Lash extension - eye infection

[Peggy69]

Hi all
I don't know if any of you can help me out (please!).
I went on a nouveau lash extension course just over a month ago, and have so far only done one practice, on my sister, which was actually pretty successful.
Didn't meet anybody on my course that was in my area to do my lashes, so went to a salon about 10 miles away. The first time I had them done, they were fine for about 8 or 9 days, then I was in the shower and got a bit of shampoo in my eyes, and then my eyes flared up and were really itchy and I got conjunctivitis. Put drops in for a few days and it went down.
Anyway, last Saturday I went for a maintenance treatment - they looked fantastic but that evening, my eyes started to feel really irritated again and by Sunday morning, when I woke up, they were so swollen and stuck together, it was really distressing. I ended up spending about two hours in front of the bathroom mirror, removing them myself, as I just wanted them off my eyes. This is the third day of overly swollen and sore eyes - haven't been able to go into work either.
Now, I believe that the girl who did my lashes (who's very experienced), used a fast-drying glue, which she said was quite strong on fumes.
Has anybody experienced or heard of these kind of problems? It's really put me off doing it now, as I'm not sure I can be confident in the process or product. To be honest, I'd be devastated if I did to somebody what I've had to go through.
Anyone got any views/comments?
Cheers :cry:

 

[JenniS]

Hi hun,

Just a question, do you think she used a different glue on you for your maintenance treatment? It sounds like she may have done, and perhaps you have an allergy to that. Surprised if she did and didn't patch test you first though!

Also, did you speak to your GP about the cause of the original bout of conjunctivitis? It sounds as if that was possibly a coincidence as you had already had the lashes on for a fair while, I may be wrong but I wouldn't imagine an allergy would take 8 or 9 days to develop.

You could always try ringing through to Nouveau to ask their advice, maybe speak to your original trainer? They've always been very helpful whenever I've called to ask a question.

Whereabouts in Surrey are you by the way? I'm in Essex and do Nouveau Lashes and would be glad of having someone to do reciprocal treatments with, if this experience hasn't put you off for life!!

Jenni
x

 

[Peggy69]

Hi Jenni

I think she used the same glue....just thought, probably like you do, that because I hadn't got the conjunctivitis for about 8 or 9 days after the first time, that it might not be connected to the lashes (stupid?!).

No patch test done....should have really asked her to do that.

I made an appt at gp for my first bout and the day I was supposed to go, my eyes were better! I did tell her about the lashes at my appt yesterday though, and she wasn't sure it was connected.

I spoke to my trainer yesterday, who is lovely and suggested I wait for my eyes to clear up and then maybe just try a few on the outer edges and see what happens. Think I'll probably go for that, although at the moment, I'm slightly wary, as I'm still sitting here with flaky, swollen, dry eyelids, so not in a rush to do it again.

I'm in Surbiton - you? I've got four or five practice runs at the beginning of Jan, so maybe we can talk about the reciprocal treatments after I've had my assessment? Thanks for the offer - kind of begrudge paying £85/£40 maintenance, when I know how to do it myself!!!

Cheers
Justine
x

 

[Anastasia Vasic]

I had been doing lash for 4 years, and never had anyone with this sort of problem. I doubt you have an allergy to them, it would have developed a lot earlier,it usually takes no longer than 24 hrs. It should not put you off from doing them, maybe it's not lashes it's something else caused it. Go to your GP and talk to him.
Hope your eyes will get better soon:hug:

 

[Lynne Baker]

No patch test done....should have really asked her to do that.

Er, no. SHE should have done the patch test as a matter of routine. You shouldn't have to ask for one!

 

[loubylou]

The patch test should have been done, that goes with out saying,

some (a lot) of the fast set glues that are used for lashes are actually from china and used in the car manufacturing industry so are not suitable to be used near the eye and this is why they have nasty fumes that can burn the eye,
just a bit of info for you,

conjunctivitis is originally contracted from been in contact with animal urine then passed person to person very simply,
it only takes someone to rub their eyes and then not wash their hands and the infection spreads hth :hug:

 

[JenniS]

Hi Justine

Sorry that you're still feeling poorly hun. Looking back at what you have said, I would imagine that the original shampoo incident has made your eye a bit sore and then, as Louise said, you may have come into contact with someone else with conjunctivitis, rubbed your own eyes and contracted it yourself - conjunctivitis is highly contagious and easily spreads in this way.

