Salon & spa dangers: pedicures

This is the kind of news piece I read and later feel extremely frightened about the world around me, about leaving my house and getting a … pedicure. Yes, I said pedicure.

A pedicure is the kind of sole nurturing and foot treatment every woman and man should splurge on occasionlly without the fear of developing some kind of fungal or bacterial infection later. This WIFR Pedicure Dangers piece (which sounds like highly over-dramatized nightly news) highlights the importance of making sure your salon or foot spa is performing the necessary cleaning procedures to flush out all the water, removing dead skin cells of patrons that — if not caught — can cause bacterial infections. Bacterial infections are usually characterized by a red, swollen toe and fungi that, once in the nail, grow and multiply, increasing the thickness of the nail. Let’s just say it’s pretty unattractive and painful from the sound of things.

Personally, I’ve never done a thorough health inspection of any of the salons I’ve been to in the past before dipping my feet into their tubs for a nice footsy rub-and-scrub and I’ve never known anyone get an infection after a pedicure. It doesn’t mean it isn’t happening, though, and apparently it’s happening enough to make headlines. The article’s author suggests walking out of a salon if you feel as if they aren’t going the distance to keep your feet happy.

Sounds pretty basic to me.

Author by Adrienne Wilson