ACRYLIC NAILS HURT AT NIGHT? CAUSES AND PREVENTION

One of the issues people might have after getting acrylic nails is that their nails hurt.

Acrylic nails hurt or sore after they are put on can come from one or more of the following possible causes:

Injured natural nails.
Excessive filling on the natural nail surface.
Acrylic nail product itself.
Thin natural nails.

The acrylic nail pain can occur a few hours after they are put on because it can come from one of the above four factors. They can either act alone or, more likely, team up with the other three to cause discomfort, usually the first night.

If you just got your nails done and they hurt and what to know what you can do, then read on. the causes and steps to relieve your acrylic nail pain are explained below.

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Acrylics on injured natural nails can cause pain.

If you break a nail yourself and the nail is bleeding or looks bruised, you should wait for the bleeding to stop or for the bruised nail to stop hurting. Trying to lay acrylic nails on these injured fingernails will put unnecessary stress on them with heat, chemicals from the nails, and excessive bending with longer acrylic nails. This is the worst time to put on acrylics on an injured nail because you might experience a throbbing pain under this acrylic nail. If any of your nails have one of the following these injuries:

Cuts on the skin around or on the cuticle
Bleeding caused by pulling hangnails
Bruises
Break or crack on natural nails
Nail splits that cause bleeding

Sometimes, putting acrylic nails on the injured natural nails will cause infection if the wound is not thoroughly cleaned and sanitized, and nail salons are not allowed to do this on injured nails anyway. This infection can also cause additional pain in the finger.

Excessive filling on the nail surface can cause pain

The first factor that causes acrylic nails to hurt on the first night is how a nail technician prepares the nail surface before the acrylic application.

They either over-file or buff the natural nail surface, which leads to either thinning the nail thickness or putting a small dent in the natural nail surface. You can feel right away if this is the case, especially if the nail technician uses a nail drill on your natural nail surface. You can feel the discomfort right then, and it will get worse.

So it is the excessive drilling or buffing on your natural nails that can cause you to experience some pain later in the day.

If this is the case, you will find out later if an acrylic nail hurts when pressed.

Thick acrylics over natural nails can hurt.

Thick acrylics can cause fingernails to warp or bend: too thick acrylics on your thin nails might change the normal shape of your nails and cause you to feel some pain.

Various chemical liquid components in acrylic nails can also cause pain.

If you have a low tolerance for acrylic nail products and do not know it yet, you may have soreness or pain after putting acrylic nails on. Fortunately, this discomfort will be temporary. However, it should only last a few hours.

If you already know that acrylic nails will hurt you or cause discomfort for a few hours after you have them done, chances are you have a low tolerance for acrylic nails.

We are all different, and our immune systems react to a particular chemical product differently. In other words, some people will have a higher tolerance for acrylics than others. So, for example, people with a low tolerance for acrylic products will experience some irritation temporarily.

Acrylic nails were used commercially late 1970s. Since then, these nail products have had time to evolve and improve tremendously. Ease of use, durability and safety features make acrylic nails a mature product. Still, it is a man-made chemical product, meaning that acrylic nails are not for everyone.

Since manufacturers create acrylic nail products following their criteria and specifications, no two acrylic nail product brands are the same.

Thin natural nails

The final cause that acrylic nails can hurt might be your nails. If your natural nails are thin, two things can happen with acrylic nail application:

If your nails are wet for about 15 minutes, your nails will soften. This means that human nails are porous, not one solid piece. Liquids will pass through porous materials. So liquid acrylic nail products like bonding/dehydrator, primers, liquid monomers, or nail glues applied excessively on top of the nail will seep down to the lower layer and come in contact with blood vessels and nerve endings in your fingers.

If these liquids are not completely evaporated or dissipated, they will interact with the flesh and cause discomfort or pain until they are completely gone.

Natural nails are flexible. Thinner nails are even more so. When powder and liquid acrylics are mixed, a chemical reaction occurs, which is exothermic or gives off heat. After the reaction is complete, a solid product is created. If this solid-forming chemical reaction takes place on a thin nail, it is more likely to warp or bend the shape of the thin nail under it.

This extra heat and shape-bending force will hurt your fingernails until all the excess heat is dissipated and all the nerve endings are used to with the nail shape change.

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Should acrylic nails hurt?

Does it hurt to get acrylic nails? No, it does not. However, If your nails happen to hurt after you get acrylics, the pain can originate from one of the four factors:

Applying acrylics on an injured or broken nail.
Excessive preparation of the nail surface.
Acrylic nail product itself.
Applying acrylics on thin natural nails.

