There’s nothing better than a spa day, right? A neck rub, a foot bath, a few essential oils — it all sounds good to us!
But before you book your next mani-pedi, it might be a good idea to check the credentials of the spa you’re considering, or just stay home and experiment with building your own relaxing pebble foot bath.
As it turns out, a DIY spa treatment might be much safer and better regulated than some professional salons. It all depends on how they treat their equipment.
As central Virginia woman Samantha Payne learned the hard way, a poorly run salon can be incredibly dangerous for your health.
For a business that traffics in beauty, the Payne’s stop at a local salon had dramatically ugly results, which were so dangerous that they landed her in the hospital.
Read on below to learn more about Payne’s story, first broken by NBC12, and the terrifying dangers that can be lurking in even the most deluxe spa setting.
[H/T: NBC12]
A pedicure should be a mellow, stress-free way to spend an hour pampering yourself.
A talented salon technician can revitalize your feet completely by performing procedures like callus removal, foot exfoliation, and nail painting, leaving them fresh and clean.
Lots of women consider this a well-deserved splurge to keep their feet presentable, especially in the beach-and-sandal weather of summertime.
But if a salon isn't properly run, a simple pedicure can take a shocking turn — as one woman quickly found out.
Warning: Some readers might find the following image a little disturbing. Please click to reveal the photo.
Unfortunately, for Henrico County woman Samantha Payne, an experience that should have been a luxurious dream quickly turned into a nightmare shortly after she left the salon.
According to NBC12, she started to experience what her lawyer describes as, "pimple-like sores" which rapidly turned into painful red lesions.
Doctors diagnosed Payne with cutaneous mycobacterial infection, an infection of the skin caused by mycobacteria, a category which includes tuberculosis and leprosy.
It's a scary condition that most of us would never associate with anything as harmless as a manicure or pedicure.
Unfortunately for Payne, her infection quickly became far from harmless, landing her in an area hospital.
According to NBC12, Payne ended up requiring surgery to remove the infection from her legs, which left her scarred in the affected areas.
Unfortunately, it's more common than most of us would like to imagine.
The last thing you want to think about at the spa is the disease you could potentially be contracting from the treatment, but it's important to be aware of the dangers.
Pedicures, which tackle the frequently filthy feet of customers, are most often the culprit, but manicures can cause problems, too.
On the more mild end of the spectrum, it's easy to catch something mild but annoying, like athlete's foot, from improperly cleaned foot baths or tools.
On the scarier side, exfoliation and other treatments can abrade the skin, leaving broken skin open for opportunistic infections to take hold.
On hands and feet, this can lead to painful infections, including the potentially very dangerous condition Payne had, and similar infections like cellulitis, a complication of staph pictured above.
In order to avoid these painful and potentially life-threatening conditions, it's important to do your research before booking your next spa day.
Check on websites like Better Business Bureau and Yelp to see whether the location in question has any reports or health code citations.
You should also be able to see other customer's reviews, giving you a sense of whether the salon has a history of poor sanitation or other health issues.
In Samantha Payne's case, her injuries and infection were severe enough that she decided to sue the salon in question.
In the meantime, her legal action has brought scrutiny down on all the salons in the area, making sure that they're up to code.
For the rest of us, it's a valuable lesson in checking out the background of businesses you frequent. Make sure you know your salon backwards and forwards before you book your appointment!
And if you were disturbed at how easy it is to catch an infection this way, make sure to SHARE to protect everyone who likes to be pampered every now and then!
