.

thank you so much for posting this warning. It is good to have a reminder of the importance of taking care of our own health and safety.

I am sorry that you have had to experience the result of bad training. I trained with Creative and they were constantly on about the importance of good practices to eradicate over exposure but I have to admit I still sometimes find myself thinking opps I shouldn't have done that. I sometimes find myself resting my wrist on the paper square I wipe my brush on. Am desperately trying to get in the habit of always placing my wipe above my monomer and well away from my wrist.

Again, many thanks.

You have my sympathy 100%. Been there, done that, read the book and worn the T-shirt !

You may be wise to change from L&P to gel. My overexposure came from gel and I have since switched brand but the consequences with L&P were dire for me. This is because L&P takes time to cure, so it continues to irritate the skin until then.

I now use Calgel but protect myself with Nitrile gloves (I double up). If I do get any on my skin, the inflammation is only minor. I also had slight reaction with Bio Sculpture and Brisa. I can't wear enhancement on myself .

I agree that this topic needs to be covered more in depth in training.

Awwwww del , I already know from talking to you how bad your hands are, and how the rest of you reacts too.

This is a brilliant thread as it will highlight the importance of working safely with the chemicals that we use everyday, and the reactions that can occur if not used in the correct way. It is just such a shame that your initial training at college didn't cover this.

Hope your hands get better soon hun.

I think I may be starting with an allergy.....is it too late?!!!

I was a bit naughty and often would have my wrist resting on my 'wiping pad' but wouldn't realise till I had to peel it off! *ashamed*

I didnt have an extractor either, and the dust made my skin so spotty/congested. Urrrgh.

I noticed I sometimes get tiny little blistery things (barely noticable) but irritating, and also past few times I have done my friends nails (usually at their house so the set up isnt ideal) I get REALLY itchy patches where my brush rests on my finger. (Not the bristles! Im not that bad!).

Is it too late....am I over exposed? What happens now? Do I need to wear gloves all the time? Don't they melt with scrubfresh etc?

NOOOOOOOOOOO! So gutted.

Hi, yeah i agree with you, i have been doing a few courses & none of them warned me enough for overexposure & as a result i am now allergic. I wear Nitrile gloves & this seems to be working but i did thankfully realise what the itching on my fingers was thanks to this site (my hero) before it got any worse, i cant do my own Nails now but im fine doing friends & im very very glad it's happened to me really as now im very very careful with anyone else, but like you i think there should be a better warning on every course for people who are starting out xx

Hi, dont take my word as gospel as im a mere student lol, but i started with exactly the same & did it the same way, the tiny transparent blisters r what i was having & i did suss it out with just reading different posts on here, i had the dr just yesterday to confirm & he reckoned that yip im allergic to it now, but he couldnt say if id always be, i bought 100 Nitrile gloves from justgloves.co.uk & they cost a mere £4.20 delivered the next morning, im finding them great & they have no powder inside (which also irritated me). Im sure tho if you continue without using the gloves ur allergy will get worse like the lady who posted the original thread so be careful, hope this helps & as i say check with someone who is fully qualified this is just my experience xx

The tiny blisters are a sign of overexposure.
I can only repeat to you what my doctor said to me and that was to take some allergy relief tablets and use safe workin methods.
Yes if I were you I would wear gloves,unfortunatly, I've found that anything that contains acetone does breakdown the gloves,try wearing 2 pairs.Also I don't like 'the sweatyness' of gloves so i allways use cotton gloves as my 1st layer.
Don't panic you can avoid it gettin very bad,you just have to be extra vigilent.
HTH

Hi Hun,
Thank you for sharing this with us, I luckily was taught about over exposure, but have to admit too, that I sanitize mine and the clients hands at beginning, ask the client to wash her hands when enhancements are finished, but then forget to wash my own hands....so of course I will be contaminating my face etc. This has given me a wake up call. Thank you...as I do get eczema when stressed....so I don't want any extras, plus there also has been the odd time when I too have leaned my wrist on the monomer pad.
I do hope you get better soon.
Lotsa luv x x

What allergy relief tablets do you take? Is there any that work better than others do you find?

I have pm'd you

Oh hun you sound like your having a rough time. I cannot do nails anymore as the vapours irritate my nose and have caused me numerous infections. My face also swelled up. Not something I would wish on anybody and such a pain when you have put a lot of time and money into the training.
I do hope you feel better soon hun xxx

hi, this thread has really opened my eyes, i will defo- be taking more care, hope you feel better soon. just wondering if anyone uses face masks? and can anyone recommend which masks to use? im asking this as when i was removing gel overlays i got a really runny nose and kept on sneezing and would not like this to happen again as i had to keep on blowing my nose... not very professional...
thanks all
lynn xx

Thankyou for posting this, I'm a newbie to the site and to enhancements, and I've not been taught about this...I let my hand rest on the wipe tissue and it gets stuck also.

I suffer badly from latex allergy and really cannot even think about getting another allergy on top of that..

I hope you all be ok that are suffering