Dermatologists are seeing an increase in the number of people developing ‘life-changing’ allergies triggered by gel nail polishes, which can stop them having some operations like cataracts, joint replacement or dental work.
The chemicals in gel nail polishes, known as methacrylates, can cause an allergic reaction if they leak into the skin, which can see nails loosen and the skin develop a severe, itchy rash, experts warned today.
Those who suffer this reaction are then unable to tolerate being exposed to the chemical, which is used in routine procedures such as fillings and hip replacements.
At-home gel manicures are the most likely culprit for triggering the painful reaction, which is caused by the ultraviolet lamp that hardens polish not being used for long enough. But even salon nail treatments can pose a risk if the technician is poorly-trained.
Brits have told of the ‘painful peeling’, swelling and blisters they’ve suffered after receiving a manicure at a salon, with top dermatologists confirming that being rushed out of the salon was a red flag.
Earlier today, the government’s Office for Product Safety and Standards also confirmed it was investigating and urged Brits suffering with allergies to contact their local trading standards department.
The chemicals used in gel manicures, known as methacrylates can cause nails to loosen or skin to develop a severe, itchy rash. But allergies to these chemicals are also preventing sufferers from accessing some medical treatment including cataracts removal, joint replacements or dental work, experts warned today
Dr Deirdre Buckley, a consultant dermatologist in Bath, told the BBC’s Today Programme earlier this morning there are a number of symptoms. ‘It can range from the nails loosening to falling off, it can include a severe rash on the face, the neck, the upper chest,’ she said
During gel manicures, the chemicals enter the skin when the ultraviolet lamps used to harden each layer of gel are not used for long enough or the equipment is poorly maintained
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During gel manicures, methacrylates can enter the skin when the ultraviolet lamps used to seal and harden each layer of gel are not used for long enough, or the equipment is poorly maintained.
Each gel polish brand has an exact curing time which should be adhered to, often either 30, 60 or 90 seconds.
If the gel is not sufficiently ‘cured’ for the correct period of time, a reaction to the chemicals can occur on the skin around the nails.
Symptoms include the nails loosening and falling off, sores appearing on fingers and red and swollen cuticles, according to Dr Deirdre Buckley, a consultant dermatologist in Bath.
It can also trigger severe rash on the face, the neck, the upper chest. Simply brushing your nails against your arms or touching your face can cause symptoms to spread to those areas.
Dr Buckley told the BBC’s Today Programme: ‘People can have trouble breathing or asthma can be worsened.
‘Even worse than that, they can become sensitive to acrylates in other things, which can have implications in dentistry or if they’re diabetic or for orthopaedic surgery and it’s a lifelong sensitization.’
How is the ‘life-changing’ gel nail polish allergy triggered?
The chemicals in gel nail polishes, known as methacrylates, can trigger an allergic reaction if they leak into the skin.
This can see nails loosen and the skin develop a severe, itchy rash, experts warned today.
At-home gel manicures are the most likely culprit for triggering the painful reaction but even salon nail treatments can pose a risk if the technician is poorly-trained.
During gel manicures, methacrylates can enter the skin when the ultraviolet lamps used to harden each layer of gel, are not used for long enough.
It can also occur if the equipment is poorly maintained.
If the gel is not sufficiently ‘cured’ for the correct period of time, a reaction to the chemicals may also occur on the skin around the nails.
Each gel polish brand has an exact curing time which should be adhered to, often either 30 seconds, 60 seconds or 90 seconds.
But experts also warned today that nail technicians can rush clients out of salons when the gel is not sufficiently cured, triggering the allergic reaction.
Once the skin is exposed to methacrylates, the body will no longer tolerate acrylates, meaning anyone with an allergy cannot have medical procedures in which the chemicals are used.
Dr Buckley, also of the British Association of Dermatologists (BAD), told MailOnline: ‘Many people are unaware of potential medical and dental implications if they become sensitised to nail methacrylates.’
In dentistry, the chemicals can be found in white fillings and enamel tooth coatings, while diabetic glucose sensors and insulin pumps also include them, she said.
‘This can have serious consequences for future medical care.’
Allergies to methacrylate, including patients exposed to it through nail polish use, ‘has been reported to cause loosening of hip replacements’, she added.
The allergy could also lead to ‘facial swelling after dental work in patients sensitised by wearing gel or acrylic nails,’ Dr Buckley added.
