Clients husband's nails cracking across centre of nail plate - advice please

[Bev Rose]

One of my clients husband has recently undergone a serious operation (approx 6 months ago).

He is slowing recovering at home, infact he is able to go out & about & play golf etc now.

She called me on Sunday & told me he has about 4 nails that have cracked from sidewall to sidewall half way down the nail plate, which is causing him some discomfort & they are catching on things a tearing a bit, which is causing pain.

She asked if there was anything I could advise/do for him.

He is coming in to see me today at 2pm.

I'm guessing that the drugs he received whilst in hospital have taken their toll on the nails as they have grown out.
I was wondering if there was anyway I could help this chap?

It would seem to me much like a client who has cracked their nail plate & I'm wondering if I could sanitise with scrubfresh, prep & gelbond, then do a thin overlay of clear L&P to cover up the cracks to help them to grow down to the free edge without causing him any more pain.

I would insist on him signing a disclaimer saying he understood the implications (ie: poss infection) & that he would not hold me responsible & due the his medical condition etc, etc he agrees to undertake this procedure entirley at his own risk, with no come back to me what so ever.

What advice would you give me please?

 

[cabby]

I would take great care I did that as my sister was having cancer treatment her nails came off she was told this could happen with the chemo but I still felt awful as it happened very quickly after I had done them:cry:

 

[An*Gel]

I would go ahead and do it Bev.

I think leaving his nails as they are would be worse for him. They might not be too bad, maybe they just need to be buffed lightly with a sponge file to smooth them out a small bit.

But if they need an overlay I would do it.

I suppose he got beaus lines after the illness and they were very deep and cracked.

Good luck :hug:

 

[mum]

Hi Bev

It's very difficult to answer from a description of a description.

This is more of a 'think out loud':

If there is a problem with nails that has a systemic cause (i.e. illness, general anaesthetic etc etc) then there is almost always something to be seen on every nail (thumbs last as they are slower)

An operation 6 mths ago would probably be more than half way up the nail (if you see what I mean ) but the nail growth could have slowed depending on the illness (don't even try to diagnose that one)

Could it be trauma to the matrix and the nails have shed with the new growth coming up behind?

Very serious heart problems do sometimes cause nails to shed in no particular order.

Those are a few possibilities.

The thing for a technician is not so much trying to diagnose (a definite no, in fact) but it is very useful to have an idea as to why a certain condition has occurred and is it possible to make it worse by providing certain treatments

From what you have described so far I would say that leaving these nails to shed (and they will if they have broken from side to side) is far worse for the client than chancing a sensible solution. There is a high risk of infection getting under the nail which will be painful. There is also a high risk of catching the nail an ripping it off

So, based on the description, I would suggest very gentle cleansing with an alcohol based cleanser then an adhesive over the crack. If you use adhesive in a bottle I would use a new one or it would be OK to use a tube.

Personally I would use a resin for an overlay. If the overlay needs to come off soaking may cause a problem and filing could disrupt the loose nail plate. In saying that the nails may be strong enough for an L&P but you would need to use your judgement on that one.

Good luck

 

[Bev Rose]

Thank you Marian,

I'm glad you found the time to look at this for me:hug:

I'm expecting him at 2pm, I will ***** it then, if there is any weeping/heat etc - I'll not touch them.

I will check all possibilities with him to see if it could be caused from something externally.

Thanks to the other geeks too for their imput - very much appreciated
xxxxxxxxx

 

[Bev Rose]

Just to update.......

The client has been in.

His nails were split on both sides of his thumbs, middle fingers & index fingers. There was signs of the nails about to split at the sides on the rest. The free edges were all raggedy. All nails were ridged slightly.
It was quite obvious that the affected area on all the nails was 2/3rds grown out & normal growth was taking place from the eponychium.

There was no sign of infection, open wound or soreness of any kind, so I did a gentle prep & overlaid all of the nails with clear L&P, thinly.

I buffed them down to a 240 grit, oiled then buffed in the oil with the smooth side of my Koala (1200 grit).

They looked smooth, no bits left to 'catch', and were not 'overly' shiney.

He was pleased & thankful with the results.

Usual aftercare advice & Solar Oil supplied.

 

[An*Gel]

Wow I'd love to see a pic... don't suppose you have any?

I'm sure he was thrilled and he was lucky to have such a competent nail tech

 

[Bev Rose]

Wow I'd love to see a pic... don't suppose you have any?

I'm sure he was thrilled and he was lucky to have such a competent nail tech

Sorry - I didn't think about taking a pic until after he'd left!:o

 

[mum]

Excellent! I bet he was relieved. The cause seems to be obvious too. Few more weeks and it will all be back to normal

 

[geeg]

Well done hunni .. always very satisfying to help isn't it?? :hug:

 

[adelekeegan1]

My mother had a massive cancer op about 15 years ago, the op was a success and no further treatment or drugs were needed.

The same thing happened to her nails and her surgeon (when asked at a check up) thought it was due to the trauma of the op,

 

[Bev Rose]

Well done hunni .. always very satisfying to help isn't it?? :hug:

Thanks Gigi:hug:

Yes Adele, I'm pretty convinced it was due to the operation & drugs the poor chap had - he almost died apparently.

I remember, when I had my kids & had pethedin (sp?), there were lines across my nails after a few weeks - I rememnber looking at them & thinking - that was because of the drugs (9yrs before my nail career began!)

I was really pleased to see his reaction to his now painless nails & he kept feeling how smooth they were - 'Never, ever have my nails felt like that before', he said, with a strangely amused look on his face, bless him! These chaps have no idea of the pleasures of the nail salon! Lol!
I told him that they were addictive & he'd be back for a set of glitter french sculpts before long!:lol: He had the cheek to disagree with me!:lol: