u/ibh08

I recently had my first dip manicures at two different salons, twice. Both techs worked so fast and were heavy with the drill on my natural nails, it actually hurt a bit the second time. I had the dip removed and now I see little brown spots toward the bottom of each nail, which are literally tiny hematomas that I'm sure were caused by the drill. I am really upset. I found a new tech (she is the salon owner and has many years of experience), and had a conversation with her about possibly doing dip again, but with hand filing, and bringing my own SNS brand dip, which is supposed to be great quality etc. She said no problem and that she never abuses the drill. She did my pedicure and did exactly what I asked and was very gentle and meticulous, so I am willing to try the dip with her. What specifically should I request her to do or not do when doing dip, to minimize the damage to my natural nails? I am new to dip and not ready to do it myself, so I would appreciate any advice - thank you!! :)

I went through an abrupt menopausal transition this past Winter, and a pretty bad stomach bug in February 2026. At my routine physical in March 2026, my WBC came back low at 3.5 - it had typically lived in the 5 range for years before, with neutrophils typically in the 3000-4000s. I repeated two weeks later non-fasted, and yesterday fasted again, and the fasted neutrophils went back down to March levels. All my other bloodwork is fine except sex hormones of course, which are completely in the tank. My PCP did not even comment on any of this. Should this be further investigated? I've seen some studies discussing the effects of menopause on WBC - could that be behind this change? Thank you.