Pedicures can be bliss, but make sure they don't lead to infections

[Guest guest]

http://www.news-leader.com/article/20101220/LIFE04/12200318/Pedicures-can-be-bli\

ss-but-make-sure-they-don-t-lead-to-infections

Pedicures can be bliss, but make sure they don't lead to infections

Ensure salons follow sanitary procedures for giving pedicures.

Okeson • sokeson@news-leader • December 20, 2010

For Christmas, Christy Meyers gets her toenails painted red with a touch of

glitter at Grove Spa.

On Valentine's Day, it's red with pink tips. The University of Missouri game

against Nebraska prompted her to get black and gold toenails, the school colors

for Mizzou.

The $50 pedicures at the spa are a monthly ritual for Meyers, the mother of

teenagers. She likes the aromatherapy candles, the vibrating chairs, how

everyone knows her at the salon.

" I'm not a primpy type of woman, but I love pedicures, " Meyers said. " I love

getting in the chair and having a little bit of just-for-me time. "

Death by pedicure

The family of a Texas woman, Kay , sued a nail salon in 2006

after she died of a heart attack triggered by a staph infection. The family said

her heel was cut by a pumice stone during a pedicure, and the wound wouldn't

heal. was a paraplegic.

" Most of what causes trouble can't be seen, " said Dr. Spalding, a

Chattanooga, Tenn., podiatrist who has written a book called " Death by

Pedicure. "

People who do pedicures are supposed to disinfect their equipment between

clients, including the bowls people bathe their feet in, or throw them away. Two

states, Iowa and Texas, require using an autoclave to sterilize tools with

steam. Pedicurists in other states use hospital-grade disinfectants.

" If you don't know what to look for, you're a sitting duck, " said Bond,

the executive director of the International Pedicure Association.

Zahava Bost, who teaches how to do pedicures at the Missouri College of

Cosmetology in Springfield, said students use a disinfectant that can kill

bacteria, viruses and fungi. If blood is spilled, pedicurists can use Barbicide,

the distinctive blue disinfectant used in barber shops that kills the AIDS

virus, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C.

Missouri state regulators recently warned salons that it's illegal to use razors

or a device known as the credo blade, which resembles a cheese slicer, to remove

calluses. The warning was prompted by nine complaints filed with the state

Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration

about credo blades being used.

" Some of the operators are using the instruments beyond removing dead skin, "

said Wayne Kindle, president of the state Board of Cosmetology and Barber

Examiners. " They're getting to the point of removing live skin. "

Keeping it clean

More than 1,130 people hold licenses to do pedicures in Greene, Christian, Stone

and Taney counties. They are overseen by 11 inspectors statewide who must do

twice yearly inspections of all the state's 13,650 beauty shops, barber shops

and nail salons.

Sharon Manz, a nail technician at Salon & Spa, said employees

clean the equipment between each client and clean the foot tubs as state

regulations dictate, letting water run in them for 10 to 15 minutes with a

cleaner and then using a disinfectant.

" Sanitizing is very important, " Manz said. " All of our girls are trained, and

that's one of our main priorities. "

At Grove Spa, the pedicures include a foot mask, similar to a facial for feet,

that smells of mint, steam towels and paraffin wax.

Meyers said she sometimes has trouble holding her pedicures to once a month.

" Ah, it's very nice, " Meyers said. " It's relaxing. You are in heaven, truly. "

[Guest guest]

http://www.news-leader.com/article/20101220/LIFE04/12200318/Pedicures-can-be-bli\

ss-but-make-sure-they-don-t-lead-to-infections

Pedicures can be bliss, but make sure they don't lead to infections

Ensure salons follow sanitary procedures for giving pedicures.

Okeson • sokeson@news-leader • December 20, 2010

For Christmas, Christy Meyers gets her toenails painted red with a touch of

glitter at Grove Spa.

On Valentine's Day, it's red with pink tips. The University of Missouri game

against Nebraska prompted her to get black and gold toenails, the school colors

for Mizzou.

The $50 pedicures at the spa are a monthly ritual for Meyers, the mother of

teenagers. She likes the aromatherapy candles, the vibrating chairs, how

everyone knows her at the salon.

" I'm not a primpy type of woman, but I love pedicures, " Meyers said. " I love

getting in the chair and having a little bit of just-for-me time. "

Death by pedicure

The family of a Texas woman, Kay , sued a nail salon in 2006

after she died of a heart attack triggered by a staph infection. The family said

her heel was cut by a pumice stone during a pedicure, and the wound wouldn't

heal. was a paraplegic.

" Most of what causes trouble can't be seen, " said Dr. Spalding, a

Chattanooga, Tenn., podiatrist who has written a book called " Death by

Pedicure. "

People who do pedicures are supposed to disinfect their equipment between

clients, including the bowls people bathe their feet in, or throw them away. Two

states, Iowa and Texas, require using an autoclave to sterilize tools with

steam. Pedicurists in other states use hospital-grade disinfectants.

" If you don't know what to look for, you're a sitting duck, " said Bond,

the executive director of the International Pedicure Association.

Zahava Bost, who teaches how to do pedicures at the Missouri College of

Cosmetology in Springfield, said students use a disinfectant that can kill

bacteria, viruses and fungi. If blood is spilled, pedicurists can use Barbicide,

the distinctive blue disinfectant used in barber shops that kills the AIDS

virus, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C.

Missouri state regulators recently warned salons that it's illegal to use razors

or a device known as the credo blade, which resembles a cheese slicer, to remove

calluses. The warning was prompted by nine complaints filed with the state

Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration

about credo blades being used.

" Some of the operators are using the instruments beyond removing dead skin, "

said Wayne Kindle, president of the state Board of Cosmetology and Barber

Examiners. " They're getting to the point of removing live skin. "

Keeping it clean

More than 1,130 people hold licenses to do pedicures in Greene, Christian, Stone

and Taney counties. They are overseen by 11 inspectors statewide who must do

twice yearly inspections of all the state's 13,650 beauty shops, barber shops

and nail salons.

Sharon Manz, a nail technician at Salon & Spa, said employees

clean the equipment between each client and clean the foot tubs as state

regulations dictate, letting water run in them for 10 to 15 minutes with a

cleaner and then using a disinfectant.

" Sanitizing is very important, " Manz said. " All of our girls are trained, and

that's one of our main priorities. "

At Grove Spa, the pedicures include a foot mask, similar to a facial for feet,

that smells of mint, steam towels and paraffin wax.

Meyers said she sometimes has trouble holding her pedicures to once a month.

" Ah, it's very nice, " Meyers said. " It's relaxing. You are in heaven, truly. "