Reducing Risks: Pre-Infection Treatment

Before we actually talk about the infections that you can get from pedicures I’d actually like to go into detail about the situation before that actually happens. Firstly I’d like to take you through the steps of actually avoiding an infection when something as unfortunate like the puncturing of skin or if a pedicure instrument goes too deep into a nail where it causes sharp pain.

In these situations, each situation that I mentioned earlier has a very different treatment method. Firstly if a sharp object like a cuticle knife or a nail cutter accidentally cuts too deep and penetrates the skin causing bleeding then the next few steps of treatment is very important. When you feel the immediate sharp pain you must immediately try as hard as possible from letting the blood from the tainted area re-enter the body.

Take for example you nipped your skin below the nail which happens quite frequently if the pedicurist isn’t paying attention you must put pressure on the finger to make sure that blood is constantly flowing out of the wound and not stagnating at the site of the wound. The next step is to immediately get your nipped finger over running water for at least 5 minutes. This enables any micro organisms to be washed away from the wound and not go into your body through your blood. After running the water for the sufficient time you should again wash the wound with disinfectant which is an added safeguard against any malicious micro-organisms. Next put on some anti-septic lotion or cream the wound and wrap it tightly with a plaster.

The next situation is when there isn’t so much of a cut or a break in the skin but a accidental push under the nail which lifts the nail and exposes the soft tissue under the nail to pedicure instruments. Most people make the mistake to think that this isn’t a problem as there isn’t any blood but infection could already have passed on to the soft tissue below the nail even without the presence of blood. Most of the time this is how nail fungus gets transmitted, the spores actually enter beneath the nail this way, normally being introduced by these either a nail clipper that was pushed too hard under the nail or a wayward cuticle pusher.

The treatment for the above mentioned mishap is quite easy however could be quite painful. You have to remember that the purpose of the treatment is to actually remove any spores that may have been lodged under the nail. For this you have to run tap water over the area which may have had the spores introduced. The reason why I say this maybe painful is that most of the time the flesh is very tender but you must ensure that any of the skin that was exposed to the pedicure instrument must be “flushed”. Most of the time this means re-exposing the tender flesh to running water. Although many people don’t like this treatment, it is 100% necessary and is much easier than enduring a nail fungus attach and the lengthy medical treatment that you have to endure. To add to the reassurance, higher end pedicure spas would have nail fungicides which can be immediately applied to the affected area just as an extra safety precaution.