TikToker says she almost lost her thumb after horror nail salon experience

A TikToker went viral after explaining how she almost got her thumb amputated following a visit to a nail salon.

Content creator Beth has vowed to stick to cheap press on nails after she was hospitalised with a severe infection to the nail bed.

“I almost had my thumb amputated and now I only wear Kmart press on nails,” she said in a video, which has amassed over 1.4 million views.

It all started in 2020, when she decided to treat herself to some self-care by trying out a new nail salon. Upon arrival, Beth said the salon looked “beautiful” and “really clean” so she had no reason to worry.

However, she explained that it “all started to go downhill” when she noticed the nail technicians were using equipment without sanitising it.

She said: “I noticed they would grab equipment from others bays. My best friend was sitting next to me and they would use a utensil on her then immediately swap it over to me.”

As this occurred just before the 2020 global health issue, The TikToker said she wasn’t thinking much about sanitation. “We weren’t in the mindset as a society yet of needing to be so clean,” she explained.

The next day, she noticed her nails had “really started to ache” particularly her thumb, which she compared to feeling “like an ingrown nail.”

TikToker goes to hospital following nail pain

Two days later, Beth’s mother got a shock after noticing her nail, and urged her to go to the hospital.

“It wasn’t until I went to pick up a mug of coffee on my mum’s outdoor table and I literally dropped it because the pressure of grabbing the mug on my thumb was too much,” the TikToker added.

“I get in the car and drive myself to the hospital with my one thumb out, it was definitely not responsible driving,” she said.

A triage nurse at the hospital discovered how high Beth’s temperature was, and she was subsequently admitted and diagnosed with paronychia.

“They did my blood count, and it came back as such a severe infection that they immediately transferred me to the other hospital for surgery then and there, to drain this thing out of my thumb,” she explained.

She continued: “They said if I had left it any longer to go to the hospital it would have gotten into my bone, into my bloodstream properly and I would have ended up losing my thumb because it would have decayed my bone.”

Beth concluded her TikTok video by warning her viewers never to let nail technicians use unclean utensils on their nails.