Having gone through chemotherapy with several clients, as well as myself,
and following along with my friend Pati's story too, I have developed a
protocol that I recommend for people going through chemotherapy. Here's what
I think:
First of all, when your body is undergoing tremendous therapies like
surgeries and chemotherapies, it has no extra resources--all your body's
energy goes to healing and repairing and it is my opinion that since hair
and nails are not necessary for life, the body diverts the energy that would
go toward them to more important functions. I've observed over the years
that not only is your hair affected, but your nails as well. I've had more
than one person come to me post therapy...with their nails (finger and/or
toes) badly affected....and infected. What seems to happen is that the
nails lift from the nail beds, and then opportunistic dermatophytes settle
in there and build colonies! It can take months and months...or even
years...to get things cleared up enough that the nails begin to re-attach.
So here's what I suggest to my clients in these circumstances:
Do everything you can to protect your fingers and toes from injury. Wear
shoes and gloves when you are cleaning. Keep your nails..fingers and
toes...dry and clean and bright. Remove all products from them. Take off
any nail enhancement products, polishes, nail treatments, etc. Dry them
well after washing or showering. Apply a good antimicrobial oil on fingers
and toes at least daily...I sold them bottles of Poshe' Antimicrobial
Cuticle Oil. When they insisted on having at least a shine, I would apply a
coat of Poshe' Antimicrobial Base Coat...for a couple days, but would
instruct them to remove it as soon as they felt they could. Refrain from
dark colored polishes at all times....only a clear shine was allowed. I
also recommended and sold other oils like Neem Oil, Tea Tree Oil, and
Lavender Oil which are naturally antiseptic and the Neem oil, especially, is
wonderful because it is anti-viral. I am not saying this will work for
everyone, but the clients who followed these instructions have had no
permanent damage to their nails. One of them did have some lifted nails on
her right hand, but they reattached and are normal. I did not have any
damage to either fingers or toes....but 4 years later, my nails on my hands
are now prone to splitting vertically if I don’t keep Shellac on them. So
even though they are changed by the chemotherapy, they look OK and are
basically healthy.
I hope this helps people with this challenge...it's enough to just get
through the ordeal...but it's worse when your nails become a health issue!
All the best,
Karen
-----Original Message-----
From: holly cliffe
Sent: Friday, December 09, 2011 10:24 AM
To: nailTech@googlegroups.com
Subject: NailTech:: huh..polish causes nail separation!
I recently referred a client to a podiatrist. I am hoping that in the New
Year I will start working with this podiatrist on a sort of internship and
then establish a referral system with her. I referred my client because her
toe nails are separating from the nail bed, and taking on a new
shape.....and it's really bothering her. Several years ago she went through
a round of aggressive chemo and that's when I first started noticing a
difference in the nail. I believe the problem is connected to that, I don't
think there is any fungus growing under there.
The podiatrist is testing for fungus, but she advised my client that if she
is wearing "nail polish" all the time that this could have caused the
problem, and mentioned that she has seen this many times before. Her
recommendation was to either stop wearing polish or go to the health food
store and get some "healthy" polish. I believe she is talking about
polishes with formaldehyde, toluene and DBP. So, I hadnt heard that these
chemicals caused nail plate separation but that's interesting to know. The
doc said that the chemicals penetrate the nail plate and seep into the soft
tissue of the nail bed, cause this separation and also get into the blood
stream.
I've used OPI, CND polishes for many years (and I believe they've been 3
free for many years). These days I seldom use polish.....most toes I do are
Shellac or gel/glitter and I believe that is also "3 free"
Anyone know anything about this?
Holly Cliffe
Holly Cliffe Nail Design
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