You can also contract reactive conjuntivitis, where some people are susceptible to chemicals or smoke and fumes. I would say your eyes were probably still recovering from the first bout of the conjunctivitis and the glue fumes added a bit of extra fuel to the fire, so to speak. Alternatively, you could maybe have contracted viral conjunctivitis which is associated with the common cold - have you been ill lately?

Anyway, I would say that your trainers advice is the way to go. Leave the lashes off until your eyes are completely healed and then continue with caution. It would be a shame if this were to put you off for life!

As for the "very experienced" therapist that carried out the original treatment, she's clearly not "very professional". It might be worthwhile asking her for the exact brand/type of glue she used - if it's in your Nouveau kit, then try doing a patch test yourself to see if you get a reaction.

Hope this helps a bit and you're feeling better soon.

Jenni
x

 

[Lynne Baker]

conjunctivitis is originally contracted from been in contact with animal urine then passed person to person very simply,
it only takes someone to rub their eyes and then not wash their hands and the infection spreads hth :hug:

This is just one of many ways that conjunctivitis can be contracted. There are five kinds of conjunctivitis, each with its own cause.

• Bacterial conjunctivitis
  
  Bacterial conjunctivitis is an infection caused by bacteria such as staphylococci, streptococci or haemophilus. These organisms may come from the patient's own skin or upper respiratory tract or they may be caught from another person with conjunctivitis.
  
  

• Viral conjunctivitis
  
  Viral conjunctivitis is often associated with the common cold. This may be caused by a virus called 'adenovirus'. This type of conjunctivitis can spread rapidly between people and may cause an epidemic of conjunctivitis.
  
  

• Chlamydial conjunctivitis
  
  This type of conjunctivitis is caused by an organism called Chlamydia trachomatis. This organism may also affect other parts of the body and can cause the venereal disease chlamydia.
  
  

• Allergic conjunctivitis
  
  Allergic conjunctivitis is common in people who have other signs of allergic disease such as hay fever, asthma and eczema. The conjunctivitis is often caused by antigens like pollen, dust mites or cosmetics.
  
  

• Reactive conjunctivitis - chemical or irritant conjunctivitis
  Some people are very susceptible to chemicals in swimming pools or to smoke or fumes and this can cause an irritation of the conjunctiva with discomfort, redness and watering. In such cases these irritants should be avoided.

 

[ValencianNails]

Conjunctivitis (inflammation of the eye)

BBC - Health - Conditions - Conjunctivitis

Medinfo: Conjunctivitis (pink eye)

Conjunctivitis, allergic and infectious - causes, symptoms and treatment

 

[Lash Sensation]

Hi there, I am new to this site but a Lash extensionist/trainer Beauty Therapist for over 30 years. I have recently come across a client that came to me for help (lashes done elsewhere and not mine) suffered the same problem twice. I honestly belive it is reactive conjunctivitis from either a small fragment of the dried glue or residue from the wet lashes washing into the eye when you got shampoo in it.
My now Clients had here lashes removed after contracting the infection, waited 3 weeks to clear it up, went back and had the same problem after a couple weeks. Coincidently according to her, 3 of her friends who went to the same person had the same problem. I only met her a couple weeks ago when I did her lashes. I think a lot of the glues purchased in china and some other asian countries are so high in heavy metals and chemicals that it is no wonder this happens. It is posssible to be reactive to any cosmetic or chemical after a period of time regardless of it not occuring previously. In my 6 years of applying lashes I had never heard of this happening til now. i think the other ladies have supplied some inteligent sound advice. Let your eye heal up, don't give up and get them done by a reputable person with a lot of experience and hopefully it will not occur again. I am sure the techniques overseas are not that different to the ones here. Thats for reading this.
Cheers Suez

 

[Peggy69]

