For some people, getting a manicure or pedicure is a luxury that helps relieve stress.
But it's also a ritual that can cause stress -- as well as disease and even death -- if cosmetologists and nail technicians haven't properly cleaned and sanitized their tools and stations.
While Kentucky nail salons haven't seen the spread of diseases such as nail fungi, hepatitis, herpes and HIV that have been reported in some other states, customers still need to make sure that their manicures and pedicures are safe, said Linda Alley, state inspector for the salons.
The Kentucky Board of Hairdressers and Cosmetologists requires that those licensed to do nail work keep a spray bottle of alcohol and the disinfectant barbercide, in which they should completely immerse their tools, Alley said. Although inspectors are required to go to nail salons only twice a year, Alley drops in more often than that.
"We inspect nail technicians and cosmetologists often," she said. "We go frequently when we're in a town."
If nail techs and cosmetologists don't have the proper sanitizing equipment, they may be fined or lose their license, Alley said.
"We write them up if they don't have what they're supposed to," she said. "We check their license to make sure they are the person they say they are."
Still, there isn't an inspector standing over each salon worker every day, so people shouldn't simply trust what they see, Jill Wright Spa for Nails owner Jill Wright said. "I've heard from other people -- not my clients -- that the nail salon they go to 'looks clean' and they have that 'blue stuff' in the sanitizer jars," she said. "Just because the salon looks clean does not mean they sanitize properly. It could be Windex in the jars instead of hospital-grade sanitizer. And the time to change the 'blue stuff' in the jars is every morning before work, not days later when large particles of debris are swirling around in it like a snow globe." Lynda Upton, owner of Nails by Lynda, agreed that clients should ask questions before getting manicures and pedicures. "(Clients should) ask them if they clean daily," she said. "Make sure the foot spa is clean and disinfected. The main thing is to keep everything sanitized and clean every day." Wright, Upton and some other local salon owners, cosmetologists and nail technicians said they use a variety of methods, including different disposable tools, cleaning and disinfecting after each client, and even postponing service to ensure that clients get healthy manicures and pedicures.
"There are different types of nail disorders. That's what you have a license for -- to identify types," said Karen Phelps, instructor at P.J.'s College of Cosmetology. "You're not supposed to do the service. You're supposed to refer them to a physician." Foot files made of metals aren't supposed to be used, Phelps said. "Metal scrapes the skin off," she said. "You're actually hardening the callous, and it defeats the purpose." Credo blades, which look like cheese slicers, are illegal in salons, but Wright said she has heard of other salons using them on clients. "Only doctors of podiatry are licensed here in Kentucky to use them on the public. Individuals can go and buy one to use at home, but they are not allowed to be used on paying clients in a salon," she said. "Again, due to a lack of sanitation, you run the risk of being infected with not only hepatitis, but also the herpes virus and HIV." Changes Salon cosmetologist Jeanette Stephens said she disinfects everything and uses a pipeless pedicure chair spa. "Water doesn't go through the pool itself," she said. "It's just air, which is safer." In pedicure chair spas with pipes, bacteria lurks within them, which recirculates the unclean pedi water through them and then pumps it out into the footbowl again, Wright said.
"That's what gives you the tingly bubble action that people like so much," she said. Any pedicure chair spa can be safe if one follows the proper steps for sanitation, Stephens said. "Everything has to be disinfected and sprayed down, even the chair," she said. "(In pedicure chairs with pipes), pipes and filters need to be taken off and disinfected." Wright added that the correct and most up-to-date way of sanitizing a pedicure chair spa is to circulate a hospital-grade disinfectant through the pipes for 10 minutes between every client, drain it and wipe the bowl out with a clean towel. "At the end of the evening, the nail tech needs to take apart the filter, clean the debris out and scrub it, then circulate hospital-grade disinfectant through the pedi spa for a minimum of 30 minutes," she said. The short time period between clients may prevent some nail techs from doing things as thoroughly as they should, Wright said. "Most just do a quick spray with some cleaner and a wipe down," she said. "Maybe they might use some bleach." Stephens said she doesn't mind customers seeing her sanitize her area and tools. "My clientele see what I do. They see that I'm taking stuff and putting it in solution," she said. "You should follow all the proper sanitation procedures. You know what they are if you're in this business."
