View Full Version : HIV or hepatitis :-( ?
Today I went for a manicure and pedicure and now I'm freaking out. Half way through I realised they were using the same equipment between clients! I had only had my cuticles pushed back and the bits of dead skin pulled off and no skin broke but she did dig down in the nail quite roughly. I made an excuse and left before she used anymore of the equipment. Could I be at risk of HIV, hepatitis or something worse? :-(
I wouldn't have thought so :)
So many people have read my post and only one person has replied. I feel doomed :-( how long after being infected can you check whether you have HIV or hepatitis. My tie feels really sore so maybe skin was broken :,-(
You could always contact a GUM clinic and have a chat with them to put your mind at rest.
Hi Hetty
You sound like me, I posted something similar a few months ago about eyebrow threading, where I saw the girl using the same brush after she'd threaded/waxed eyebrows.
Anyway sent me into a complete panic.
If there was no bleeding then you have no need to worry. Even if there was bleeding the chances of anything being passed on are really really slim, I mean most of these viruses can't live outside the human body so you don't need to worry.
Are you sure she wasn't sterilising in between? It's normally good practice to soak anything metal in a disinfectant or heat it to kill bacteria but when I used to get my nails done the girl used to use an antibacterial wipe and spray to just wipe and clean everything between clients.
Try not to worry I know it's hard but you will only stress yourself out more and if there was no bleeding then realistically you couldn't have contracted anything anyway.
I think with HA we are so hyper vigilant with this sort of thing, most people wouldn't even have noticed or given it a second thought.
If you are concerned then just don't go there again, is it somewhere you've been before and is it well established etc?
When I actually noticed the girl in the eyebrow place using the same brush I told her and wouldn't let her come near me with it, bit like you, I just got out the chair asap! :D
Thanks so much for your detailed reply. I've worked myself up into complete hysteria about this and now I just feel confused. There were two pedicures going on at the same time. I didn't see the lady share the actual equipment but there was only one cuticle pushy thing with a pointy end and I'm assuming she used it on the woman before me because all the other stuff she was just putting back on the shared tray. I couldn't believe my eyes!! My toe hurts so although I haven't seen any blood I'm worried the skin is broken. I know the chances of catching anything are slim but any chance is too much for someone with HA.
Try not to worry, if there's no actual visible cut then it wouldn't have bled so there's not a risk. I know what it's like you go over and over it in your head and then the whole thing becomes confused.
I was thinking about going to the doctors to discuss the eyebrow experience I had to see if I should get tests, then realised I didn't even let her come near me with the brush, so because I reassured myself over that I started worrying about all the other places I'd had my eyebrows done and how I hadn't checked whether they were sterilising equipment.
That's the thing with HA we just go over and over it and all we do is make ourselves more anxious and end up feeling sick.
Reassure yourself with the facts, you have no visible cuts so there was no bleeding. The types of viruses you are worrying about need to be blood to blood contact so if you don't have a bleeding wound theres no way anything could have been transmitted. And even if you did (which you don't) the person before you would have needed to have a bleeding wound and her blood would need to go directly into your wound. Then take into account that a lot of these viruses can't survive outside the human body and some of them there needs to be quite a large volume of the virus to cause infection which there wouldn't have been.
I know it's easy to say but I honestly have done exactly what you are doing and it's no fun, you are fine, you will be fine, just don't go back there as it sounds like it's not the sort of place someone with HA needs to be visiting.
If you really are worried then get some reassurance from a nurse/doctor but I honestly don't think you need to worry.
Thank you again. I keep going over the things you've said in my mind but what's concerning me is that you can catch these things from what is referred to as a "needlestick injury" so if a person can contract something nasty from an injection needle or sharp object isn't that the same as being poked with a cuticle point right down the side of my toenail? My brain is thinking that on a needle the blood should not be lots and surely it should die outside the body but they are a risk so why is the cuticle thing not.... I hope I'm making sense x
You are making sense and I know exactly what you are going through - you could have been me a few years ago! I once went back into the doctor's office to ask her if she was sure that she had used a clean needle with the injection she had just given me - oh, the joys of HA.
