Holiday parties and gatherings, or simply pampering yourself for the new year ahead, mean more trips to nail and hair salons for some.

But if you’re not careful, you might end up picking up more than you bargained for…

Health issues after a salon visit

In a recent small survey of nail and hair salon clients, more than two-thirds said they’d had one or more health issues after visiting a salon. These included skin problems, fungal infections and respiratory symptoms.

“When it comes to safety, the most important thing is being aware of the dangers present in salons,” said Lindsey Milich, lead author of a study based on the survey. She’s a research analyst at the Rutgers School of Public Health in Piscataway, NJ.

Nail and hair salons generally offer a wide range of services such as manicures, pedicures, applying artificial nails, waxing, hair styling and hair colouring.

However, many of these services involve exposure to chemicals that can be hazardous for the client or nail technician or stylist, the researchers said. These products can cause allergic reactions and skin irritations.

In addition, because many of the tools are reused from one client to another, it’s possible to pick up bacterial and fungal infections if proper sterilisation techniques are not followed.

What the survey entailed

The survey included 90 patrons of nail and hair salons from three counties in New Jersey. Nearly all (94%) were women. Survey participants were asked about health symptoms, as well as their knowledge of potential hazards and safety practices in salons.

About 42% they’d developed skin issues and 10% reported fungal infections after salon visits. These problems included itchiness to the hands or face, cuts, burning or tingling sensations, pain or redness around the nail area, athlete’s foot, finger or toenail fungus, and nail discoloration.

One in six survey participants reported respiratory symptoms, including runny nose, itching or watery eyes, trouble breathing and headache.

Across the board, the percentages for reported problems were higher for nail salons than hair salons.

Health of nail technicians also at stake

Though the salon clients reported experiencing these problems after a salon visit, Milich noted that the study did not prove that these issues were caused by the salon.

Milich was also involved in a second study, which looked at the health of nail salon technicians. That study – led by Derek Shendell from the Rutgers School of Public Health – included 68 workers from 40 nail salons whose owners agreed to their participation.

Most of the nail salon workers were Asian women who said they’d had eye, nose, throat or skin symptoms they believed were related to their jobs.

The study found that most workers had received training only in English, not in their primary language. The researchers suggested that salon workers needed “comprehensive chemical use training”, and urged that more research be done on the extent of salon workers’ exposure to hazardous materials.

The study involving salon clients was published in the November/December issue of the Journal of Chemical Health and Safety. The study on nail salon workers was published last month in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

Protect yourself

For those who frequent salons, what can you do to safeguard your health?

• First, check that the salon is clean and licensed by your state’s cosmetology board.
• Check that the salon properly sanitises any hair or nail tools that are reused from client to client.
• Make sure the equipment is sterilised in an autoclave, which is a device that heats the tools to kill bacteria and looks like a small oven.
• Check whether your salon uses a disposable plastic liner in the foot bath.
• It’s generally better to have your cuticles pushed back than cut, but if sterile equipment is used, it’s okay to have your cuticles cut.
• If you do get an injury when they’re cutting, be sure to clean it well and apply an antibiotic ointment to the cut. “If you see any swelling or redness at the site of the cut, or you get an injury on the nail bed, see your doctor,” Milich said.
• People with diabetes need to be extra cautious when getting pedicures. Experts recommend having your nails and cuticles cut by a podiatrist, rather than at a beauty salon.

And if you are still not convinced about the dangers of your local salon, Health24 reported earlier this year about a woman who suffered horrific third degree burns after visiting her salon for a routine pedicure and callous removal treatment.

The moral of the story? Go to trusted, accredited institutions and seek medical help immediately if you notice any symptoms. 

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It’s the end of the year and the start of all the festivities, which usually means you’ll overindulge and wake up on the wrong side of a hangover.

But, there is some good news – you can avoid waking up hungover.

1. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate

A hangover is often caused by the diuretic effect alcohol has on your body, which means it increases your body’s production of urine. If you don’t replace the fluids you are losing, you will wake up dehydrated. 

Prof James C Garbutt, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, NC, told Medical News Today that when you finish an alcoholic drink, have a glass of water before the next round. The water helps dilute the concentration of alcohol in your blood and helps prevent dehydration. 

Make sure the last thing you drink before you go to bed is water.

