12mth journey of Allergies

I wore acrylic Nails for around 17 years of my life. I saw the same tech and never went to an "Asian bar", as some call it. I've tried gels as well however due to my I job in the emergency dept, I found the acrylic more durable than gel when it came to handwashing etc.

I got my infills done every 2 weeks without fail and a new set every 3-4 visits depending on how they were looking. I kept them on the short side and neutral colours. December 2023 I developed an allergic reaction to acrylic. It took 2 weeks for my nails and fingers to recover. I did get another set when recovered and the reaction was worse. We changed to Gel. Same thing. Again reaction worse and took around 14 days to recover from. At this point I required steroid cream, antibiotics along with topical antibiotic cream and antihistamines. After doing some research, we decided to try some shellac. Insert same but worse reaction here. And then finally we tried a non-hema bond building thing. Annnnd yep you guessed it, reaction.

I cannot even tolerate nail polish and I need to wear gloves when dealing with basic everyday cleaning products now when I never had to previously. Doctor has said I have had a "complete chemical reaction" and I now even react to changes in clothes washing liquid.

Photos are progress from December 2023 to December 2024. You'll notice healing then flare up again which coincides with us trying to rule out the actual issue/allergyn.

Yes it was painful. The worst part was actually the itchiness and blisters.