People who patronise local manicurists often say their motivation is the cheap fees they pay for their services, when compared with what is charged in nail salons. Juliet Jacob Ochenje writes that the real cost of using this service may be more than meets the eye, considering the health hazards that are associated with it.
When you meet someone for the first time, you probably assess the person’s hygiene from the state of his or her hair, nails and teeth. The nails are particularly kept neat to ensure that they don’t provide accommodate germs and bacteria and while some people choose to trim their nails themselves, others prefer to get a professional that will cut, file and treat their nails to perfection.
But professionals cost money, and not everyone can afford their services and so, they engage the services of local manicurists and pedicurists, who trim the nails for a smaller fee. These practitioners are mostly found in the streets of states in northern Nigeria, though they are in other states, with their stools balanced on their sides, alongside their bag of tools, hitting their scissors noisily to notify prospective customers of their presence. Once a customers call them, they bring down their adjustable stools for them to sit on and go to work on their nails.
The Inherent dangers…..
For this set of people, they have found their source of livelihood, but the health risks associated with their craft leave much for concern. The work they do involves many sharp objects which must be given proper sanitary care to avoid transferring diseases from one person to another which and there is the question of whether they get proper training before taking up the profession.
Audu Dankasa is a local “nail cutter” who peddles his business on the streets of Abuja. Speaking to African Health Report (AHR), he said he uses a pair of scissors, lighter, a sharp object that looks like a little knife and oil when doing his job.
Dankasa, who informed AHR that he has been in the business for more than five years, said he gets between 10-15 customers on a good day and charges 50 naira for pedicure and 100 for both pedicure and manicure.
He attested to using the same instruments for all his customers and when asked if he was aware of the health risk involved in doing that, he said no, but adds that he uses a lighter to burn the surface of the scissors and knife when a customer requests for it. If not, he simply goes ahead to use the same implements without sterilisation.
According to medical professionals, nail care is sensitive, as bacteria can easily be passed from person to person when instruments are used on different people and not properly sterilised to get rid of them. Also, blood borne diseases can be transmitted through the passing of contaminated blood and body fluids from an infected person to another if the nail cutter, file or other tools used by the manicurist or pedicurist cause a cut.
There is also the risk of transmitting a serious disease such as hepatitis B and C or HIV when using razors, blades, scissors and nail clippers, which can abrade the skin and/or cut accidentally. Contaminated instruments can transfer infection directly to the blood of another individual (for example, the operator or next client) if that individual has open cuts, sores or broken skin.
The expensive cost of cheap manicure/pedicure services
Speaking on the issue, a medical expert, Dr. Akinrogunde Goke Tosin, warned that extra care must be taken by people who use manicure and pedicure services in order to avoid being infected by various diseases which could be costly to treat or in some cases, do not have a cure.
He said: “It is obvious that if you use a sharp object to cut someone and paradventure some bleeding occurs, sometimes the bleeding can be microscopic in the sense that you’ll not be able to see blood, and you use the same object on another person, there’s a high chance of contracting bloodborne diseases like the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis B and the rest of them.”
The doctor also said that people should not be misled into thinking only local manicurists can be careless with sterilisation of sharp objects, saying: “This is not limited to just the local nail cutters (Aboki) alone, it is still possible to contract such diseases through professional pedicure and manicure if the objects are not well sterilised.”
He further advised that it is better and safer for every individuals to have their own nail cutting instruments and not share with others, adding that prevention is always better than cure as some of the the diseases than can be transmitted from infected tools do not have a known cure yet.
Why we patronise ”aboki nail cutter”
As serious as this may be, some people who spoke with AHR claimed not to be aware of the enormity of the risks. Mr Matthew, a resident of Abuja, told AHR that he patronises the local nail cutters popularly called “Aboki nail cutter” because he cannot afford pedicure and manicure in salons. He said with just 50-100 naira, he can get his nails done by “Aboki”, compared to about one thousand naira and above in salons. When asked if he was aware that the same sharp objects used for his nails were also used for many other people, he said: “I am aware, that is why I always make sure that the object is burnt with a lighter to kill all the viruses in it because of the health risk of sharing sharp unsterilised objects.”
He expressed confidence that he is not at risk of any infection because he has been patronising them for years and has not contracted any disease from it.
But Mrs Adeniyi, another regular customer of ”aboki nail cutters”, said she had never given a thought to the fact that she may be exposing herself to various diseases through possibly unsterilised tools used on her.
To her, it was just a normal procedure of cleaning her nails but after speaking to our reporter, she stated that she would get herself and her family tested and then buy personal nail cutters and blades for use by her and her family members.
For another person who simply identified himself as Mr Daniel, he has never patronised them because he knows the risk involved and he encourages his family and friends that use such methods of taking care of their nails to stop.
He further said that he has all the instrument needed for both pedicure and manicure and always ensures that they are used for him alone when he visits a professional manicurist.