She said: ‘It’s important that people are aware of the potential risks of artificial nail products, whether they are having them applied in a salon or at home.
‘Nail technicians are particularly at risk and should wear nitrile gloves when applying the products, changing them every thirty minutes with a no-touch technique.’
Most reactions have been linked with at-home gel manicure kits.
But experts today warned that even professionally applied acrylic and gel nails pose a risk.
The allergy can occur at high street nail salons if the technician fails to keep a client’s hands under the ultraviolet (UV) light for long enough — either because they are rushed or poorly trained.
There is no single qualification required to be a nail technician but professionals often have either a beauty apprenticeship or diploma in manicures. But in some cases, the diploma can take as little as a single day.
Speaking to MailOnline today, Claire from Warwickshire, said she had experienced painful allergic reactions since 2018 after visiting several different high street salons.
She said: ‘I used antihistamine after the procedure, even applied Vaseline around the nail during the procedure to no avail.
‘No technician ever explained what could be happening, offered any explanation or indeed refused to do the treatment.
‘Foolishly I spent over a year denying there was an issue and instead told myself beauty was pain.’
Suffering ‘red and itchy nails’, she also experienced ‘swelling and blistering’ before her fingers started ‘finally peeling painfully for weeks’.
Her nail bed was also left ‘paper thin and fragile’, she added.
Claire said: ‘When the world locked down in 2020, my nails were allowed to recover as we bounced in and out of lockdowns and salons were closed.
‘On one occasion in 2021, I persevered and had the treatment [and] it happened again. There definitely needs to be some investigation and education to the never ending salons that open on our high streets.’
In recent weeks women have also taken to TikTok to share their experiences of gel nail polish allergies. One user @katieadamson5 shared images of her fingers blistering and swelling after applying gel nail polish using an ultraviolet lamp, adding ‘when you have an allergic reaction to uv gel polish. Never again’
In another video, one TikTok account detailed the flaking, swelling, itching and blistering she experienced just hours after applying gel nail polish. As a result she was forced to see an emergency care nurse to treat the allergy, she added
Another Brit, speaking anonymously to MailOnline, told how she was left with the painful allergic reaction after visiting a professional beautician at a high street nail salon.
She told MailOnline: ‘My friend, who is also a beautician, recognised that it was an allergy to the gel and advised me to stop having my nails done.’
Prescribed steroid cream by her doctor, only in recent weeks has the allergy ‘settled down’, she said.
Another MailOnline reader also revealed that she is currently on her third course of antibiotics after suffering ‘an awful reaction from a nail salon’.
Meanwhile others have suffered similar reactions using home DIY gel nail kits.
Dr Deirdre Buckley, from the British Association of Dermatologists and a consultant dermatologist in Bath, told MailOnline today: ‘Many people are unaware of potential medical and dental implications if they become sensitised to nail methacrylates’
Shelley Dixon from Cheshire told MailOnline that she suffered an allergic reaction twice after using a kit she ordered online.
Woken up in the night ‘with itching hands and arms’, she also experienced ‘yellowish nails, peeling sore fingertips, burning and red, split skin’.
On both occasions, the reaction ‘lasted for a couple of weeks before it cleared up completely’, she added.
One MailOnline reader from Manchester revealed she had been visiting a nail salon ‘for years’, but in August decided to invest over £300 instead on tools including gel polish and UV lamps to do them herself.
By October however she experienced her first allergic reaction.
‘I had no idea what the cause was as it only affected a few of my nails, and so I continued to do them until I had a severe reaction,’ she said.
She believes the lamp was ‘not curing the gel properly’, triggering the allergy, which then took three weeks to fully heal.
Former beauty therapist, Victoria Evans from Berkshire also developed a ‘severe allergy to the gel’ in 2015 after she was trained in gel application.
Performing around seven gel manicures and pedicures per day, her finger tips were initially sore and red before eventually the skin split becoming infected.
‘I still had to complete other treatments — including facials and massages — touching clients skin directly with open sores on my fingers which I didn’t feel comfortable with,’ she told MailOnline.
‘I had to be signed off work for a month to allow my skin to heal. Another therapist at the salon also had reactions but not as severe.’
After trying various treatments from her GP, she paid to see a dermatologist, who confirmed her allergy to methacrylate.
‘I still have numbness in my finger tips seven years on. Ultimately, I had to leave my job as there was no safe way I could manage the allergy as gloves cannot stop the chemical,’ she said.
