Possible acrylic allergy?

[LucieBella]

Hi, I trained with Nail Harmony three years ago and noticed at the time that whenever I worked with acrylic, I would get dry, reddish patches on and around my eyelids that were itchy from the flaking skin. I stopped doing any nail treatments apart from gel polish until recently when I did an acrylic refresher course with NH again.

I applied it once to my own nails and didn’t have any issues, removed it four days later for Polygel training. I was doing an infill for a client on Saturday who had acrylic from somewhere else and wanted Polygel infills, it was hard to file (I’m not efile trained) but we got there and I noticed that afternoon and the day after my skin was feeling so irritated, itchy and flaky around my eyes and it’s still there today. Could I be allergic to the dust from filing? I seem to be fine with Polygel (helps that the dust is so heavy!) and Gelish, it’s just acrylics that make my eyes like this.

Is there anything I can do to be able to still infill acrylics (I won’t be offering them going forwards) without this happening? Thanks!

 

[tuan]

It sounds like you do have an allergy towards acrylics. Several things can cause allergic reactions:

1. Monomer touches your skin
2. Acyrlic dust lands on your skin,
3 You breath in acrylic dust
4. You breath in acrylic vapor. Monomer releases an invisible odor thats called vapor.

I think its good that many nail techs are developing allergic reactions. Because it shows how valuable a good nail course is. And let me tell ya, most, if not all courses are crap. I've been offering courses here on salongeek and not one person wants to take the class. lol their lost.

My brother actually developed blisters on his filing hand because he would get dust all over his hands. He didn't know what the heck was going on and I had to enlighten him. The difference between me and him? Im a nail tech and a scientific researcher. He's just a nail tech - kinda like all the ungrateful nail techs on this forum.

 

[LucieBella]

Thanks Tuan, I’m very careful to follow the instructions given on my course and avoid any unnecessary contact with the powder and monomer so I think I will just continue to offer Polygel and avoid acrylic.

I’ve always been so careful to educate myself around overexposure for both myself and my clients, the other thing is I can’t be sure what brand of acrylic the client was wearing so it could just be that brand but I’d rather not take any risks where my health is concerned.

 

[tuan]

What are you going to do if you don't do acrylic?

 

[perfect10kb]

She says Tuan ....going to stick with Polygel

I have be in this business over 20 years and never offered acrylics ( L & P to give it its correct name ) . My book is always full so not offering L & P is not and issue if you are good at what you do . It certainly looks like and allergy but to which part is hard to tell without tests . Stick with the Polygel and built your business round this

 

[LucieBella]

Thank you Perfect10kb, that’s great to know! I’m fine with Polygel and it’s not having the effect on me that l&p does.

I’ll continue as I am and just offer the Polygel and gel polish treatments, if anyone requests acrylic infills I’ll encourage them to have them removed and a fresh set of Polygel instead.

 

[BobSweden]

It could be sensitisation, the first stage before an allergy develops.

Let's start at the beginning. You can't be allergic to acrylics or gels, or brand x. What you can be is allergic to one or more specific ingredients in the products that you use. Some ingredients like HEMA can be in all of them, including the primer.

An allergy is a reaction to what the immune system thinks is something toxic trying to enter the body through the skin. We evolved this defence for natural toxins, often from plants, but the problem is that some synthetic (man-made) toxins look similar. It's usually pretty hard work to become allergic. You have to have prolonged and repetitive skin contact or inhalation of uncured or under cured acrylates. This is called over exposure.

Allergies can take many years to develop and then appear quickly. But usually prior to this there is a period of sensitisation where you exhibit some of the same symptoms, but these are ignored. So then the full blown allergy develops.

Once an allergy develops it is for life. And your immune system will be a lot more sensitive and develop other allergies quicker, if you continue to be over exposed to other ingredients. This is why folks who simply jump products without changing their behaviour and actually removing the skin contact, end up unable to work. In some cases they become very sensitive to household cleaning products too.

So the first step is visit the GP and get a referral to a dermatologist. Given the current state of the NHS and some doctors attitude that allergies are self inflicted injuries (some truth in that), you may have to fight for this. There may be a 2 year waiting list depending where you live. The dermatologist with do a patch test and find out which ingredients you react to. Take your SDS so they know what to test.

Armed with this, you can look for products that don't contain these. To avoid further allergies, seriously consider investing in a professional salon air filter system like the one from Vodex (they now have a part payment option), nitrile gloves that are at least 0.19mm thick, cover bare skin where possible and consider wearing a barrier cream like Gloves in a Bottle from Superdrug under your gloves and on your arms.

Yes, dust can be a problem. The British Association of Dermatologists states that one of the major causes of the nail product allergy "epidemic", is hobbyists and NT using the wrong UV lamps that don't cure the gels or GP fully. The dust is then still containing under cured acrylates.

To get more fact-based info and support, we have an allergy group for NT here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/nail.product.allergies/

Once you know what ingredients you are sensitive to, visit us on the group and we can help advice alternative products. Several companies such as CND, Light Elegance and our company produce hypoallergenic products. However - you can still develop an allergy to these if there is over exposure to uncured / under cured acrylates - don't make the mistake of thinking these are a panacea and don't require changing behaviour and taking the additional steps that I recommended. Too many do this, even with this advice and end up in a worse situation.

You can also read concise info here: https://saynotoallergies.today

 

[BobSweden]

FYI if you are allergic to the HEMA in monomer, then you can develop a reaction also to Polygel which also contains this. My understanding (and I stand to be corrected) but Nail Harmony UK has allegedly increased the recommended cure time of Polygel. Please make sure that you are using the correct lamp and their current cure times.

 

[LucieBella]

FYI if you are allergic to the HEMA in monomer, then you can develop a reaction also to Polygel which also contains this. My understanding (and I stand to be corrected) but Nail Harmony UK has allegedly increased the recommended cure time of Polygel. Please make sure that you are using the correct lamp and their current cure times.

Thank you for all of this! I’ll definitely go see the doctor as I’m keen to try to prevent it becoming a full blown allergy, I’ll invest in a filter too. I do wear gloves but will go over everything again and see how else I can reduce my exposure.

I’m using the Gelish 18G lamp recommended and using the full system so I’m covered by my insurance. I don’t mix and match anything, it’s not worth the risk and I’ve been keen to stick to that since I first qualified. Thank you again!