Why do acrylic nails hurt or sore the first day?

Many people usually get their acrylic nails done after workdays, typically from 4:00 to 8:00 pm. Any pain or discomfort associated with an acrylic nail application will start a few hours later as your body tries to adjust or react to them.

From reading all four factors above, you understand why acrylic nails hurt the first night.

How long will your nails hurt after getting acrylics?

Regardless of why acrylics hurt your nails, the pain should not last long if your nails have no physical injury before an acrylic application.

The duration of pain after acrylic nails could last up to three days. However, if the pain from acrylic nails does not subside after a day, they should be removed by soaking in acetone, not by a physical removal process like peeling or pulling.

Tips on how to stop acrylic nails from hurting

If your fingernails hurt or are sore because of acrylic nails, follow the steps below. They should reduce your pain:

Soak your finger in cool water for 15 minutes to reduce blood flow, swelling, and pains in your fingernails.
Elevate your hands to slow blood flow to the affected fingers as you lay down.
Take some over-the-counter pain relief medicine before you go to bed.

If the pain or soreness does not subside the next day, you should have them removed by an experienced nail technician.

Also, read through this to know what to do on your next acrylic nail appointment.

Tips to know before getting acrylic nails to prevent soreness.

No acrylic nails if your natural nails are injured:

The injured natural nails should get some time to rest and heal before they are ready for acrylic nails. When? You might ask. The rule of thumb is the injured nails should stop bleeding or throbbing for at least two days.

Tell your nail technician to go easy on drilling or buffing:

Do inform your nail technician beforehand that the acrylic nails hurt you the night you have them done so they will not over-file, drill, or buff your nail surface or avoid using an electric nail drill.

Nail drills are the leading cause of thinning or cutting the natural nail surface due to their high speed, powerful device if not correctly used.

It is also easy to tell if a nail technician is proficient with their nail drill skills.

Suppose you feel uneasy with how your nail technician handles an electric nail drill. In that case, you can politely ask the salon manager to give you a more experienced nail tech by letting the manager know you will have pain caused by new acrylic nails at night.

Most managers in the business for a while know of this situation. They will happily replace the nail technician with a more experienced one because they know a satisfied customer will become a regular customer.

If the manager cannot replace a new technician for you, chances are no better-skilled nail technicians in that salon, and the one who works on you is the best available. You have two options:

Either let the nail technician finishes the acrylic nails and endure the pain later or
Leave that salon and search for a better one.

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Choose your acrylic nail products:

To find out which acrylic nail product will not hurt you, the next time you get your acrylic nails done, you should ask for the brand of the product, so you go through the process of elimination.

If a specific brand of product hurts you, then next time, you will try product b, and so on, until you discover a product that does not hurt you. Typically, each salon only carries one brand they are comfortable using. For example, you can either buy a sample product kit and ask your nail technician to use it on you, or you might have to change salons.

This is a small price to pay for getting rid of the pain or discomfort you might endure later.

Have your acrylic nails done using a technique for thin natural nails:

Two things you can do to prevent pain from happening on your thin nails:

Apply a thin acrylic layer: a thin acrylic layer will create less heat and exert less force on the nails. Therefore thin nails will not be subject to too much of either one.
Wear shorter lengths: longer nails will require more acrylics to make them thicker and stronger at various stress points, whereas shorter nails will require much less acrylic material, and therefore your nails will be subject to less heat and less bending.

Conclusion:

Having acrylic nails done should be a fun and positive experience. Now you know what and why acrylic nails can hurt the first night after it is applied. You can use this information in this article to prevent yourself from enduring unnecessary acrylic nail throbbing pain.

Where to get help if your nails hurt badly acrylic nails?

If your nails hurt late in the day and you can not call your doctor, or you are too far from one, and the pain bothers you so much, you can get help online and get the answer by chatting with one of the medical experts. You can send pictures of your nails’ condition through text messages and get an accurate assessment of your particular situation.

JUSTANSWER.COM will connect you to highly experienced dermatologists. They can point you to the right action or treatment to ease your pain for a nominal fee less than a doctor’s visit, and no appointment is needed.

If your nails hurt so badly, do not wait. Instead, you should consult with one of the dermatologists so they can give specific recommendations for your nails to prevent possible infection later.

It is a small price to pay for an expert’s consultation and infection prevention.

Disclosure: NailsFaq.com is supported by readers like you. When you purchase through links in our posts, we may earn an affiliate commission, and we only recommend products or services that we like, and all opinions expressed here are our own. Thank you. Read the full privacy policy here.

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