No-frills nail shops are popping up across Canada. Could you be getting more than you bargained for?
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When her husband called her at work asking her to join him for an impromtu client dinner, Susan Dundern decided to treat herself to a manicure on her lunch hour. Instead of going to her regular salon, Dundern decided to try out a small, no-frills nail shop near her downtown Vancouver office. There was no wait and the price was right: $10 for a manicure; $15 for a pedicure.
Dundern was in and out within half an hour and her nails looked great. But a few days later, her middle finger started to ache. "I thought it was a hangnail," she says. Soon after, the nail started to lift away from the skin underneath, which was red and peeling. She made an appointment with her doctor, who diagnosed a fungal infection and suggested antibiotics. Leery of the possible side effects of the medication, Dundern decided to use a topical anti-fungal cream instead. At first it looked like the cream was working. After a few weeks, she stopped using the ointment. Then a month later the fungus returned to her middle finger and then spread to the ring finger too.
In the United States, a salon client successfully sued for US$150,000 after unwittingly contracting an infection from a nail shop. Yet in Canada, there have been no successful suits against a salon for unsanitary manicures.
And if you think a discount manicure can be risky, the infection rate for pedicures is even greater because there are more ways to come into contact with unsanitary conditions: change-room floors, foot baths, communal sandals and even improper toenail clipping. The consequences can be scary, from a minor rash or boils on your legs that cause scarring to internal infections. "I'll never take a simple manicure lightly again," says Dundern.
