A Chinese woman who suffered a heart attack almost missed out on life-saving treatment because of her gel nails.

The case has shocked mainland social media and become a wake-up call about the risk of manicures.

The 28-year-old woman in central China’s Hunan province, who uses the pseudonym Lili, had a sudden heart attack on February 5.

Emergency medical staff at the People’s Hospital of Hunan Province immediately came to her rescue.

However, when they tried to fit a fingertip pulse oximeter, a device used to monitor oxygen saturation, they found that the device could not detect the correct data due to her thick and long press-on nails.

The gel nails blocked the infrared light rays the device transmitted, which were supposed to measure haemoglobin’s light absorption through the finger.

The medical team first attempted to remove the nails themselves but failed as they were attached so tightly.