The Perils of Acrylic Nails

[Bob Womack]

Not.

(The white arc in the center is the remains of the disconnected nail. The light colored stuff inside the arc is nail bed.)

This is actually a result of an injury to my right-hand middle finger. It's not all that bad, but the nail became detatched from the nail bed when it was injured. I had a series of recording sessions that demanded I keep the acrylic and maintained it. The result was that the disconnection advanced a little bit up the nail bed. What we do for clients, eh?

Now I've entered a slow period for sessions. I elected to take this break to remove the acrylic and trim up the nail up to allow the nail and bed to grow back together without water being trapped under the nail and inhibiting connection. My original trim was in a straight line across the nail. Soon after I did that I paid the price: You don't think about the fact that the middle finger is the most prominent and thus takes the initial hit whenever you contact a moving door but it does. I got hit by a moving, heavy restroom door and the two corners, where the front of the nail meets the meat split, probably lacerated. I've been closing the splits with NuSkin.

So, I am severely limited in my playing for a while and have been for over a week. The regrowth seems to be slowly wandering down the nail bed... and I mean slowly. Typing on a keyboard can be challenging between the pain and difference between nailed and bare nail bed. BUT, the good news is that the nail where I removed the acrylic is just as strong as the bare nails on my left hand. I'm sure I will be fine.

Bob

[tinnitus]

YIKES!!!

And I thought it was a PITA to play when I ripped off a hard callus!

Would any sort of super glue help?

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by tinnitus

YIKES!!!

And I thought it was a PITA to play when I ripped off a hard callus!

Would any sort of super glue help?

It's a thought. I've got no idea, but they are making it so low-viscosity these days that you might be able to wick some in.

Bob

[Bluenose]

Just got some Pro Piks last week and find they're definitely an improvement over any other finger picks I've tried so far. Even so I prefer my nails but it's good to have a plan B, n'est pas?

[lowrider]

Ouch!

Sorry for your pain. I've had it happen more than once just by getting my nail caught on something while working.

Be patient, let it heal. It might take a while, but it will be fine.

[Misifus]

I used acrylic nails for about a decade. When I discontinued the acrylic eight or nine years ago, I find my nails have yet to recover. Several of them persist in splitting no matter how carefully i care for them.

[mercy]

The dangers of acrylics are unnecessary. The Rico nail idea with local products works great. Many classical players use it. They are not permanent but just put it on, play, take it off when done

[Bob Womack]

Ah, I see that my rather singular wit was mistaken once again. I followed the thread title, "The Perils of Acrylic Nails," with "Not," to indicate that this wasn't going to be a thread about the perils of acrylic nalls. I even mentioned that the regrowth was just as strong as my uncovered left nails. Hmmm...

Not direct enough, eh? Okay. MY NAILS DON'T SUFFER FROM THE PERILS OTHERS HAVE SPOKEN OF, IE WEAKNESS AFTER THE ACRYLIC IS REMOVED.

So, back to the subject. i injured my finger and removed the acrylic. Status report: My injured nail is growing back well.


The RCA RK-5B mic windscreen is just in there for an interesting background. Notice that the affected area is squaring off and moving down the nail bed.

Bob

[mawmow]

John Renbourn used ping pong balls…

[Elwood38]

WHAT!!??? Explain, please.

[threevok]

Originally Posted by fngrpck

Super-gluing Ping-Pong balls under your fingernails will work fine. Cut a section of the ball to fit width of your fingernail, glue it on and then shape it. Great tone for a week and then repeat. John Renbourn, finger-stylist extraordinaire, uses this method exclusively and he hasn't done too bad.

Interesting.

[mawmow]

Originally Posted by Elwood38

WHAT!!??? Explain, please.

Is your question about the ping pong balls ?
John Renbourn had spoon like fingernails and used parts of ping pong ball as prosthesis.

I guess it could be a temporary measure, at nail end, instead of full acrylic nails
to allow playing while the natural nail is growing.

The break appears to be too important to used cigarette paper and nail polish with « cow powder ».

Add on : someone else also explained in the meanwhile…

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by Elwood38

WHAT!!??? Explain, please.

If this is about my nails:

I got an injury to a finger, one of my right fingers that had an acrylic cap (applied as liquid and powder by a tech) on it. The injury caused the nail and nail bed to separate. I was in the middle of a hot session season and couldn't remove the acrylic because sessions were pretty fast and furious. My nail tech suggested I remove the acrylic when I got the chance because leaving it on would cause the separation to walk backwards up the nail bed, and it did. When the session load slowed I did remove the acrylic, and I am sweating the time until the nail and injured bed grows out again, I can get the acrylic cap reapplied, and can play normally. I alternate between pick and fingers, more and more fingers. I'm praying this lull in session load lasts long enough that I don't have to turn down a session. Today I showed a progress pic (above).

Bob