Itchy fingers: Woman says manicure gave her blisters and pus

After three long hours of sticking her fingers in and out of an ultraviolet (UV) lamp at a nail salon, Belicia Sun was all pumped to show off her new gel nails during the grand opening of her crystal shop, Illa Nocte. 

However, that anticipation quickly turned to horror after the 26-year-old allegedly suffered an allergic reaction from her manicure. 

"Please be wary when doing gel nails," Sun warned others in a TikTok uploaded yesterday (Oct 12). 

In the 30-second clip, she shared that after getting her nails done, one of the nail tips fell off and her fingertips "started itching". 

The itch didn't go away even after a week and on top of that, her fingers grew swollen, she posted. So, she got her nails tips removed. 

However, the nightmare didn't end there. 

"It became worse," she lamented while showing images of her fingertips with what she described as "oozing" pus and "itchy blisters". 

She also shared in the comments that she was in so much pain that she had difficulties washing her hair and had to avoid touching things. 

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Eventually, Sun posted that she had contracted contact dermatitis, an allergic skin reaction that typically shows up as an itchy rash. 

Sometimes, these rashes can develop into blisters and swelling, which was what she said she experienced. 

Sun suspects that she may have gotten the infection as her nails were extremely short, which allowed the gel to seep in. 

AsiaOne has reached out to Sun for more details,

In her TikTok comment thread, several people came forward to share that they too had contact dermatitis from getting gel manicures at nail salons.

Others also offered her tips on how to take care of her fingers such as not applying too much steroid cream. 

In August 2018, beauty publication Refinery29 reported that the British Association of Dermatologists conducted a study and found that methacrylate chemicals, which are the key ingredients in acrylic nails, gel nails and gel polish nails, have caused an "allergy epidemic" in the United Kingdom and Ireland. 

Findings showed that allergic reactions are likely to happen when uncured substances touch the skin, which can cause the nails to loosen or a severe red, itchy rash. 

It was found that 2.4 per cent of the people tested in the study had an allergy to at least one type of methacrylate chemical. 

Dr David Orton of the British Association of Dermatologists also said in that study that there will be many out there with these allergies that will remain undiagnosed because they may not link the symptoms to their nails. 

"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," he said. 

ALSO READ: Allergy types: Top 12 most common allergies in Singapore

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melissateo@asiaone.com