Strange Reaction

[Flitch]

Hi, I would be very grateful for some advice please. I think I may have suffered a monomer overexposure as the reaction seems classic but the timing is very weird.

I'll try to explain, I have been experiencing some tingling in the tips of my fingers (under the free edge) for a week or so. (I have l&p sculpts on and I did them about 2.5 weeks ago). I decided to have a change of design so soaked them off Wednesday night but didn't replace them. On Thursday am I noticed tiny little blisters over the tips of my fingers, which seemed to get worse thru the day. This am these blisters have spread around to the tops of some of my fingers (about half way between cuticle and first knuckle).

I did a set of nails for a client on sunday but I am right handed and therefore hold my brush with this hand and the reaction is on my left hand.

Am very confused coz if this is a monomer reaction why has it taken from Sunday to Thursday to come up (sunday was the last day I was in contact with monomer) and also why is it getting worse with no enhancements on?

Have racked my brains to think whether it could be something else, the only other thing was acetone, but have done a patch test and no reaction at all.

Can anybody shed any light on this at all - all and any help gratefully received.

Thanks in advance.

 

[blossom]

Can't shed any light, but I can say I've had exactly the same thing. Weird. Only on two or three fingers. And I can say with my hand on my heart that I have placed NO product on the areas that are affected - between the cuticle and first joint. They are presently red and inflamed and a bit itchy and I have no idea why.

It comes.

And then it goes.

I find sudocrem soothes it.

hth x

 

[JANEY K]

hi girls i,m pretty new to this but ur thread just jogged my memory a girl at college had same problem but only on two of her fingers on her left hand(she's right handed) apparently it was the finishing wipe she was using to wipe her brush a little bit of dermatitis so to speak ,she to did tests for reaction to L&P and other systems or acetone she just used some soothing cream from the pharmacy to cool it down..hth

jane xx

 

[Manni]

hi there.... the only thing i can think of is dermatitis.... i sometimes get it on my hands it comes and goes and doesnt affect all of my hand or fingers but just in a few places..... it never coinsides with using product more than normal or anything just one of those things.... as for healing it usually you can get a cream from the chemist or you could also wear a glove on that hand jsut make sure its a powder free one as the powder can some times make it worse.....
either way hope it gets better soon

 

[geeg]

This sounds like a reaction to Acetone rather than monomer. Or something else completey but definitely it does not sound like monomer.

 

[Doorie]

and wear gloves...

I always do on my left hand (and work my brush with the right one) you will protect your nails and hands from monomere exposure, dust, etc...

 

[Flitch]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will try wearing gloves when I work on clients, but what about doing my own nails?

Thanks Geeg for your reply, my first thought was monomer and I guess I panicked a bit but logically I don't see how it can be either. I thought maybe acetone too but my patch test was clear. As it seems to be getting worse rather than better I think it may be unrelated to anything nails too.

If anyone else has any other suggestions I would be most grateful.

 

[Doorie]

well, you don't do your nails daily, do you?

so it's like any client that comes every 2 weeks, you can work without gloves on yourself... since your clients don't wear any

 

[Flitch]

Of course you're right Doorie I just thought that if I was experiencing a reaction to monomer then this might mean I couldn't wear enhancements any more.

 

[Flitch]

Hi still haven't got to the bottom of whats happening with my hands. Have seek my gp and being referred to a specialist, but I have a further question which I hope someone can answer.

If I have developed an allergy to l&p how long after putting on a test nail would I expect to see symptoms developing? and would they only be on the finger that the test nail was on?

I did 2 test nails on Thursday and everything was fine until Friday evening when tiny blisters appeared on one cuticle and this morning both fingers look a little swollen.
Am soaking off at the moment to see what happens.

 

[adelekeegan1]

I am wondering if you are reacting to your cuticle oil - have you checked that ?

 

[wardo]

Hi
just a thought but have you been in contact with any flowers?
I use to work in a fruit shop and 3 of us had these symptoms, I even had one on my ear! this happened on a few occasions in which we later discovered it was a certain flower we were selling (cant recall which type)
I know its a bit random but its worth ruling everything out.

 

[Flitch]

I too was wondering about cuticle oil. I use solar oil have done for years and never had probs before but then never had probs with l&p either. Perhaps I should do a patch test.

Re the flowers no, I haven't had any contact recently so think thats unlikely, but thanks for the suggestion.

Am still interested to know how quickly a reaction would arise is the allergy was indeed l&p if anyone can advise?

 

[geeg]

I too was wondering about cuticle oil. I use solar oil have done for years and never had probs before but then never had probs with l&p either. Perhaps I should do a patch test.

Re the flowers no, I haven't had any contact recently so think thats unlikely, but thanks for the suggestion.

Am still interested to know how quickly a reaction would arise is the allergy was indeed l&p if anyone can advise?

If you are allergic to anything it will show within 12 hours.

As for a patch test .. only a doctor can do this. Solar oil is made up of just a few natual botanical oils. With a 'home grown' patch test, what would that tell you? It would not tell you which specific ingredient you were allergic to. It could be any one of four if you see what I mean.

I very much doubt that Solar Oil or any one of the 4 oils in it is the culprit you are looking for.

 

[jojosnails]

i get this exact same reaction to the dust from filing some tips or gel, could this be the same for you?

I just have to wear gloves!x

 

['chelle]

Hiya hun

Send a pm to Kirsty (Amethyst_Angel) - she has got to be THE most allergic person to monomer I have ever met, her skin practically falls off when she comes into contact with it!! She has certainly got plenty of experience on the subject of monomer reactions, I'm sure she would be happy to share her experiences with you, and she doesnt bite (unless cornered!!):lol:

 

[Flitch]

Thanks Geeg for the timing info re allergic reactions. The timing just about fits with the first symptoms I experience, but after removing the test nails, things got worse. It doesn't seem to make any difference whether I gently buff off or soak off.

Re the patch test, I know its not a proper patch test, but I find that the inside of my forearm is a good area to see it something will irritate me. But as I expected Solar oil provokes no reaction at all. I've used it for many years for many things and its fantastic stuff.

Thanks 'chelle for suggesting I pm Amythest_Angel I'm going to do that now.

 

[Doorie]

couldn't it be some cosmetic you use? or liquid for washing up? something new you tried? not really regarding nails...?

 

[princesspugpug]

i have had clients experience this problem and i put it down to the primer. I changed to an acid free primer and a liquid with no primer in it, after the nails are finished i wipe down with nsi nail cleanse to remove any residue and it doesnt happen to them anymore

 

[Flitch]

Don't think it's related to anything household ie washing up liquid, nothing's changed and I always wear gloves.

Have tried going without primer and it hasn't made any difference.

Think I'm going to wait til I see the specialist for an answer. My guess is that I have developed an allergy to l&p but its part of a larger picture. I have some other symptoms that cannot be allergy related and I suspect my immune system has gone a bit crazy at the mo.

The only other thing that I've done differently re nails is that I've been using Popits on myself for the last set I did. It was after that set that the symptoms with my hands started appearing. Logically tho, how could using Popits made that much difference?

Thanks everyone for all your input. I'm seeing the specialist on Wednesday so hopefully I might know a bit more then.