Munchlet has given you very good advice but I so understand how your HA keeps rejecting it and looking for ways to make your situation dangerous anyway.
It is my understanding that needlestick injuries (that healthcare professionals are vulnerable to) are different because they will have come straight out of one person's skin tissue, and potentially blood stream, and straight into another's. This is clearly not the case with a cuticle stick. For HIV to infect someone, infected blood or other body fluid needs to get into their bloodstream, straight out of someone else's body, and I would say a cuticle stick just cannot deliver that. The person before you would have had to have HIV (very unlikely), the cuticle stick would have had to pierce her skin and at least a drop of blood would have had to be on it and then produce a similar wound on your skin - all within seconds. Rationally I know you will probably agree with me that this scenario is impossible, but I also know how HA tends to hijack all our rational thoughts. Nonetheless, I think you can safely let this one go - all reason says you have not been at any risk at all.
Hi again you are making sense.
Just to try and reassure you a bit more I think the reason needlestick injuries transmit these infections is because the blood is also trapped on the inside of the needle and somewhat more protected from the air etc.
So with a cuticle stick if there was blood on it its on the surface instantly hits air and the viruses die. A Needle goes from a person and has normally been used to inject or draw blood so not only does it have blood on outside but it is also drawn up into the inside of the needle then when it punctures the skin it's not only the blood on the outside of the needle that goes in but the inside too. That's why these infections are so easily spread by drug use and in some cases it's sadly happened to health care workers as well.
As Anniemags said that doesn't happen with a cuticle stick.
You are doing exactly what I did with the eyebrow thing, it's just a normal HA reaction you are trying to reassure yourself but your HA keeps doing the "but what if " to you making you question it more.
Thank you guys, this HA stinks. I'm so tired of this vicious circle :-(
Hetty, I don't know if this will help you but my husband had undiagnosed Hep C for at least 30 years. In that time I tended wounds when he cut himself etc., we shared toothbrushes now and then, did all the normal things married couples do. For some of that time I suffered with excema on my hands which would sometimes bleed profusely.
In all that time, I never contracted hep c from him, it's quite hard to catch:)
Thank you, that does help. Do you know if that would be the same with other types of hepatitis?
I don't know too much about the other types, but I'm sure they would be as hard to catch from your pedicure as hep c. If you're still as worried on Monday, have a word with your doctor to put your mind at rest.
Hey..sorry you are going through a tough time. I have had HIV and spent some looking on here at previous posts. From everything I have read it is extremely difficult to catch even from risky sexual behaviour..obviously not advised though! My point is that it would be near on impossible from equipment as you described. Whenever I feel like this I always try and think of whether I have ever heard of anybody else having had the same experience...I have never heard of anybody catching HIV in this way...if they had it would be newsworthy. Hope you start to feel brighter soon x
---------- Post added at 22:08 ---------- Previous post was at 22:07 ----------
Sorry should have said 'I have had HIV anxiety!!!
There is no hope for me, I just googled this and it seems hepatitis is a risk from these places :-(
Go to the GUM clinic tomorrow, or ring the hep c helpline, they're very helpful
Google talks mainly worst case scenarios
Thank you, I just called the hep c helpline. Although she was very reassuring and said it would be very unlikely. The only problem is that my HA screams that its still a possibility. I have a doc appointment on Wednesday so I will discuss it with her. I'm also going to ring the salon
---------- Post added at 10:15 ---------- Previous post was at 09:53 ----------
Ok, salon say they sterilise and use new equipment for each customer and he's pretty sure that they wouldn't have shared. He says the council come and check and they have certificates and sterilising solution that I can come and see if need be.
The hep helpline say it would be extremely unlikely.
I didn't see her actually sharing the equipment used on me but I noticed they were returning them to the same tray.
Although, I have sore toes I didn't see any blood and I did rub anti bac/viral gel on my toes afterwards.
Still I feel no better, what is the matter with me??!!! Grrrrrr
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