Maria’s daughter was getting married. So, as a last minute surprise, she took her daughter and all the bridesmaids to a salon to be pampered. But just before the wedding, the bride and all her attendants developed large, oozing, black sores on their lower legs and ankles. So how can you make sure your salon is safe and avoid this kind of pedicure disaster?
As a podiatrist, I get a lot of questions about the relationship between pedicures, foot fungus and infections. But the most passionate discussions seem to revolve around pedicures. I even remember one of my instructors in medical school telling all of us medical students to warn our patients to avoid salon pedicures. But we have to be realistic. Women love to be pampered and a pedicure is a great way to relax and feel special. You just need to be aware of the risks associated with infections in nail salons and follow a few simple rules to keep your pedicure experience safe.
If you don’t think pedicures can be dangerous, you shouldn’t watch the news. In September 2000, 110 people were infected during an outbreak at a nail salon in the San Francisco Bay Area. Within a few days of the relaxing foot bath and pedicure, pimple-like bumps appeared. These small bumps got worse and became red or black sores filled with pus. As a result, many of these women were left with permanent scars on their legs.
In 2004 there was another outbreak just miles south of San Francisco in which pedicure-related infections were identified in 143 pedicure clients linked to 33 different nail salons in Santa Clara County. In 2005 there was another outbreak of nail salon-related infections involving 17 people.
A pedicure lawsuit was born after a Mountain View California woman died after a bacterial infection allegedly contracted from a pedicure in 2004. A similar case in Fort Worth, TX involved a 46-year-old woman who allegedly contracted a bacterial infection resistant to antibiotics and eventually died. of staphylococcal infection. A shocking 2009 Arizona study showed that 181 nail salon establishments agreed to pay fines to resolve health code violations in the Tucson area alone.
Although the statistics and headlines can be alarming, you should know that not all pedicures lead to infections. There are laws and professional guidelines that help nail salon workers protect you from infection and the spread of disease during a pedicure.
The first thing to do when you visit a beauty salon is to look around you. Use a little common sense. If you go to a restaurant and see flies buzzing in the kitchen, would you still eat there? Does your nail salon look clean? Do you see the health and safety rules posted in the waiting area? This is one of the most common reasons for California nail salon citations during state inspections. Let’s face it, if they can’t follow the simple rules, would you really trust them to sterilize instruments or meticulously clean your massage chair or footbath?
Next, ask some questions. Are all of your nail technicians licensed? If they are licensed, you can be sure that they have at least taken a test on ways to slow the spread of nail infections. Unhygienic practices are common, but less likely in nail salons that follow the rules.
Ask them how they disinfect their instruments. Do you reuse any disposable instrument? This is a real no-no. Reusing disposable instruments is an easy way to spread fungus and bacteria from foot to foot.
How do you clean the footbath? Most of the truly contagious infections involved a germ called mycobacteria. It lives in water and can grow on dead skin and hair that gets caught in a small filter inside the foot bath motor. If salon staff can’t quickly tell you the exact protocol for cleaning your footbath, you may be immersing your feet in an alphabet soup of infection-causing bacteria.
Look for labels and covers on all containers. If you don’t see clear labels like “dirty,” “clean,” “water,” “sanitizer,” etc., don’t expect workers to always grab clean ones when standing. Container lids may not seem like a big deal, but all those infection causing fungal spores and bacteria can waft into the air from that nasty yellow nail in the flesh next to you and then settle right on the cuticle pusher that is nail technology. about to use on you.
Be vigilant about hand washing. Doctors and nurses wash their hands before and after each contact with a patient. Simply washing your hands is one of the best ways to prevent the spread of a contagious infection. Your nail technician should do the same. While you’re waiting your turn in the pedicure chair, just watch and see if the nail technician washes their hands or just changes gloves between clients.
Ask them if they ever get their ingrown toenails fixed. If the answer is yes, you may be putting yourself at risk. Ingrown toenails are often full of bacteria that cause infection. And you don’t want to be sitting in the pedicure chair after a pus-filled ingrown toenail. Only licensed podiatrists (foot doctors who specialize in foot and toenail surgery) should work on these. Simply cutting off the corner or ingrown toenail has many risks and is illegal when done during a pedicure at a nail salon. Once you’ve found a clean, reputable salon, don’t shave your legs before getting a pedicure. The only risk factor linking pedicures to horrible infections is open wounds. If you shave less than 48 hours before your pedicure, you create tiny, invisible cuts in your skin that allow bacteria to enter. If you shaved your legs the morning of your pedicure, you can still do your toenails, but you should avoid soaking your feet.
Keep in mind that there are many safe and comfortable places to get a pedicure. You only have to ask a few questions to be sure that you will leave the salon with beautiful, soft, pampered feet… and not with a nasty infection.