‘It caused me al lot of pain and stress and also financial loss.’
One TikTok creator @lauradavis_official revealed she suffered an allergic reaction, where her nails pulled away from the nail bed, after using a new bottle of an at-home home gel manicure kit. After cutting her finger nails down ‘because of how they were lifting’, she also used nail oil to try and help relieve the issue, which took 35 days to recover. Her eczema ‘also flared up a little bit’, her nails turned yellow and her thumb nail thickened, she detailed in her TikTok video
Other MailOnline readers have suffered similar reactions using home DIY gel nail kits. Shelley Dixon from Cheshire also told MailOnline she suffered an allergic reaction twice after using a kit she ordered online. Woken up in the night ‘with itching hands and arms’. she also experienced ‘yellowish nails, peeling sore fingertips, burning and red, split skin’
In 2018 the British Association of Dermatologists first warned methacrylate chemicals were causing an ‘allergy epidemic’. The ‘Europe-wide phenomenon’ also ‘overwhelmingly’ affected women, they said
The best way to safely have a gel manicure is to visit a fully trained professional, experts advised
In recent weeks women have also taken to TikTok to share their experiences of gel nail polish allergies.
One TikTok creator @lauradavis_official revealed she suffered an allergic reaction, where her nails pulled away from the nail bed, after using a new bottle of an at-home home gel manicure kit.
After cutting her finger nails down ‘because of how they were lifting’, she also used nail oil to try and help relieve the issue, which took 35 days to recover.
Her eczema ‘also flared up a little bit’, her nails turned yellow and her thumb nail thickened, she detailed in her TikTok video.
One user @katieadamson5 also shared images of her fingers blistering and swelling after applying gel nail polish using an ultraviolet lamp, adding ‘when you have an allergic reaction to uv gel polish. Never again.’
Read more: Think twice before getting a shellac manicure: UV nail polish drying devices can lead to cancer-causing mutations in your hands, study warns
In another video, one TikTok account detailed the flaking, swelling, itching and blistering she experienced just hours after applying gel nail polish.
As a result she was forced to see an emergency care nurse to treat the allergy, she added.
The BAD first warned in 2018 that methacrylate chemicals were causing an ‘allergy epidemic’.
The ‘Europe-wide phenomenon’ also ‘overwhelmingly’ affected women, they said.
In their audit of 13 UK and Irish dermatology clinics in 2017, 4,931 patients were tested for methacrylate allergies, of which up to 2.4 per cent suffered a reaction.
Previous research suggests 93 per cent of reactions to methacrylates occur in females.
A separate survey of 742 people attending dermatology clinics also found almost one in five respondents (19 per cent) had experienced adverse effects from acrylic nails applied in salons.
Some 16 per cent also suffered from a reaction to a salon gel polish treatment.
A spokesperson for the British Association of Dermatologists told MailOnline today: ‘We originally sounded the alarm on this issue in 2018, but it’s not a problem that’s gone away.
‘In fact, it’s likely that the closure of nail salons during the pandemic contributed to a rise in people using at-home kits, which are a problem if you use them incorrectly.’
They added: ‘If you do use an at-home kit, make sure that you use the recommended UV lamp for curing, avoid direct skin contact with the nail product, and read the instructions carefully.’
The best way to safely have a gel manicure is to visit a fully trained professional, experts advised.
Lesley Blair MBE, the CEO and chair of the British Association of Beauty Therapy Cosmetology told MailOnline the growing number of allergy cases was ‘concerning’.
She added: ‘Especially as at-home manicure kits are still so accessible, which can make it harder for the average person to identify harmful ingredients.’
‘The best way to minimise risk of allergic reactions to a gel manicure is to ask your nail technician whether they carry low-level HEMA, HEMA-free or hypoallergenic polishes, as well as always ensuring they are experienced and qualified,’ she advised.
‘When researching a nail technician, don’t be afraid to ask what certificates and insurance they hold, ‘as well as any aftercare provided to ensure you are in safe hands’, Ms Blair said.
Earlier this year, researchers at University of California San Diego also found UV nail polish dryers could pose more of a public health concern than previously thought — and could cause cancer, much like sunbeds do.
They discovered that their use leads to cell death and cancer-causing mutations in human cells.
Unprotected exposure to both UVA and UVB light, damages the DNA in skin cells, producing mutations that can lead to skin cancer.