Dangers of Fake Nails

UNDATED -- Women loved to be pampered, and getting their nails done is just one part of that, but it can come at a risk.
Ask just about any female.
"I like the way it looks absolutely," said Stacy Oda.
About getting their nails filed, primped and painted no matter what their age and their answer will be similar.
"I love my nails being done I feel put together when they're done," said Haley Oda.
17-year-old Haley gets her nails done, but only for special occasions a few times a year and only uses shellac, never acrylic, because her mom is cautious.
"You hear the horror stories of people getting infections and the nail fungus," said Stacy.
"I could see the streak of infection," said a woman who wants to remain anonymous.
She tells us she went to her usual nail salon for her appointment to get her acrylic nails filled in but soon after noticed something was wrong.
"About a week later, I realized my thumb is on fire and it hurts, and it's swollen and it's red," she said, "I showed my doctor and she's like that's an infection."
She went back to the salon to have the acrylic nail removed.
"We took the acrylic nail off but as we're trying to take the acrylic nail off pus is coming out of the top of my nail," she said.
Now, her nail looks different, and she fears it might not change.
"Do you think it will grow back perfectly fine?" asked the reporter, "Well I'm afraid I don't know, that's a good question, I don't know," she said.
"You just have to stop getting those artificial nails applied, we often have to cut the nails back and let it reattach or rarely you have to have the nail removed and let a new nail regrow," said Dr. Matt Bakos, Dermatologist.
Dr. Bakos says he often sees patients with nail issues because of fake nails.
"Nail cosmetics are obviously becoming extremely popular of women of all ages," said Dr. Bakos, "We often see nails lifting off the skin, which is proably the most common thing that we see."
When the fake nail lifts it can lead to other issues.
"You have an opening now for bacteria and fungus and they love that environment and that would be a secondary complication from your nail lifting," said Dr. Bakos.
"In order to prevent that they need to come back between two to three weeks," said Pat Dinh, owner of Ohio Cosmo Beauty Academy in Springfield.
Dinh has been working in the nail business for nearly 20 years, and makes sure his students are properly trained.
"There's diseases such as Hepitiis B that can be transmitted if you don't sanitize the instruments or nail tech tools properly," said Dinh.
There's another danger Dinh warns his students about.
"Some nail techs out there they use the buffer too much or they use the drill to remove the shine and sometimes they, some of them go too much ont he real nail and that can make the natural nails weak," said Dinh.
He also doesn't recommend anyone under the age of 16 getting fake nails.
"The natural nails still, they're not strong enough to or if they decide to wear that for a while it's going to thin the nails," Dinh said.
And now, going through what she has and possibly losing a thumbnail, a word of advice.
"Acrylics are wicked hard on them, wicked hard on them, and so I think it's good to let them breathe, let them be natural for a while," she said.
The dermatologist we spoke to says it s good idea no matter what you put on your nails to let them be natural for a few weeks several times a year.