10 Tips for Healthy Salon & Spa Visits

Avoiding germs and infections from the salon or spa is not a job you can leave up to someone else.  You need to be aware, responsible, and pro-active in making sure that your health is not jeopardized by an afternoon of pampering.  Whether it’s a manicure, pedicure, massage, facial, or Botox, you need to make sure that you get the treatment you want, and not some nasty infection to go along with it.

Here are 10 tips for smart and safe spa and salon visits:

1. If you have, or even suspect that you might have, a skin infection, skip the visit.  Don’t risk spreading your infection to others.
2. Pass on treatments to any part of your body where you have broken skin (cut, sores, or other wound).  Why take a chance.
3. Take a look around the spa or salon.  Does it look sparkling clean?  While looking clean doesn’t always mean it is clean, it’s a sure bet that if it looks dirty, it’s really bad.  If it looks dirty, turn around and walk back out that door.
4. Ask about standards for sanitizing and disinfection.  Non-disposable instruments should be sterilized, others should be tossed out.  No instrument should be used on more than one person without serious sterilization – and that means more than a quick wash in the sink or a spray of disinfectant.M
5. Make sure that the foot bath has been cleaned and sanitized before you get your pinkies anywhere near it.  If a spa or salon doesn’t clean and disinfect between users, you should look for a new spot for your pedicure.
6. The therapist or technician working with you should wash their hands before beginning on your services.
7. Extra points if staff wears gloves for services that would permit it.  Obviously, that would not be for a massage.
8. If you services include injectables, check out the training and licensing of the therapist.
9. If you are receiving injectables, the treatment room should be clean and sanitized the same as if it were a doctor’s office.
10. Trust your gut.  If your inner voice is telling you something is amiss, listen, and get the hell out of there!

Photo credit:  The Consumerist @flickr