Onychomycosis

[kerrie]

Hi

I had a client bring a friend in today for me to look at her nails.

She had been going to one of the large production nail salons, to put it politely, from which about 50% of my currents clients come from.

This womans nails were in a shocking state, im pretty sure she has Onychomycosis, her nails are yellow thick and there is seperation from the nail bed and also the skin around her hands and fingers are dry cracked and peeling.

She had told me she has been to 2 seperate doctors and they have given her cream but this has not worked.

She had been going to them for about 5 months for regular infills and she said the last 2 visits they had nicked her with the drill around her cuticles causing her to bleed, and she said on her last visit her middle finger had signs of this happening and she asked them what it was and they said nothing to worry about and tipped and replaced the nail over her own damaged nail.

This woman is in alot of pain and her hands and nails are nothing like i have seen before, ( i am getting her to take photos and email to me and i will post as soon as i get them).

She has had the nails off for about 3 weeks now and she said that its getting worse and she had been getting acrylics previous to this for a few years and her nails were perfectly fine before .

I called our local council and spoke with the health inspector there on her behalf ( i didnt give the name of the salon to them as yet as i want to make sure i get facts first ) She suggested that the woman come down and see her .

I have a strong feeling that this salon uses MMA, as i have had to soak off plenty of nails from them before and i know they use drills direct on the nail plate to etch and also for finishing , as she explained they had nicked her cuticles.

How do i help this woman? How can i make sure that this problem is caused soely from this nail salon? and when i speak with the council again do i mention this salons name?

Or do i just let her go to the council and forget about it?

The problem i have in my head is i dont want to look like im jumping on them to get business, as i already get alot of there clients already lol but i also am worried that if this has happend to one woman is there alot more that just arnt complaining? I just want to do the right thing .

I hope someone can give me some insight and advice on where i should take things from here.

kerrie

 

[Nailsinlondon1]

Hi there,

Before you get personally involved you have to make sure that the health problem is truly related and can be traced back to the salon..............

Only this Lady can be sure of this.

But you can advise her to take some steps if she is certain..............
Advise her to go and speak to Health and Safety herself......... She needs to support her complaint and the reason she suspects it is from that Salon, with some evidence...........
She need to back this up with pictures of her nails, doctors letters and Dermatologist letters if she has been to see one........... which I would recommend as general GP's are not experts in this field......no disrespect to any GP out there...she can ask for a referral letter to a Dermatologist..
She then needs to file a formal complaint, include her pictures, doctors letters, a letter from you as a qualified Technician with regards to her nails can be a bonus............

The use of an E-file is not enough evidence to think they also use MMA........
They could be just using an e-file for speed of application..........
The use of MMA can only be prooven if they test a sample of their monomer.....They might just be using a very low quality product..........
But the evidence is there that they are careless with the use of the E-file.... and possibly breaking sanitation laws...........and thats enough to get them investigated and more might just come to light...........
Let Health and Safety do the hard work, thats their job, they have to respond to complaints and the more complain the better it will be for your client...... so maybe she knows a few more people herself that have used this salon, then they can get together and complain by the mass so to speak..........

The best thing you can do is offer the advise that she herself must complain!!!!
The best advise for any one else with the same problem or similar, that might visit your salon, is to tell them that they must do the same............. Complain to Health and Safety!!!!!
The evidence is in her hands or at her fingertips so to speak......... give her lots of moral support............
There is not much you can do for her nails at this moment of time, only a Dermatologist is qualified enoughto deal with her fingers............
HTH a little bit

 

[kerrie]

Hi Ruth,

Thanks for all that info....


I have since spoken with this lady. She has taken pictures of her nails and been to her local GP and has a letter from him and also a referal to a Dermatoligist, she is seeing him next week.

I have advised her to get in touch with the health dept in our local council and she has gone and seen them... so all is going on the right track so far.

As far as getting personally involved i wasnt planning on doing that , i just have had that many people from that particular salon i just wanted to make sure this woman followed through with her complaint.

I cant be sure they are using MMA but i have done enough soak offs from this particular salon to suspect it , but of course i havnt told this lady or the council of that, but it isnt banned here so really there isnt much point.

The reason i mentioned the use of a "drill" is because she had mentioned that they had used it around her cuticle area and had cut her on almost all of her fingers and she bled, that concerns me as she said after they finished filing her the girl moved straight on to the next client with the same drill bit, she said it was never removed or even cleaned.

I use a "drill" myself and i have no objections to anyone using one, but the only use i have for it is carving smile lines, i dont use it on the nail bed or anywhere near the cuticle area.

I try and educate new clients as much as i can but i can only do that after they have left this particular salon, and they have all told me that this salon is so busy with at least 10 techs working and always people waiting. I know i only get a handful of their clients that come to me , and they are usually the ones fed up with sore nail beds and yellow nails.

I just needed a bit of a rant i guess i just get fed up with these large "nail bars" and the damage that i see regularly from clients going to them, there are about 3 of them and a new one opened recently.

I just wish people would be more aware of what kind of service they are getting and ask more questions but i guess in the end is all good for me as i do get to keep these people as clients.


Kerrie