When manicure becomes a nightmare

A handful of ladies are opting for gel manicure. They come in various colours and last for two weeks without peeling or chipping. Though they look really nice, they do more harm than good to one's health.

According to www.dailymail.co.uk experts fear that the machines used in doing gel manicure are not regulated, meaning consumers don't know how much exposure they are getting to the rays.

This follows a study in 2009 that found two middle-aged women developed tumours on their hands following exposure to UV nail lights. Neither had a family history of skin cancer and both worked indoors and had moderate exposure to sunlight, according to the research published in JAMA Dermatology.

Another unwelcome side-effect of UV light exposure is skin ageing, meaning you could end up with perfect-looking nails but wrinkly hands. Here are some other disadvantages of gel manicure.

Irritates skin

It is impossible to get a manicure or pedicure without getting a little of the nail products on the skin. Certain ingredients in the gel manicure products, like methacrylates, can cause skin to redden, itch and swell when they come into contact with each other.

Contains toxic chemicals

Some gel manicure products contain toxic chemicals and state clearly on their packaging—BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole). It  is considered a carcinogen because it contains methyl pyrrolidone which potentially can cause harm to the reproductive system. Both of these gel manicure ingredients are on California's Proposition 65 list of toxic chemicals.

UV light

Gel manicures require nails to be placed under a small UV light to 'set' the gel. The amount of UV ray exposure is minimal, but the cumulative effect of nails, fingers and hands being exposed to the UV light increase the health risk of skin cancer, especially nail bed melanoma, a particularly difficult type of skin cancer to treat.

Damages nails

Removing the gel usually requires the nails be soaked or wrapped in an acetone solution for several minutes. Acetone dries nails and can cause nails to become brittle and chap skin around nails.

Nail fungus

Having the gel sealant on the nails for up to 2 weeks at a time prohibits the nails from getting moisture and air, leaving nails weak and prone to being invaded with a nail fungus or bacteria.

However, there are times when you want your nails to look perfect for that special occasion. When indulged in on rare occasion, a gel manicure does not pose a threat. If you must get a gel manicure, apply sunscreen to backs of hand protect against the health risk of UV ray exposure. While the gel manicure is intact, apply a thick hand cream or petroleum jelly to the nails and surrounding skin several times a day to help prevent drying nails damage.

For girls: Beware of belly button rings

A handful of trendy ladies love this art. They pierce their navel, insert a ring and it has become a trend. This is a care-intensive piercing and it is important to consider the disadvantages along with the advantages before going under the needle.

Whenever you get any type of piercing, infection becomes a serious concern. Navel piercings are most likely to be infected than any other type of piercing.

 According to www.livestrong.com, your belly button and the skin surrounding the piercing area easily collect sweat and bacteria. Your clothing continually encounters the piercing site, depositing bacteria, and causing friction and irritation. Common activities like sitting or sleeping can irritate the site and lead to infection.

In a small percentage of people, the body rejects piercings and pushes them out of the body as skin heals. Skin may heal with a forked appearance once your body pushes the piercing all the way out.

While the healing process of a navel, or belly button, piercing is four months to a year, an infection caused by bacteria can occur at any time.

However, if you have an infected navel ring, taking out the jewellery could lead to the formation of an abscess. Again, if your belly button ring is caught on something, like a shirt or belt, it can tear through your skin. Body piercings bleed more and typically cause larger injuries when pulled out, than earrings do.

Common activities like dressing, tossing and turning during sleep, swimming, exercising, or having sex, all pose risks for pulling out your piercing.

According to Teens Health, while most piercing establishments follow health and safety codes to the letter, those who do not, expose their clients to a wide range of diseases like HIV and Hepatitis C. Some people, especially women, are allergic to the material in the equipment or piercing and experience painful itching, irritation and swelling. If your piercer is not careful, he/she can inflict permanent nerve damage or pierce a major blood vessel.

What more? During pregnancy or after a significant weight gain, you might find your piercing is stretched out, moves, becomes newly infected, or feels tight. If you gain weight above and below your waistline, you might trap your piercing in between stomach pouches when you sit down. Sweat and bacteria easily collect in these areas, leading to chronic infection or, at the very least, discomfort.

A tight, pregnant belly can put pressure against the piercing. Even labour can cause your piercing to tear out. After childbirth, you may not be able to wear your belly button ring until your stomach goes back to its normal size, during which time the piercing hole could close.

Your piercing might not cause you any major medical pitfalls, but it can cause you some minor daily annoyance. If your work requires you to wear a specific uniform, you might find it causes chafing or rubs against your piercing. You might have to put a spacer in while you are at work. If you use certain types of metal in your piercing, it could set off metal detectors or show up on both medical and security x-ray machines. You might find the rigorous cleaning regimen tedious too. You may also find you have trouble changing your piercing and have to regularly return to the shop for new jewellery.

Still want to go ahead with this art? Then, learn to minimise the risk of infection. First, choose a legitimate, clean piercing studio. Before piercing your navel, ensure the piercer washes his hands, uses gloves, and sterilises equipment.

