Allergy to Gel Nails Hits the Headlines
Over the last few days, a media storm has been building after it was announced that dermatologists have issued this stark warning to users of gel nails in the UK. They are concerned that people are not understanding the risks and as a result, they have deemed that we are in an allergy epidemic and we need to be more aware of what we are potentially doing to our hands and bodies with a seemingly harmless fashion trend.
Studies Carried Out
It seems that over the last year the British Association of Dermatologists has been doing some research about why people are attending 13 of the countries dermatology clinics. The results showed that the chemicals in the manicures are causing a problem for 2.4% of the people who were tested. The chemical responsible is methacrylate which is a prime component of gel nails, some acrylic nails and gel polishes. Another study confirmed this by saying that of the 742 people they surveyed, over 19% suffered side effects from their visit to the nail salon, while 16% could directly attribute this to a gel manicure that was carried out in a salon or home studio.
What is Happening
The problem with the chemicals is that they can not only cause an issue to the hands but because we touch our faces, eat and drink etc, we can spread the allergen around the body creating more issues. Generally, the allergy happens when the chemicals are on the skin rather than the nail itself. It can cause pain and itching to the hands and fingers, and if spread to the head and face inadvertently patients were experiencing itching and rashes in the hair and scalp. In rare cases but a point, they felt needed making, the reaction to the chemicals can also affect breathing. For others that are particularly allergic the nail underneath can also die of fall off which is really not pleasant and very painful and the skin under the nails, or the nail bed, is not meant to be exposed so will be very tender and sore for a long time. Nails can even fail to grow back correctly which is very depressing for the victim. As with all products of this nature, patch testing should be carried out before every single application, even if you had no problems previously. However, this just doesn’t happen and for nearly all salons is not even offered as an option.
Bling Art Cares
This is one of the reasons we take so much care to manufacture our nails with ingredients that are known to be hypoallergenic and should not cause a reaction to anyone. The glue we use is medical grade glue which is again designed to ensure that you will not suffer from any unwanted side effects when trying to compliment your look. If you are concerned about the chemicals that you might be coming into contact with then why not try Bling Art nails today.
