Meanwhile on Dr. Oz.....Nail salons are a dirty business!!!!

This is a topic we beat to death, but for good reason, even the most sensible and smart ladies I know(including doctors, lawyers, college professors and my super smart stay at home mom friends) many people who still continue to take the risk of manicures and pedicures even though they know there is a chance they could walk out with an infection.  So this makes me think they really don't realize the risks, and how great the risks are.

Since I am a foot doctor, I am going to stick to the pedicure side of the coin. I can tell you anecdotes over the last 13 years of patients that have come into the office after a  pedicure with an infection that is bacterial or fungal.  I see at least 20 plus patients a week that present to the office with a fungal infection that is a direct result of a pedicure.  I try to make the patient feel better knowing that at least they didn't get a bacterial infection that could have led to limb loss, but somehow this is not comforting to those who just want a pretty nail!  Our need to be beautiful sometimes precedes good common sense and judgement.   The picture to the right is of a fungal nail infection that was a direct result of a pedicure. This is what you put yourself at risk for if you are not asking the right questions at you nail salon. But this is not the worst case scenario of how bad your pedicure can affect your limb.  There are accounts that have been published where nail salon clients walk out unknowingly infected with a bacteria that eventually would lead to amputation or death! (Death By Pedicure, by Dr. Robert Spalding  Chattanooga Fu Fu Factory; 1st edition (August 19, 2006))

Getting a pedicure is sometimes considered a relaxing treat that helps us beautify ourselves at a fraction of the cost of what we spend on our hair.  But the reality is that most of us feel uneasy once we sit in that chair and contemplate the water in the tub below our feet. In a recent episode of Dr. Oz (who by the way gives my patients many terrible ideas for treating their problems, but in this case I agreed with him)he had a certified medical nail tech explain many of the dangers you can encounter in your standard nail salon. People choose the cheap nail salon for a pedicure but may be picking up a problem that could cost them thousands plus dollars to treat and may never get rid of it!

Below is a link to the Dr. Oz episode from this past February, where Dr. Oz and the certified medical nail technician go over the importance of sterilizing instruments that are used for a pedicures. They go over what you should be looking for in your pedicure salon. I recommend watching this clip when you are done with this blog. (warning you have to sit through a 15 second commercial you can't skip but after that it gets good)

http://www.doctoroz.com/article/what-you-need-know-about-your-nail-salon

From Michele McGowan on clipix.com (via doctoroz.com)

A certified medical nail technician is what you will find often times in a podiatrist's office that offers pedicure services.  A certified medical nail technician is licensed via their state that has completed the Advanced Nail Technician Certificate that is above and beyond what their state requires.Cosmetic pedicures are performed by the certified medical nail technician in a podiatry practice.

It always seems like a shameless plug when I mention that we have a technician that performs pedicures in our podiatry office. But the reality is, the only reason we have this service is because we are in the business of keeping feet healthy! So we developed spa services in our office that are for those who care about their feet as much as they care about their hair.  It is sad to to think that some people spend over $150 every 8 weeks for highlights and style for hair but then turn around and cheap out on their feet, which they need to walk on! It is totally true that the cheapest pedicure you can get in our office is an express $50 and our most expensive pedicure is our Therapeutic Spa Pedicure for $65.  But when you have a pedicure in our spa it is not an inflated cost of a pedicure(which you have to watch out for an inflated cost of a pedicure that is not taking your safety into account). What you get is the following The Safe Pedicure Experience:

1.  A sanitation protocol that is above and beyond our surrounding market.  All instruments are autoclaved. No dirty instruments are ever used on a client. Our nail technician uses universal precautions using disposable gloves for each client and she understands that the gloves are to protect not only her but also you!

2.  All buffers and files in our spa are disposable. The use of disposable liners for the tub and a magnetic jet that can be removed and sanitized between each patient goes above and beyond the industry standard.

3. Nail polish is not used from client to client.  In our spa, you pick your color and it goes home with you after the pedicure. Our nail polishes are specially formulated and are 3-free.  They do not contain harmful chemicals that can contribute to unnecessary damage to the nail.  There are many great colors to choose from!

4. My favorite part is that it is private.  It is just you, in an environment that is safe and luxurious.  Our spa is pretty and relaxing.  You can choose to close your eye and rest and you are not hearing a million conversations at once, or you can watch TV or chitty chat with our awesome nail tech Brooke! Brooke has over 10 years experience and is professional who knows what needs more advanced care.

Brooke understands that our spa is different then others and takes great pride in being part of something special.

5.  We also offer other services like the KeryFlex Nail restoration for deformed nails.  KeryFlex a is cosmetic treatment that can give you beautiful nails for up to 8 weeks. This procedure cost $150  and this is not a treatment for nail fungus, but for those who struggle with thick nails and just want to wear sandals for the summer this is an awesome treatment.

If you would like to learn more about our safe pedicure experience visit our website at http://centeranklefootcare.com/id102.html

Also, if you have not listened to our podcast "Is your Pedicure Killing You?" I included the link for you below, it is informational and entertaining.

Remember to take care of your feet, you are only given two so treat them right!

