When the warmer weather arrives and sandals and open-toed shoes come out of the closet many of our patients at North Jersey Podiatry like to get professional pedicures. Nail salons, however, can be a hotbed of fungal infection if proper sanitizing procedures are not being followed. We’d like to offer the following suggestions to help ensure that your next pedicure is safe, as well as attractive:

  • Check for a license. All reputable nail salons should be licensed by the state cosmetology or health department. The license should be prominently displayed in the salon. If it isn’t, you should ask to see the license. If a salon doesn’t have one, don’t stay!
  • Be sure foot baths are cleaned after each client. Some salons use disposable plastic liners which get replaced after one use.
  • Don’t shave the morning of a pedicure. Shaving creates micro cuts in the skin which could allow easy access to any bacteria you encounter in the foot bath.
  • Make sure nail clippers, cuticle cutters, and other pedicure tools are sanitized between customers. An autoclave machine does a better job than disinfecting solution. Better yet, bring your own tools to the salon.
  • Nail technicians should wash their hands after finishing with a customer. If a nail technician has a cut or open wound on his or her hand it should be covered with a band-aid, otherwise, there is a risk of spreading infection.
  • Observe the overall cleanliness of the salon and the nail technicians. Are the floors swept and the towels clean? Do the technicians have clean attire or smocks? Even something as simple as how the magazines are kept is an indication of how important cleanliness is to the business. If it’s dirty, go somewhere else.

Checking your toenails regularly is part of a good foot health care regimen. If you notice discoloration in your nails or they appear thickened, chipping or crumbling at the edges, contact our Wayne office in New Jersey so that our podiatrist, Dr. Paul G. Klein, can examine your toenails and diagnose the problem. Most fungal infections will not go away on their own, so don’t delay. Call (973) 595-1555 for an appointment today.