Fake nail led to infection hell for mum
A MUM has been told that she could lose the full use of her thumb after having fake nails.
Lowri-Anne Wilson from Porthcawl was left in agony after visiting a nail salon outside her home town.
The 31-year-old later developed an infection and an abscess on her thumb.
She needed an operation to rectify the injury and is now warning others to be careful.
She said: “I had my nails done in a salon, two days later there was a pulsing pain in my thumb on my left hand.
“It then began to swell. I went to the hospital and they told me that I had to go back to the nail salon to get it removed.
“I went back to the salon and they refused to take it off. In the end I had to have it removed in the hospital.
“I had an infection in my nail. It was so bad that I had an abscess under my nail. I had an X-ray and I was told that if the infection had spread to the bone then I could have lost my thumb.
“I am now on antibiotics for the pain but that isn’t working.”
The mum of four described the pain as “worse than childbirth”.
“I was on gas and air for two hours, it was the worst pain that I have ever experienced and I have had four children,” she said.
“This is the first lot of surgery that I will be going through, there will be others to follow when the nail starts growing back.
“I have also lost my job. I was in a probation period and I currently can’t work as I am in so much pain.
“This could happen to anyone if you have your nails done.”
Ms Wilson said she will never wear acrylic nails again.
“I would never have them done now, it’s just not worth it.
“I’ve been told that my nail may never grow again and it’s going to take at least six months to heal.
“You sometimes hear stories about acrylic nails going wrong but you never expect it to happen to you,” she added.
Annie Collins, of Valencia Beauty, in Essex, is a UK nail artist expert.
She said: “Acrylics are not necessarily bad for your nails, it’s down to the nail technician and how they apply the nails.
“If you go to a fully licence and qualified salon then you won’t have any problems.
“I can’t stress enough how important it is not to go to Non Standard Salons. A lot of these places don’t sanitise their tools properly.
“The equipment they use are cheap and nasty. I have seen first hand what these salons can do to women’s nails.”