Michele McGowan, DPM
Center for Ankle and Foot Care
Clermont, FL
Summerfield, FL
centeranklefootcare.com

Does my nail polish matter? And Pedicures are Safe, Right???

Why 3 Free Nail Polish?

Simply put, beauty should not come with a price tag of harmful chemicals. The beauty industry has a great divide that has developed over the last several years. The consumer now has access to information right at their fingertips to help them make an informed decision on their purchasing choices.  Nail polishes that are 3 Free do not have Formaldehyde, Toluene or Dibutyl Phthalate(DBP). These chemicals at one time were used to help with the consistency and longevity of a nail polish, but they also have potential draw backs linked to in utero development issues, cognitive function decrease, skin allergies and dermatitis.

Many popular nail polish companies still have some of these chemicals in their polish.  So this leaves the consumer in the very familiar buyer beware situation.

Now that more advances have been made in the development in nail polish, you don't have to have

exposure to these harmful chemicals but still enjoy a nice coat of polish! In our medical spa in our podiatry office our nail technician only uses 3 free nail polish that we have developed and bottled, or she uses Dr.'s Remedy nail polish for a small upcharge.

The Dr.'s Remedy nail polish is very nice and has the great features of being free of the bad chemicals and has the added benefit of being enriched with Tea Tree Oil and Wheat Protein.  This is the polish I always recommend for the patient that is experiencing the white dots and drying of the nail.  I explain to patients that those white dots can be the start of damage to the nail from polish and can lead to nail fungus down the line.  If they insist on painting their nails, I tell them the Dr.'s Remedy polish is the best option,  Plus, this is really nice polish.  It is safe for kids, patients under going chemotherapy, pregnant women and people who care about the health of their nails in general. We sell this polish in our office or it is available through our Amazon Store:


Pedicures are Safe, Right? 

Our little intimate spa is very different from the run of the mill strip mall joint.  We take your safety and luxury very seriously.  Every thing in our Natural Nail Spa is single use and all of our instruments are autoclaved(sterilized), even the nail polish goes home with you. Currently, there are only two states that require instruments to be autoclaved or sterilized in the nail spa industry: Texas and Iowa.  Since these are a long commute from Florida and maybe the state you live in, I wanted to give you some advice from one girl(who happens to be a foot doctor) to another girl!

If you do not live in Texas or Iowa, you need to really re-evaluate the place you are getting your bi-monthly pedicure.  Yes it feels great to close your eyes and get pampered having someone take care of your feet.  You can live your life saying what all people say before bad things happen, "That won't happen to me".  Or you can pull your head out and really look at the environment around you.

I wanted to give you 5 Truths(whether you want to hear them or not!) about the "treat" of pedicures:

1. Fancy does not = Clean: When looking for a place to get you nails done, do not be fooled by a nice imported tile floor from Italy, this will most likely mean they are skimping somewhere else to pay for the floor expense.  Ask where their autoclave is!

2. Just because they keep your instruments in a box and say "it's yours", does not mean they do not use it on someone else! Yep, you can not trust this 100%.  There are countless stories I have heard right out of the mouths of patients who have witnessed this first hand.  Also, I have several patients who have got nail fungus from places who claimed to have never used their instruments on someone else.  TAKE YOUR STUFF HOME EACH TIME.  Also, ask them where the autoclave is!

3. In the water you are soaking your feet in, there is most likely tiny pieces of other people's dead skin! This is really one of the grossest truths I know.  Unless they are using a pipeless tubeless spa pedicure chair and cleaning it appropriately, you are most likely putting your feet into a pool of tons of DNA samples.  Don't put your feet in the water!

4. Liners for the tub do not protect you from the DNA samples discussed above: Just because they put a liner in the tub, does not protect you from the a whole lot of anything.  Once the tub is full the water in the liner is contiguous, or touching, the water on the other side of the liner.  That being said, we use liners in our pipeless tubeless spa chairs in our spa, but I think this may be out of peer pressure:)

5. Most nail salons use the cheapest nail polish, multiple times: When researching nail polish for our spa, I found several cheap alternatives, but they involved putting the client at risk.  The cheap alternatives were shipped from China and were not three free and most likely the cancer rate in the factory where it is bottle is at 99% or higher.  Many salons take advantage of such cheap offers because they are only charging $25 for the service so they can not spend more than 10 cents on the bottle.  Now remember, when you go to the salon you pick your color and then it goes back on that wall to be reused.  I have several patients that go for pedicures and they have fungal nails.  They are not turned away from these fancy salons, even if they do not have an autoclave to kill the fungus on the instruments they just used! Again, ask to see their autoclave!

Check out our link here http://www.nailsnaturalspa.com/id21.html for our best suggestions available on Amazon for an awesome at home pedicure!

Yes, I do take time out of my day to beat up the pedicure industry.  This has a lot to do with all of the damage I have seen to peoples feet from pedicures.  If you have ever had to cut someones toe off after a terrible aggressive bacterial infection that someone got from a pedicure, you too may be a little more intense on the subject matter.  Below is a repeat broadcast of "2 Pods and a Microphone: Is Your Pedicure Killing You?"