What can you get infected from a beautician? Many bacterial, viral and even fungal diseases. It is very easy to get infected during manicures or pedicures where sharp tools such as scissors or pliers are used. Check what you can get infected with a beautician and during which treatments you should be especially vigilant.

A beautician can get infectedwith many diseases - from troublesome but harmless fungal diseases to life-threatening liver and HIV infections.

How does infection occur in beauty salons?

In beauty salons, infection may occur as a result of using improperly disinfected or non-sterile cosmetic accessories (e.g. scissors or pliers). The beautician performs treatments which may lead to a breach of the skin's continuity, i.e. a cut. Therefore, beauty salons should be treated in the same way as treatment rooms and should follow strict hygiene rules. However, according to the Department of He alth and Safety, some beauty salons not only do not perform the necessary sterilization of tools, but also lack of disinfectants or they are out of date.

What can you get infected from a beautician?

Staphylococcus

Introducing infected, sharp tools under the nail plate and under the cuticles is the most common cause of cutaneous and golden staphylococcus infections. The delicate structures of the nail and the cuticles around it are very susceptible to this type of bacteria. The lesions caused by cutaneous staphylococcus are mild. Worse if you catch Staphylococcus aureus, which causes chronic infections. It can also lead to inflammation of the respiratory and urinary tract, and even encephalitis or sepsis.

Świerzb

Some beauty salons offer a massage, during which not only staphylococcus infection can occur, but also scabies - an infectious disease caused by a skin parasite called scabies. Symptoms of the disease are similar to an allergic reaction: reddened skin with unsightly pimples, spots or papules, and itching, which intensifies at night when the body is heated in bedding.

Therefore, before this relaxing treatment, check that:

  • the massage bed is lined with a disposable towel,
  • the towel that covers your body during the treatment is fresh (according to the regulations, it should be COOKED),
  • whether the shoes replaced by the masseur are disposable (in this case there is also a risk of infection with mycosis).

Onychomycosis (hands and feet)

If instruments are not properly sterilized, fungal spores can be transferred from one patient to another. Toenail fungus can be infected, for example, during a manicure, while toenails are usually infected, for example, during a pedicure treatment.

Athlete's foot

According to the sanitary inspection, in beauty salons there are cases of interdigital mycosis, sweating mycosis (the symptom of which are blisters and blisters of various sizes on the erythematous basis, minor erosions, oozing, exfoliation of the epidermis) and exfoliating (its characteristic feature are foci erythematous-exfoliating). Therefore, e.g. before the pedicure treatment, check if the beautician covers the foot soak container with a disposable foil, because fungi reproduce fastest in a humid environment, especially if they have callous epidermis as a nutrient solution.

Important

Each beauty salon is subject to sanitary supervision. Therefore, before the manicure or piercing, you have the right to ask about the quality certificates and the effects of sanitary inspection. Soon, the control of beauty salons is to be more detailed - the Ministry of He alth has developednew sanitary requirements forbeauty salons, hairdressing salons, etc., in line with EU standards. Until December 31, 2013, owners of beauty salons will have to install sterilization devices for cosmetic accessories (e.g. autoclaves) and train employees in their use. Beauticians will be required to sterilize in a separate room or directly in the room where customers are admitted - in the latter case, sterilization will have to take place outside the opening hours of the salons.

HIV virus

The risk of infection with the virusHIV in a beauticianincreases e.g. when applying permanent makeup, during which a special device introduces a dye under the skin with a thin needle, piercing the ears with a special gun or piercing, during which the beautician pierces the skin with a needle.

HBV virus

Piercing or permanent make-up carry a risk of infection with HBV (hepatitis B), which leads to hepatitis.The HBV virus is destroyed only after one hour of dry air sterilization at 160 ° C (in an autoclave after about 30 minutes). It is worth remembering that cooking does not kill HBV. It can survive for many years at room temperature, and unsterilized cosmetic products can be a source of HBV infection even after many years. You can protect yourself against the virus by taking a vaccine.

HCV virus

Dirty nippers, scissors, needles or the tip of an ear piercing gun are also hotbeds of HCV (hepatitis C). It can be most easily transferred to our body when removing cuticles or applying gel nails.

People who are infected are often unaware of their he alth for many years, because the incubation period of the virus is asymptomatic. In some patients, it kills itself by the immune system, but in some patients, the virus causes chronic hepatitis, leading to cirrhosis and end-stage liver failure. Hepatitis C can cause liver cancer.

Remember that HCV - against which no vaccine has been developed - is extremely resistant: contaminated instruments should be decontaminated for at least 2 hours at 180 ° C. After this time, they will be completely sterile.

This will be useful to you

How to prevent infection in a beautician?

According to the information from the State Sanitary Inspectorate, pay special attention when visiting a beauty salon:

  • is there a dispenser containing liquid soap and a dispenser with a hand disinfectant and disposable towels within easy reach of the employee;
  • Did the employee wash his hands with soap and then a disinfectant before and after all services and rinse them with warm running water.Hands are the most important route for microbial transmission, so hand hygiene is essential in preventing contamination ;
  • whether all procedures related to the breach of tissue continuity are performed with equipment that is technically efficient, disinfected, sterilized and stored in conditions that protect it against contamination or damage. Therefore, just like at the dentist's, you should pay attention to whetherthe beautician opens thepaper and foil packagewith the accessories for the treatmentin front of you. Sterile packages should be stored in cabinets or containers; It's best to choose a beauty salon where you use disposable cosmetic accessories, e.g. nail files;
  • whether the beautician performs the procedure in sterile glovessingle use;
  • whether sterile and disposable tampons, gloves, gauze etc. are used for procedures that violate the continuity of tissues;
  • whether reusable tools (e.g. scissors) are washed after each use anddisinfected in an autoclave , i.e. a hermetically sealed container in which sterilization of cosmetic accessories is performed at a temperature above 100 ° C (few offices have them. Most cosmetic companies still give their sterilization tools to specialized units);
  • Does the worker use clean, dry protective capes and towels;
  • if all cuts, scratches or cracks in the skin are covered with a bandage before starting the service.

Category:

Infectious diseases