A visit to the nail salon turned into a months-long nightmare for one woman!
According to Today.com, 50-year-old Grace Garcia went to a new salon in California for a manicure in November 2021 when she couldn’t schedule an appointment at her usual place. While getting her nails done, the manicurist accidentally scraped Grace’s cuticle on her right ring finger:
“She cut me, and the cut wasn’t just a regular cuticle cut. She cut me deep, and that was one of the first times that happened to me. I’ve been doing (my nails) for years and years and years. I was upset.”
When Grace returned home, she put some ointment on her wound. However, the cut never got better after a few days. She went back to the nail salon to tell them about what happened, recalling:
“I was upset and I went back, and I told them that lady cut me, and my finger is still bothering me. They said, ‘Oh we fired her (after) a lot of complaints.’ That was it.”
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The woman then visited her doctor who prescribed her an antibiotic. However, Grace said, “it just never got better.” Her finger felt tender to touch – to the point that if she accidentally hit it on something, it would hurt a lot. The cut eventually healed, but a dark bump then appeared. Grace soon returned to her primary care doctor to get it checked out. They believed it was nothing more than a “callus from writing” and recommended keeping an eye on it. For months, she told Today.com she continued to make several doctor visits all while the bump on her finger went from looking like a bruise to an open wound to a wart. You can see a TikTok video of her injury (below) — but warning it is very graphic!
@ggzella It all started w/Mani/Pedi that went wrong! Nail tech cut me with unsterilized tools! ???????????? which within 6 months turned in to CANCER!! #mohssurgery #mohssurgeryrecovery #uclahospital #cancerfree #selfscreening #foryou #foryoupage #fyp #viralvideo
When Grace went to her gynecologist in April of 2022, five months after her nail appointment, and showed the physician her finger, they suggested a dermatologist. She went to UCLA Health dermatologist Dr. Teo Soleymani, who determined that she developed a rare form of nail cancer. He explained to Today.com Grace had a squamous cell carcinoma, which is less aggressive than a melanoma. But in her case, the cancer was oddly caused by human papillomavirus or HPV:
“Hers was interesting in that her timeline was about three months, which is pretty short of squamous cell carcinoma. It also fits that she had a high-risk strain of HPV that bodes pretty well with this not just being a benign cut.”
Soleymani said her cancer grew quickly, saying:
“It’s pretty rare for several reasons. Generally speaking, the strains that cause cancer from an HPV standpoint tend to be more sexually transmitted. In Grace’s case, she had an injury, which became the portal of entry. So that thick skin that we have on our hands and feet that acts as a natural barrier against infections and things like that was no longer the case, and the virus was able to infect her skin.”
Thankfully, though, Grace managed to catch it early and was diagnosed with stage 1 cancer. Soleymani performed Mohs surgery on her finger and was able to see “100% of the edge” of the cancer, meaning she didn’t need to receive further treatment afterward. While Grace’s experience was undeniably wild, Soleymani told Fox 11 Los Angeles that nail cancers caused by HPV aren’t uncommon:
“Interestingly almost every single skin cancer I’ve dealt with that involved fingers or nails …have been associated with high-risk HPV. That is alarming – and it’s in younger patients.”
However, he noted that the HPV vaccine prevents getting this type of cancer. As for Grace? Following her scare, she is urging everyone to advocate for themselves if they feel something is amiss with their health:
“I fought all the way from day one because I knew something was wrong.”
We’re glad to hear Grace is okay after her health scare! Reactions to the crazy story, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments below!
[Image via Grace Garcia/TikTok]
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