go back to the salon and ask them to remove them for you its a process but will in the long run cause you less damage, all it is , is acetone and you have to soak your nailsin it for a while, it is not a quick thing you do during the commercial break it might take the whole episode of law and order lol...(if you get it done at the salon they can do it a lot quicker for you, there stuff is a lot stronger) you can use nail polish with acetone in it but it will take longer, the people at the salon are trained to do that stuff, and wont hurt you too much, like you are likely to do from the sounds of it... I am a phlebotomist too and I know how much a pain it is when you can't feel the vein for one reason or another because of your fingers.
Hope that helps