IT'S A MATTER OF HEALTH

AREN'T THEY BEAUTIFUL?!?!
DECEMBER 25, 2013

WHAT HAPPENED?!?!?!

FEBRUARY 4, 2014

Those are beautiful feet in the picture from December 25th, aren't they?  Little did I know that underneath that beauty was a vey ugly situation just waiting to come to light.

A couple of years ago I got an infection from a salon pedicure. The pain and swelling subsided with the use of an antibiotic ointment; however, on either side of both big toes, there was a thin strip of nail that had detached from the nailbed. I didn't understand that that meant there was still an active infection or fungus. Early last year, I did ask my doctor if there were an issue with which I needed to be concerned, and she said no; the nail seemed to be healthy. It didn't appear to be spreading, so I left it alone thinking that it would ultimately heal itself. Fast forward to the summer of 2013. I, like many women, want my toes to be perfect in the sandal months, so I asked my nail tech to put acrylic on my big toes to keep them from breaking and maintain a perfect square. My natural nails are thin, and crack easily, and that just simply doesn't work when you want to sport strappy stilettos. What my tech didn't tell me was that I needed to be more concerned with my nail health, that I needed to forego the acrylic and make sure that any infection or fungus was eliminated first. 

That warning didn't happen, and a couple of months after the acrylic was applied, I began to notice very strange things with my left toe. One time when I went to get a fill, there was actually a discernible bubble under my nail. When I inquired about the origin of it, she just said she didn't know what the problem was and proceeded to complete the fill. Shortly after that, summer was over, so I decided to let the acrylic grow out so my nails could breathe, and I stopped getting fills. A few weeks after that, my left toenail broke very low, lower than half way down, and there was what looked like a bruise underneath. But again my nail tech said to cover it with acrylic, and I chose to go along with that program so that the break wouldn't rip across. That was a bad decision. A month or so later, I noticed that my left toenail had almost completely detached from the nail bed. A week after that, it ripped off. I then removed my nail polish, and checked my right big toenail, and it, too, had detached. That ugly situation is what is shown in the picture from the morning of February 4, 2014. The night of February 4, 2014, I decided to file off the remaining acrylic on both big toes, and my right big toenail broke half way down. I then removed it down to the point where it was actually attached, close to the cuticle. Now they're twins in ugliness!  OMG!!!!

I'm sharing this in the hopes that you will avoid my huge error. I want to place some responsibility with my nail tech (and I DO caution you to do your research and buy your own nail implements when it comes to the person that services your feet); however, the buck stops here. They're my toes, and I should have taken the issues I saw more seriously. I'm blessed that it's February not June, and wearing closed-toed shoes at the moment works well. But rest assured, if it comes down to it and I must show my feet (the bedroom comes to mind), I'll be polishing some nailbed!!!!

To be continued.....