Newbie got MMA nails.. removed them, they are destroyed, now what?!?

[sehrlangsam]

Hello,

I am a guitarist and I decided to get some acrylic nails after some fellow guitarists raved about them. I knew nothing about nail care and apparently picked a bad salon. After I had them done, I discovered that the manicurist used MMA for my acrylics. This was confirmed when it took 2 hours of soaking in acotene to get them to dissolve. I have them off now, but my nail plate is horribly shaved.

When applying MMA nails, nail techs will shave your nail bed into a ragged, carpet-like texture so the acrylic adheres better. She took off a pretty good layer off all my nails. The good news is the fake nail is gone, but now I'm left with these destroyed, awful nail beds.

The first thing I did after the nail dissolved was to paint them with some nail growth/nail strengther I got. What else can I do to restore my nail bed and once again get thick, healthy nails? Are there any specific products or techniques? And finally, the most important, would shaving the nail bed with an electric drill lead to any permanent damage?

I'm quite dissapointed with this... I hope none of you ever have to go through with this.

Thanks,
jrm

[eiyela]

OMFG, two HOURS? Wait a sec, isn't MMA the stuff you use to make dental grafts stick? :boggle: I'm so sorry for you!

I don't have any miracle cures for you, I'm afraid, just a few tips.

First of all, plastic gloves for the dishes. Avoid getting your nails wet as much as you reasonably can, because over time a lot of soaking in water will make them weaker.

Moisturize! I find just about any moisturizer or regular oil will do, but some people swear by almond oil. You should be able to find that in health food stores, or in some cases even large grocery stores.

Get thee a Swiss Army Knife. Use tools instead of your nails to pry things open.

And, uh... Supplements and stuff... I'm sure that someone more knowledgeable will come along pretty soon, but look into Biotin and Silica. Biotin has a positive effect on growth for some people, and silica helps with strength.

[Carolyn]

Couldn't you just keep your nails short and use polish to hide the effects of the acrylic removal? You can also take biotin as someone else mentioned. My nails really grew fast when I started taking it. Unless you've damaged your nail beds they should grow out again in time. I'd say you just have to wait it out until they grow. I've used an oil called Solar Oil to help with keeping my nails and cuticles moisturized. I got it at my local beauty school.

[BBGrrl]

I am so sorry. It is illigal to use MMA but it is cheep so some salons still use it.

Unfortunatly all you can do is keeps them short enough not to rip off until they grow out.

With all the times I have had my nails shaved down to bleeding, I don't have any permanent damage.