2. Cut down on sugar

We’re talking about both sugary drinks and food. Dr Carolyn Dean, Medical Advisory Board Member of the Nutritional Magnesium Association, told Medical Daily in an email, “I will avoid sugar and desserts as much as possible because sugar taxes the adrenal glands and the immune system. When adrenal function is impaired or weak, a person may suffer from low blood sugar, low blood pressure, low body temperature and fatigue/exhaustion.” 

3. Take your vitamins

Vitamins can help ensure your body retains the water you consume. Add supplements that contain magnesium, milk thistle, vitamins B and C to your daily regime.

“Alcohol depletes a broad range of vitamins, amino acids, fatty acids, enzymes, proteins and minerals from your body. The kingpin to this depletion is magnesium, which is the anti-stress mineral that most people are deficient in. This mineral regulates 600-700 enzyme actions in the body,” Dr Dean said.

“Nutritional magnesium prevents platelet aggregation, which helps to avoid the thickened blood and tiny clots that can cause blood vessel spasms and the pain of a tension headache or hangover and can lessen the damage to the brain.”

4. Eat something substantial

If your stomach is empty when you start drinking, your body will absorb the alcohol far quicker. It’s a good idea to fill up on a meal packed with carbs, protein and fat.

According to Prof Garbutt, “Eating food is an important element in reducing drinking and reducing the risk of intoxication. Eat a meal before you take your first sip of alcohol, and continue to take in food as the night wears on.”

And don’t wait – if you only start to eat when you begin to feel tipsy, the food will have no effect on preventing a hangover.  

5. Check the colour

Avoid mixing your drinks and stick to one drink for the night is the usual advice. But, it’s also important to check the colour of your liquor. 

According Harvard Health Publishing, research has shown that clear liquors (vodka or gin) tend to cause hangovers less often than darker liquors (whiskey or red wine).

The reason? Although the main form of alcohol is ethanol, darker liquors contain congeners (chemically related compounds), such as methanol.

Dr Robert Swift, a researcher at the Providence Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Rhode Island who coauthored paper on hangovers in 1998, says that although the same enzymes process ethanol and methanol, methanol metabolites are toxic so they may actually make your hangover worse. 

Oops, you woke up hung over…

Perhaps the festivities got away from you and you forgot to follow these tips. There are few things you can do to ease your hangover.

Take two ibuprofen before you go to bed and two more when you wake up to help ease your pounding headache. But avoid swallowing aspirin – alcohol can worsen gastritis (inflammation of the stomach lining), while aspirin can increase your risk of gastric erosion and bleeding.

“Put the two together and there might be increased risk of gastrointestinal bleeding,” Prof Garbutt says.

Prof Garbutt also says you need to rehydrate. He suggests a sports drink – it will help you rehydrate while replacing salt and electrolytes you’ve lost through all the peeing. 

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Compiled by Mandy Freeman

The new, recently introduced Central Chronic Medicines Dispensing and Distribution (CCMDD) programme for patients on antiretrovirals and other chronic medication has already proven to be a major benefit.

People with chronic illness are speaking highly about the programme that allows them to collect their medication without visiting public facilities and spending time in long queues.

Weight off clinics

The Gert Sibande District in Mpumalanga has implemented National Health Insurance (NHI) programmes since 2011, but the new CCMDD programme has been hailed as the best by most clients.

It is aimed at reducing the number of clients flocking to clinics and hospitals, and reducing patient waiting times.

The programme makes use of private pharmacy outlets as the pick-up points for chronic medication, with the main objective being to improve access to antiretrovirals and chronic medicines for stable patients reliant on the public healthcare sector in South Africa.

Patient Gloria Shabangu of Ermelo said, “Before the CCMDD implementation, with my hours at work, I use to pay people to collect my medication at the clinic. But sometimes the nurses would refuse to allow this and if that happened I would sometimes go days without medication. This has caused me to default twice but now with the CCMDD programme, the defaulting days are over. I don’t stress myself anymore because my time is flexible and it takes less than 20 minutes for me to get to a Clicks pharmacy to collect my ART and go back to work.”

Less time-consuming

Patients visiting pharmacies for their medication find their treatment programme easier to manage, there are no queues and they no longer have to wait four hours or more just to be served.

“With this CCMDD we no long have to stress about running out of medication,” said Phindile Msizi.

Vusi Buthelezi, another patient on the programme, said he now only has to visit his clinic once every five months for a blood test to check his CD4 count and viral load.

“I can confidently say NHI is working in the Gert Sibande District,” he said. – Health-e News

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Cynthia Maseko