Gel manicure alert as doctors warn they ‘can trigger nasty allergic rashes on your vagina’
Allergic reactions may involve a severe red, itchy rash on the fingertips, eyelids, face, neck and vagina
GEL manicures could trigger nasty allergic reactions on your face, hands and even your vagina, skin doctors have warned.
Methacrylate chemicals, the key ingredient in acrylic nails, gel nails and gel polish, are causing a contact allergy epidemic in the UK, the British Association of Dermatologists (BAD) has warned.
Some 2.4 per cent of people suffer allergic reactions to the chemicals, according to a recent study.
Even when professionally applied, if the "uncured" chemicals - before the nail is hardened under UV light - comes into contact with skin it can cause a nasty reaction.
It's even more likely when applying the products yourself or if salon staff have insufficient training.
Dermatologists have issued a warning are urging people to be particularly wary of gel and gel polish home kits, where insufficient curing under UV light can increase the risk of an allergy.
Allergic reactions may involve the nails loosening, or a severe red, itchy rash, not just on the fingertips, but potentially anywhere on the body that has come into contact with the nails, including the eyelids, face, neck and genital region.
Very rarely, symptoms such as breathing problems can occur after the chemicals are inhaled.
Dr David Orton, of the BAD, said: "It is really important that people know they can develop allergies from artificial nails.
"The truth is that there will be many women out there with these allergies who remain undiagnosed, because they may not link their symptoms to their nails, especially if the symptoms occur elsewhere on the body.
"It is important that they get a diagnosis so that they can avoid the allergen, but also because developing an allergy to these chemicals can have lifelong consequences for dental treatments and surgeries where devices containing these allergens are in common use."
Dr Orton warned that nail technicians are at a higher risk as they are exposed to the chemicals more frequently.
"Wearing protective gloves is not enough as methacrylates will pass directly through many glove types," he added.
"Salon owners need to consider the level of training they offer staff in this area as there is a genuine occupational hazard that should be mitigated.
"Methacrylates should be kept away from all direct skin contact. The training also needs to reduce the chances of initiating an allergy in their clients."
Methacrylates are not routinely included in allergy tests, so often people don't know they are allergic to the chemical.
In tests on 4,931 customers from 13 different salons in the UK and Ireland as many as 2.4 per cent tested positive for an allergy to the chemicals.
Some 60 per cent of them developed their allergy after being exposed to the chemicals in nail products or other beauty products like eyelash glue.
In a separate survey, conducted by the BAD, 742 people attending dermatology clinics were asked about allergies to nail products.
About 19 per cent had experience an allergic reaction to acrylic nails and 16 per cent had adverse effects from gel nails or gel polish.
Dr Deirdre Buckley, consultant dermatologist from the Royal United Hospital Bath, said: "Allergy to methacrylates has the potential to behave like many of the other significant contact allergy epidemics that have occurred in the last few decades.
"Although the rate of allergy to methacrylates is continuing to increase, many doctors are unaware of the issue, and these chemicals are not routinely included in patch tests.
"We are now recommending that all dermatologists patch test to methacrylates routinely.
"We would particularly urge people to be careful when using home kits. If you do use one, make sure that you use the recommended UV lamp for curing, and read the instructions carefully.
"Using the wrong lamp may mean that the gel polish does not cure properly, and this means an increased chance of allergy."
Allergic reactions aren't the only thing you have to worry about at the salon.
Methacrylates-containing nails can also cause physical damage to the nails and cuticles when they are removed, either by buffing, scraping or acetone soaking.
MORE ON ALLERGIC REACTIONS
Doctors have previously warned that the UV lights used to harden gel nails as "as bad as tanning beds" and could cause cancer.
In a report published in the Australasian Journal of Dermatology, a group of plastic surgeons in Ireland found there have been observational case reports linking the use of these lamps to the development of skin cancer on the hand.
But the true risk between the lamps and cancer has yet to be established, they said.
Other studies have linked the fumes in the air to an increased risk of breathing difficulties and recently a women in the US nearly lost her leg after contracting bacterial cellulitis from a dirty callous cutter.
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