Presenting oneself in a presentable and acceptable manner is considered, a basic human etiquette, which has led to an increase in the demand for titivating and preening services, causing a boom in the beauty services industry. The boom is so great that, one in three Nigerian women are either freelance make-up artists; nail technicians, or hair stylists.Although they have mastered their art, the industry is lacking in the area of hygiene.
This negligence might be an oversight due to lack of awareness as almost all of the beauty salons in Nigeria are breaking one hygiene rule or the others, some of which should be second nature.
Adequate care is not being taken to ensure that the make-up applications, haircutting, weaving, acrylicfixing, eyelash fixing, buffering, feet soaking, callus removing and nail filing is carried out hygienically.
Though germs are an integral part of human existence, and as luck would have it, about 99% of them are harmless. The problem lies in the 1%, and carries the risk of chronic infections. As unusual a place as a beauty salon appears to be in harboring germs, it is the perfect spot for germ.
Due to the sharing of tools between customers, and the next to none hygiene procedure, germs transfer from one person to the other very quickly.
The ease at which this could happen is highlighted in the case that was reported a couple of days back in the online AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses journal.
According to the report, a 22-year-old Brazilian woman contracted HIV after sharing manicure tools with her infected cousin.
The woman’s infection was discovered during a routine donated blood screening. Her blood work showed her condition was normal but had a high viral load, indicating that she had a long-standing infection.
She rejected all of the typical transmission routes claiming she must have gotten it through her cousin whom she shared manicured utensils with 10 years ago. At the time, the cousin was unaware of her infection status but later tested positive for HIV.
Further investigations and tests showed that the viral genetic material in both women was highly related, indicating the possibility that the HIV was indeed transmitted by the manicure tools
Even though this is a very rare and an isolated case, there has been documented evidence of people contractin gserious infections from beauty salons.
A 2011 report presented by Professor David A. Johnson of internal medicine and chief of the division of gastroenterology at Eastern Virginia Medical School during the American College of Gastroenterology’s 76th annual scientific meeting in Washington DC, emphasised the risk of transmitting hepatitis through some of the tools used for haircuts, manicures and pedicures.
The culprits are buffers, nail files, brushes, nail bowls, foot basins, razors, clippers, and scissors. These tools are high risk because they are open to air, used repeatedly and easily get contaminated.
By design, the foot basin is a good cultivating ground for warts, athlete’s foot, toenail fungus and swine flu virus. These germs thrive in warm and wet environment.
Before using one, ensure it is properly scrubbed and dried and has been steamed and liquid sterilised
Make-up and makeup tools also harbor viruses and bacteria which could cause acne, eye infections, abscess, ringworm, oral herpes and cold sore / fever blisters.
Make-up artists should make sure their tools are properly disinfected and invest in disposable applicators.
Never allow make-up application with dirty tools and if a beauty service provider looks shabby, chances are he /she does not care for hygiene and you should refuse their services.
Though the hair sink looks harmless, it is not. Medical research has identified two types of injury that may occur at the salon sink.
Salon Sink Radiculopathy - pain caused by compression on the nerve roots at the neck vertebrae level or injury to nerve roots going from the spinal cord to the extremities and Beauty Parlour Syndrome (BPS) - the overextension of the neck back into a sink during hair washing, damaging the blood vessels in the neck and disrupting the blood flow to the brain, resulting in a potential stroke.
To avoid these injuries, hairdressers are advised to use a cushion pad around customer’s neck and to avoid overextending the neck.
It is no news that hygiene, health and safety is not our forte in Nigeria and even in countries where it is, hygiene regulations are still discarded. The onus is on you the customer to be vigilant. Ask for the hygiene procedure of the beauty salon you intend using.
Do not use a salon if you feel it is dirty and check the facilities to better evaluate the hygiene capability. If it falls below par, go elsewhere. It is “better to be safe than sorry”
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