Hi all
Thanks so much for all your opinions and advice. I'll keep on going with this and stick to the adhesive that Nouveau provide - I think I'm done with the girl whose done my lashes twice....wouldn't want to risk it again.
One thing I can't understand is why people would use that glue in the first place.
Anyway, again, thanks....I'll let you all know if after my break, I'm ok with the lashes.
Cheers
Justine x

 

[tigi]

have jsut done the nouveau eye lash course and during the it i was the model for someone. she put the pads under my eyes. OH MAN did that smart!! after 15 mins i had to ask the girl to stop, my eyes were running and when they took the pads off my eyes were red raw underneath. four days of looking like a panda!

I know the reaction you have had and i have had is different in a way, but i wonder if it was the pads they used. ?

tigi

 

[Peggy69]

You could have something there....another girl that I did the course with thinks it could be a problem with the pads....and thinking about it, my pads were quite high up and may have been touching the inside of my eyes....they do tend to move about, so guess they could scratch the inside of the eye and irritate it.

Anyone know of another way of protecting the bottom lashes (find that using the tape can be a bit uncomfortable when you remove it).

Thanks
J

 

[Anastasia Vasic]

Hi Justine

Sorry that you're still feeling poorly hun. Looking back at what you have said, I would imagine that the original shampoo incident has made your eye a bit sore and then, as Louise said, you may have come into contact with someone else with conjunctivitis, rubbed your own eyes and contracted it yourself - conjunctivitis is highly contagious and easily spreads in this way.

You can also contract reactive conjuntivitis, where some people are susceptible to chemicals or smoke and fumes. I would say your eyes were probably still recovering from the first bout of the conjunctivitis and the glue fumes added a bit of extra fuel to the fire, so to speak. Alternatively, you could maybe have contracted viral conjunctivitis which is associated with the common cold - have you been ill lately?

Anyway, I would say that your trainers advice is the way to go. Leave the lashes off until your eyes are completely healed and then continue with caution. It would be a shame if this were to put you off for life!

As for the "very experienced" therapist that carried out the original treatment, she's clearly not "very professional". It might be worthwhile asking her for the exact brand/type of glue she used - if it's in your Nouveau kit, then try doing a patch test yourself to see if you get a reaction.

Hope this helps a bit and you're feeling better soon.

Jenni
x

Couldn't agree more

 

[tigi]

if you coat the bottom lashes with some vaseline and then place the tape over them , leaving enough edge on either side so that they stick to the skin on the sides of the eye, that works well. i have been doing this on my clients, i havent used the pads in my kit since i had that reaction.

i swear it was the most painful thing that i suffered for ages. the trainer thought it was areactino to the q10 in the pad. i never want that again!.

tigi

 

[JenniS]

How are your eyes now Justine?? Hope you're feeling better hun.

Jenni
x

 

[Peggy69]

I hear you Tigi....the pain/irritation is amazing! The vaseline/tape thing sounds good....will try that on the next few jobs I do and see how that goes.

Glad I'm not the only one who's had this problem (you start to think you are when you're told that it's never happened before - standard answer to protect yerself?!!).

Thanks so much
Justine

 

[ktsmith1]

Hi
I have only just trained in eyelash extensions and have only used pads. One of my clients said the pad was 'smarting' a bit. Is it normal micropore tape you use?

Thanks

 

[tigi]

hi ktsmith. yes i use normal micro pore , from the chemist. i apply a thin coat of vaseline and then apply the micropore over the top. reason i do this is the micropore can be very sticky and hard to remove. the vaseline helps with the removal.

i found using the pads extremly irritating and have stopped doing so on all my clients.

tigi

 

[Jogels]

For great information on eyelash extensions go to

Welcome go to the Eyelash Extensions chat Click on the underlined word- 'Welcome' and it will take you there. You can read all the threads without having to log on, you just need to log in if you want to post. If you wish to log in, it will take a few days before you are able to log on-- but well worth the wait!!!

Here you will find many posts related to allergies. You will spend hours reading through old threads. I have learned more from the above site than from the lash course I took! The only things it's missing is a search feature!