Bacteria under natural nail - advice needed please!

[Sara Satchell]

Hi All,

I had a client to come me for a repair today. She had an injury on her nail where she had a small crack that went right through her nail. It looks like a bacterial infection has started but it seems to have worked it's way underneath her natural nail through the crack. I soak off the acrylic and thoroughly cleaned the nail, shortened it then replaced the acrylic.

Was this the right course of action? Im really worried as the infection seems to be underneath and not sitting on the surface like other infections I've seen. She is coming back on Friday for me to check it - should I have removed the acrylic and left it off till the infection had cleared? Or should she go to the GP?

Im so worried....

 

[Gelly]

I was taught not to remove product, but to refer client immediately to their GP.
Hope that made sence - I'm pooped!

 

[JDs]

I would have removed the product and then sent the client to the doctor. Without treatment and healing, I would not replace the acrylic. Let us know how she is on friday.

 

[The Geek]

If her nail bed was exposed, I would have been hesitant to soak off as this could aggravate the situation by drying the bed, saying that, it is also a benefit to have the product off and the area dried out so it is a bit of a catch 22

Regardless, make a judgement call. If the greenie is larger, darker, whatever... send her to a GP for a derm referral. Most GP's are not au fait with nail disease/disorders.

 

[Sara Satchell]

The injury was a little over a week old and was about 2/3 mm long. The nail bed was dry and you could just see a tiny tiny bit of pink through. When I had finished the green (which was so pale it was hard to tell if it was there or not) look a little bit less.

 

[geeg]

I would monitor this carefully.

The nail bed is naturally moist, and if any bacteria are still present after your 'clean up' job, they can start to multiply again. If they do, then soak off the enhancement and let it all dry out thoroughly. I would then apply some EC Resin right into the crack to seal off the area and then apply a thin overlay again.