Nailing The Ugly Truth Behind Nail Salons

There’s certainly no shortage of nail salons in most cities.

Nail salons are often seen as a place you go to relax, unwind and get pampered. There’s no better feeling than walking out of the nail salon with a fresh pedicure. The last thing you would expect is for your newly pampered toes to pick up a fungal infection.

While yes, loads of people get pedicures each year and don’t experience any serious side effects, unfortunately, when the right precautions aren’t taken, nail salons are a haven for the types of fungi that wreak havoc on healthy nails.

Fungal nail is a common infection of the toenails or fingernails that can cause discoloration, thickening or weakening of the nails, and even pain. As a Podiatrist, I see people daily, desperate to rid themselves of fungal nail. Many people are unsure of where they picked up the infection, but a lot of them have one thing in common – frequent trips to their local nail salon.

Nail salons are the perfect environment for the types of fungi that cause fungal nail. A pedicure presents the potential for minor trauma to your skin and nails, which in combination with poor sanitisation measures, makes infection a very real risk.

While many nail salons may follow best practice techniques when it comes to hygiene and sterilisation of equipment, the reality is that nail salons in Australia aren’t heavily regulated in this regard.

An Autoclave Is the Only Safe Bet for Sterilisation

Most nail salons use UV light “steriliser” boxes, or other chemical solutions to disinfect their tools which is not totally effective at killing all bacteria and infection. The only solution that works completely is an autoclave, a machine used to sterilise equipment and supplies using high pressure, heat and steam which eliminates 100% of the fungi, bacteria, and viruses that can live on stainless steel tools. In addition, you can only put metal tools into an autoclave whereas nail salons use tools like pumice stones, emery boards, nail buffers and foam toe separators – which is guaranteed to have been used multiple times before on someone else’s feet (just check for the residue on the buffers and emery boards). These should be single use items!

How Will I Know If I Have Fungal Nail?

Below are some common signs or symptoms to look out for:  white or yellow spots or streaks under the tip of the nail  nail thickening and roughness  brittle, crumbling nail edges  nail discoloration (nails may turn white, yellow or brown)  separation of the nail from the nail bed  pain and tenderness

If you think you might have fungal nail, the best course of action is to contact a qualified Podiatrist.

What else might the Podiatrist do at this visit?

Corns and Calluses are among the most common causes of sore feet. Painful areas on the feet can be a great source of misery, making walking uncomfortable. Calluses and Corns are raised areas of local thickening of the surface layer of the skin. They often occur over high pressure points and channel pressure from a large area to a small area in the foot, this causes the pain. The best way to treat Corns and Calluses is to remove the hard keratin on a regular basis. This can be done by ‘shaving’ with a sharp, sterile, blade. It is a painless procedure that should only be undertaken by your Podiatrist. Nail bars should not carry out sharp removal of hard skin, as it is a medical procedure (painless) it can open the client to infections if carried out by people other than a Podiatrist or GP. Your Podiatrist can provide you with a simple plan to manage these ongoing Corns and Calluses at home to keep your feet healthy. That is really the main aim of a Podiatrist, to keep your feet and legs healthy!