Do you absolutely love wearing acrylic nails? If you wear them all the time you may start to worry that they may be damaging your natural nails. Any sort of treatment that you apply to your nails will weaken your natural nail to a certain extent, but well applied acrylic nails are not likely to damage your natural nails any more than another treatment, but it is important to be careful when wearing them.

Most people have absolutely no adverse effects from acrylic nails. It is recommended that you have the set replaced every 6 to 9 months. Leave them off for at least a week before you have a new set applied. Your nails grow just as fast and healthily when you have acrylic nails on, but sometimes a gap develops between the acrylic nail and your natural nail when it is bumped, and this can be risky. You should definitely get this fixed if this happens, as this gap is a moist, warm environment for an infection to develop.
An infection may also develop if the acrylic nails are too long or too rigid, or the nails are applied using unsanitary tools.
Your natural nail will become thick or ragged and will appear discoloured if you have an infection.
You may develop an allergic reaction to components of acrylic nails or the adhesives if you have sensitive skin and nails, which will develop into redness, swelling and pain around the nail. Remove the acrylic nails immediately if this happens.

If you have acrylic nails applied at a salon, these are precautions you can take to prevent developing an infection…

• Stick to nail salons whose technicians are certified.
• Make sure the nail technician uses sterilized tools during your treatment, and of course washes her hands between customers.
• Don’t allow your cuticles to be pushed back or trimmed as this increases the likelihood of infection.
• Don’t allow the surface of your natural nails to be filed or roughened before the acrylic nails are applied.
• Request a new nail file, or take your own.

If you choose to apply your own acrylic nails…

• Follow the safety precautions printed on the home acrylic kit.
• Work in a well-ventilated area.
• Protect the skin around your nails from the chemicals used to apply the acrylic nails.

Article by Claire