Here’s how to make manis last if your client has excessively sweaty hands

Excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis being the technical term) is surprisingly common and can affect the whole body or just certain areas, like the hands (palmar hyperhidrosis).

It’s normal to sweat if you get hot or do exercise, but you may be sweating excessively if you’re sweating when your body does not need to cool down, says the NHS. Excessive sweating can happen for no obvious reason, because of another condition you may have or as a side effect of a medicine you’re taking.

For palmar hyperhidrosis, a low grade of involvement would be a moist palmar surface without visible droplets of perspiration, reveals the International Hyperhidrosis Society. If palmar sweating extends toward the fingertips, the condition can be considered moderate, and if sweat drips off the palm and reaches all the fingertips, it is severe.

Whether you’re a nail tech or a nail client, this medical condition is an extremely stressful, embarrassing, and confidence-wrecking problem.

Nail tech Lysa Glover discovered that if she used both primers from Light Elegance, Tack and Air Bond, before her enhancement service, then peeling was prevented.

“Tack is a fantastic primer which really sticks to the nail, making it akin to double sided sticky tape. Air Bond air dries, so it is a perfect primer for this condition, as it is designed for clients with more moisture and oil,” says Lysa. She also finds that it is easier to treat one hand at a time.

“All nail techs need to be aware of hyperhidrosis. It is not something you see often, but being sympathetic to this condition if you get presented with it, is definitely at the top of the list,” comments Lysa.

She continues, “Explain to your client that it may take a few months to find what suits their nails, and make them aware that they may need to come every two weeks or so for their maintenance appointments. At the consultation always ask what they do outside of treatments, (my client swims twice a week) and any treatments they are currently having for this condition.  Remember that every nail is different, and don’t give up!”

Hyperhidrosis UK recommends washing hands with emollient washes rather than soap-based products. Clients can ask their nail tech to wear gloves, and apply alcohol sanitiser before the service to help any sweat evaporate.

Nail tech Victoria Hunter first encountered hyperhidrosis over 30 years ago. She says that the issue with hyperhidrosis is that the nail plate is absorbing the moisture from the nails and retaining it, so the nail plates are ‘moist’ and not sufficiently dehydrated enough to provide a good surface for to bond products to. “Nail products, just like any glue or adhesive need clean and dry surfaces to bond to, but nails that are exposed to hyperhidrosis are saturated,” she comments.

Victoria recommends IBX to use on the client. “It creates an inner barrier so to speak, so in the upper layers of the nail plate, that prevents the upper layers from absorbing the moisture since two molecules cannot occupy the same space,” she says. “So just as IBX prevents those upper layers from absorbing acetone during frequent soak offs, it prevents them from absorbing other ‘liquids’ as well. Within two to three treatments, you will start seeing a turnaround!”

Victoria uses IBX on her clients with hyperhidrosis, plus her hairdresser and barmaid clients – anyone who has frequent exposure to moisture or water.

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“Some techs will double dehydrate and double and triple prime.  But at the end of the day, the client will often continue to suffer lifting issues.  When nails absorb the moisture created by hyperhidrosis, they ‘swell’ like a sponge. Therefore they are changing shape, but the product isn’t changing shape with them because it’s not absorbing the same moisture and swelling too. This is why after all of their work, they will suffer separation of product from the nail. The foundation is changing shape and pulling away from the product,” she says.

The dedicated nail tech advises IBX and oiling six times a day to increase the longevity of nails for clients with hyperhidrosis. “Yes, six!” she laughs. “You wouldn’t put only a teaspoon of oil in your car, you’d put a whole bottle!  When you wash your hair, you condition it every single time, not just once a month. It’s the same principle when you think how many times a day your hands are exposed to water.”

To learn more about hyperhidrosis click here.