Dirty dangers lurk in some unhygienic ladies’ salons
Unsterlised equipment poses a real health risk, doctors warn
Beauty salon customers may take home more than perfectly-polished nails after a manicure and pedicure, as doctors warn women of the dangers of infections from improperly sterilised nail equipment.
Salons across the country have been warned or closed by authorities for not abiding by health and safety regulations, and doctors say women need to be more knowledgeable when it comes to salon safety if they want to avoid bacterial, fungal or viral infections.
A public health and preventive medicine specialist said that using non-sterilised nail tools and foot baths may lead to exposure to fungus, hepatitis B and C, and other types of infection.
“The most worrying health risk at a nail salon is injuries that lead to infection. Nail tools are being used on more than one customer and, if not properly disinfected and sterilised, tools could get contaminated with other customer’s blood when wounds or cuts occur during the treatment,” said Dr Yusra Abo Hamed.
“If the customer is infected with any blood-borne infections, like hepatitis B, hepatitis C, it might transfer to another customer.
“The viruses can enter through a small cut or scratch in the skin when an infected tool is used. Without proper disinfection, these infectious agents may stay active for up to two weeks.”
Poor tool hygiene can also lead to fungal infections, she said. “To stop spreading fungal infection in salons, the first thing that should be done is to ask the staff about the steps they take to disinfect and sterilise the tools and preferably see them implement it.
“And people who think they may have a fungal infection need to get their conditions treated by a specialist.”
Maryam Al Ali is a chief nursing officer and the owner of Melody nail salon in Fujairah. She also stressed the importance of sterilising equipment.
“Salons should have a plan to implement a hospital-grade protocol for disinfecting and sterilising tools and equipment,” she said. “I see many beauty salons that poorly disinfect their tools – sometimes they don’t – which leaves the client at risk of catching a skin or nail infection.”
At her salon, Ms Al Ali said services are not offered to clients who have skin problems or nail infections.
“We apologise to clients who suffer from infections and advise them to come back after recovery and soon we will start offering personal nail tools to be bought and kept by clients,” she said.
Health regulations in the UAE stipulate that nail tools should be cleaned with a brush, soap and warm water then dipped in disinfectant and placed in an autoclave, a steam sterilising device.
“Limiting the disinfecting process to only wiping tools with disinfectant is not enough,” said Dr Abo Hamed, who suggested clients take their own tools to the salon or use disposable equipment.
A dermatologist said she treated patients with nail infections who do not realise that it could be the salon that is behind the infection.
“We can’t say it’s a phenomenon, but it’s something every woman should be aware of, and precautions should be taken,” Dr Farah Al Ansari said.
“Although it’s hard to determine where the patient got the infection, we ask about their daily routine and many are surprised to learn that beauty centres can be one of the options.”
Changes to the colour of the nail, pain, tenderness and swelling around the infected area can be signs of infection, Dr Al Ansari said.
Paronychia is the most common nail infection that can be transmitted during a manicure or pedicure, along
The owner of Ivy Nail Spa in Dubai said her staff followed health and safety rules and also checked to ensure customers were free of infection.
“We ask them if they have health issues that might affect their skin or nails and we do their nails very carefully and slowly, to avoid cutting of skin or cuticles,” said Ivy Maranan.
“Staff must wash and disinfect their hands and their equipment before they touch the client, as well as wash the hands and feet of the client, to avoid contamination and transmitting infections.” Health inspectors have a hard time because they have no specific way to determine if equipment is sterile or not, but officials say they look at the overall condition of the salon.
“We mainly check the salon licence, cleanliness, availability of sterilising devices and disinfectant solution, staff occupational health cards and personal hygiene along with product expiry dates,” said Fatima Al Mukasah, head of public health at Fujairah Municipality.
Health and safety is also taken seriously at Dubai Municipality, which in July announced plans to start a health supervisor training programme for 3,600 salon and beauty centre workers. The idea came about after inspectors found a lack of awareness of the causes and transmission of infectious diseases and lack of knowledge on health and safety when inspecting salons.
In Abu Dhabi, in August, 31 offences were registered and 42 warnings were issued to beauty parlours and hair salons in Mussaffah alone for poor hygiene.
The municipality said that the cases resulted from 541 visits and that in April seven beauty parlours were referred to court on health grounds.