A woman in California claims she was diagnosed with cancer after getting a manicure.
Grace Garcia, 50, a mother of three from San Gabriel, near Los Angeles, was diagnosed with stage 1 squamous cell carcinoma – a common form of skin cancer – in April.
It developed around a deep cut in the cuticle of her right ring finger made by a nail artist who contracted the human papillomavirus (HPV).
Doctors removed the cancer using a surgical technique used to remove cancerous lesions on First Lady Jill Biden earlier this week.
Grace Garcia (50) from near Los Angeles says she was diagnosed with cancer after a nail artist cut off a piece of her nail. She was eventually diagnosed with stage 1 squamous cell carcinoma
Mrs. Garcia – who has been getting her nails done for more than two decades – is heading to a new “fancy” salon just before Thanksgiving in November 2021.
But during the treatment, the nail stylist slipped.
“She cut me, and the cut wasn’t just some cuticle,” said Ms. Garcia told Today. “That was one of the first times that happened to me.”
When she got home, she put antibiotic ointment on the wound, but after a few days it was just healed.
Mrs. Garcia returned to the salon to complain. “I was upset and went back and I told them the lady cut me and my finger is still bothering me,” she said. “They said, ‘Oh, we fired her [after] many complaints, that’s all.’
During the procedure, the manicurist cut deep into her cuticle on her right ring finger, causing it to bleed. She went home and put antibiotic ointment on the cut, but a few days later it hadn’t healed. When it finally healed it was still tender
Texas woman, 57, had her pinky amputated after a ‘black spot’ under her nail was found to be skin cancer
Yvonne Basil, an executive assistant in Dallas, ignored the mark, no bigger than a pencil eraser, for months, believing it to be “a birthmark.”
The cut healed over the days, but Mrs. Garcia soon noticed a “bump” that was darker in color than the rest of her skin and soft to the touch when pressed.
She started to worry and in April 2022 she visited her GP who referred her to a dermatologist but they told her to just keep an eye on it.
When the bump turned into an “open sore” and started to form a wart, she went back to the doctors, who ordered a biopsy.
It turned out that she had stage 1 skin cancer – medically called squamous cell carcinoma – and also an HPV infection in the wound.
HPV can cause cancer when infections remain on wounds over time, turning normal cells into cancer cells, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
This usually occurs during sexual activity. But what made Ms. Garcia’s case unusual was that the HPV infection came from the wound in her nail.
Dr. Shari Lipner, a top dermatologist at Cornell University in New York, added to DailyMail.com: “Genital warts are generally to blame [for carrying HPV].
“It was supposed to be a device that came into contact with a genital wart and was not sterilized.”
The patient’s dermatologist, dr. Teo Soleymani, from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Health, added: “In general, from an HPV perspective, the strains that cause cancer are more likely to be sexually transmitted.
“In Grace’s case, she had an injury that became a goal.
“So that thick skin that we have on our hands and feet that acts as a natural barrier against infection and things like that.” [But for Ms Garcia] this was no longer the case and the virus was able to infect her skin.”
Ms. Garcia was treated with Mohs surgery, a procedure that allows doctors to see 100 percent of the cancer and then remove it without damaging too much skin.
The cancer has not spread to other parts of the body.
Mrs. Garcia required no further treatment, but now has to see her dermatologist regularly for checkups.
Doctors suspect that HPV may have entered the wound if she had to undergo a manicure with unsterilized equipment.
There is currently no evidence that the equipment used to treat her was unsterilized.
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