Mind you, the piercing guns cannot be sterilised properly; therefore, you should not be pierced at any studio that uses them. The jewellery should also be sterilised and your navel area should be sterilised with a germicidal soap. Your skin should also be cleaned again after piercing.

For girls : Contact lens can cause damage

This is a fashionable accessory especially if you are tired of wearing glasses with frames. Also, if you desire having more colourful eyes, the urge for contact lenses is strong.

People wear contact lens for various reasons-to make a particular fashion statement or to correct some eye defects especially in situations where you are not comfortable wearing prescription eye glasses.

Contact lenses have the ability to dramatically change the colour of your eyes-blue, hazel, purple or any colour you want. You get more attention to your eyes with a contact lens and you get an elaborate make-up around the eye region, which could have been restricted by a pair of glasses. Pretty fashion idea, isn't it?

What you may not know is this fashion 'accessory' when worn for long periods of time can damage your eyes permanently!

If prescription contact lenses, which are designed to correct eye disorders, have side effects, then fashion contact lenses, which are made cheaply, can be of more damaging effects.

These coloured contact lenses do not correct vision. They just change the appearance of the eyes with varying colours. They are fun and fashionable, but wearing them can have serious consequences like itches on the cornea (the top layer of the eyeball), corneal infection (an ulcer on the cornea), conjunctivitis (pink eye), decreased vision, and blindness.

For starters, the contact lens should fit properly, and only eye doctors, such as an ophthalmologist or optometrist, can measure each eye to properly fit the lenses. They also evaluate how eyes respond to contact lenses. What many users do not know is that lenses come in different sizes, which simply means not just anyone fits your eyes. So, what are the ills of wearing the contact lens?

Infections: When a contact lens doesn't fit correctly, it can rub against the cornea of the eye and cause infections. In very serious situations, these infections can even lead to blindness.

Inflammation: A contact lens that is not prescribed by a doctor and fitted correctly could scar the eye permanently and cause it to become inflamed. Also, long time wear can cause small bumps or swellings under your eyelids.

Blurred vision: The centre of a coloured contact lens is left clear for sight while the outside ring contains the colour. So, when the pupil grows larger, as is the case in darkness, a person's vision may become blurred as it prevents the pupil from doing its job.

Swelling of the eye: Contact lenses prevent oxygen from entering the eyes naturally. Lack of oxygen causes the eyes to swell. Constant touching, wiping or rubbing of the eyes can also cause swelling.

Dry eyes: These lenses prevent the natural creation of tears. Dry eyes usually occur when your eyes feel hot, if you feel as if there's something stuck in your eyes, or if your eyes feel like tearing or burning.

Red eyes: If you are allergic to the lens preservative or cleaning solution, your eyes become very red.

Damage to the cornea: Careless attachment of a contact lens can scratch or scrape your cornea and can cause swelling or haziness of vision. The more serious damages are: hypoxia, which is lack of oxygen, bacterial keratitis, which is a corneal infection, and infiltrative keratitis, an inflammation of the cornea.

Cotton buds? Be cautious!

This is for you if you are a 'fan' of cotton buds. Anytime you feel an urge to poke your ear with a cotton bud, understand that more people are injured by it than razor blades.  According to recent research, 36 per cent of adults use cotton buds to clean their ears, and most of them know that it is potentially dangerous. Nobody should put anything smaller than a finger inside their ear.

While the use of cotton buds does not always lead to severe problems, regular use can lead to skin irritation, infection and permanent hearing loss.

In most circumstances, wax could actually benefit your ears. How? According to a private nose and ear consultant, Dr. Remy Byrant, "It causes foreign bodies to adhere to it, preventing them from going further into the ear, and it has anti-bacterial properties. Removing it is like taking the wax off the surface of polished wooden furniture. It makes the delicate underlying skin of the ear more susceptible to infection," Bryant says.

Adding that wax consists of a mixture of exfoliated skin, secretions and is produced in the outer third of the ear canal, Bryant proffers that some people produce large amounts, which can affect hearing, especially if the wax becomes waterlogged and expands after swimming.

If excessive ear wax tends to run in families, it is best treated by having the ears syringed with warm water under medical supervision. Removing wax with a bud can leave the skin of the ear feeling irritated.  This leads people to twiddle about even more, so they continue to fiddle with the ear until injury is sustained.

Even the most experienced cotton bud user will tend to push significant quantities of wax further in as well as removing some. They ram the bud inside the ear, like a soldier pushing gunpowder down cannon. This ends up in parts of the ear where it should not be, and thus affects hearing.

If the bud is inserted too far, there is a risk of perforating the eardrum, causing sudden pain, bleeding and temporary hearing loss. In most cases, the injury heals itself. Should the bud damage the ossicles (the tiny bones deep inside the ear) it results in dizziness and permanent hearing loss.

Bryant  is of the view that most people have no need to clean out their ears, no  matter how therapeutic experience is.