Shared, unsterilized clippers; The health risks facing Nairobi women in nail parlors

A typical walk on Moi Avenue, Tom Mboya street, Mfangano street and others extending to downtown Nairobi, men and women stand in building entrances, inviting customers to their nail parlors. 

A typical messenger will be holding a plastic board, where variety of nail designs are painted for you to see, and imagine just how your nails would be looking if you follow them. A lady messanger will have their nails painted to make you admire and want the same. 

Once you fall for this, your host will usher you into a not-so spacious stall – sometimes shared by several salonists – where the action begins. 

Every day, young and old women alike go to these beauty parlors to get a new look, unaware of dangers posed by unhygienic practices and sharing of manicure/pedicure equipment. A shared nail cutter, nail clipper, cuticle trimmer, brushes and other items in a manicure set. Not well sterilized. 

For Vivian, a 21-year-old university student, a routine manicure turned horrific. 

Few weeks after getting her nails done, she noticed a greenish hue that settled on her fingernails that was never there before the manicure. 

What she disregarded turned out, to her shock, to be a bacterial infection known as ‘green nail syndrome’.

There was no itchiness or whatsoever, but that greenish tint was enough to jolt her back the memory lane to how her manicurist used a nail cutter on a previous client’s nails before using it on hers. A shared brush was used to clean her hands, a shared-dump towel used to dry them.

Unsure of whether it was sterilized or not, possibly transmitting the bacteria from an infected nail. 

“I just noticed my nails having a greenish pigment. They weren’t itchy, but I also had no idea what it was until I learned of the infection and how its spread,” she recalls. 

Another lady, Mirriam tells of an unpleasant ordeal where she visited a nail parlor for a manicure and pedicure. Only to receive unhygienic services. 

A stark contrast to the soft and plush pampered services she received from other high-end parlors. 

“While shaping my nails, the person was so aggressive and ended up scratching me, which caused bleeding. Then instead of using spirit and clean cotton wool to wipe the blood he wanted to use the dirty water which he had used to wash my hands,” she recounts the ordeal. 

In the case of Stella, a medical student, her high expectations of beauty elevation turned into a ripped nail. She visited a manicurist who, according to her, seemed like he didn’t know what he was doing. 

Two days later they ended up coming off while going about her normal routines. “The worst thing it came off with half of my fingernail,” she laments.  

The unhygienic practices and injuries raise concerns of health risks posed to unsuspecting clients. 

“Instruments like nail clippers, scissors or filers can lead to transmission of fungal infections, bacterial infections as well as viral infections”, says Dr Shaban Haji, a physician in Nairobi. 

“If the instruments used in the parlors are not well sterilized, they can lead to transmission of the infections,” he continues.  

Haji further explains that women are likely to contract Hepatitis, transmitted through cuts from unsterilized instruments. 

He explains on how UV lights used in the salons to dry the gel on the nails can also damage the skin. Some researchers have shown that this exposure to UV rays could invite conditions like skin cancer.

“UV light can lead to damage of the DNA material and that can be the starting point for one to  develop skin cancer,” Haji explains.