By Michael Kanaabi

GONE are the days when hot combing for the ladies and a head shave for the men were a sign of good grooming. Likewise, gone are the days when this was done by mainly relatives or friends.

A salon is the natural destination for men who wish to have a haircut and women who want to plait or treat their hair.

Convenience is what salons have added to our life and that is all we desire, but at what cost in terms of hygiene and health?

Testimony
Paul Semuwemba recently went to a salon to shave his hair only to realise that the client before him had ringworm all over his scalp.

Semuwemba was infuriated by the barber’s failure to clean and disinfect the machine before attending to him. “I could not stand what this guy was doing, so I walked away immediately,” Semuwemba said.

Like Semuwemba, many people have been disappointed with the poor hygiene in salons. A barber will cut a beard of a man whose cheek has wounds and will not bother to disinfect the machine, instead he will use a shoe brush to clean it.

Risks
The dangers of these negligent practices range from transmission of skin diseases like scabies, fungal infections, ringworms, warts and other bacterial infections to more severe diseases like Hepatitis B and C.

“Razors, scissors, nail files and piercing instruments are high risk factors for transmitting Hepatitis B and C,” says Texas-based dermatologist, Dr. Shelly A. Sekula.

She says bacteria, fungus and parasites that cause some of these infections can survive for seven days on head rests, work benches, instruments and tools used in salons if poorly cleaned and disinfected.

Dr. Erasmus Okello, a general practitioner, also adds: “You can leave the salon with infestations like lice and bed bugs transmitted through aprons and machines.”

The women’s spot
Hygienically, the situation is not any better as many ladies confess.
Phoebe Magara, a client, says she went to a salon to have her hair treated only to realise that the hairdresser had mixed up used rollers with the unused ones.

“The rollers contained strands of hair and were dripping with oil from the other woman’s hair.”

Joan Mwanje, a salon operator in Kisaasi, says they make mistakes due to long queues of clients. “Sometimes you get many clients who are in a hurry.

This makes it hard to take enough precaution to everyone’s satisfaction,” she says.

According to Magara, women also complain that the towels used to dry their hair, feet (in case of a foot scrub) and faces (in case of facials) are usually unwashed or poorly dried.

The combs used to straighten and comb hair in the process of plaiting are risky too. They can carry fungus, bacteria and other parasites from one person to another.

The barbers and salon ladies are not safe either because they can easily contract these infections including HIV since most of them use barehands in the execution of their duties.

Okello says: “There could be a case where a sizeable blood stain remains on the machine which can keep the viruses alive for a longer time, making infection of another person possible.”

Precaution
“In case the instruments get blood stains, the blood has to be properly washed off even before disinfection and sterilisation,” says Okello. “The instruments should then be disinfected by dipping and soaking in methyl spirit of good concentration level.”

He adds that sterilisation involves dry heating at high temperatures for up to four hours, a rare practice in our salons.

Low concentration methyl spirit used in most salons to sterilise machines may not effectively kill all germs and micro organisms, according to Sekula.

She recommends stronger options like soaking in chemical germicides, dry heating and steaming with ethylene oxide gas to ensure most germs are destroyed.

According to Care Fair.com, a website on skin and hair health, protective wear like masks and gloves will go a long way in protecting the hairdresser from skin contact, reducing the chances of infection.

Having a number of tools which enables you to use a different set while sterilising and disinfecting others can also reduce the spread of infections in the salon according to Okello.

Disposing of tools like razors after every use also minimises contact with the infected tools.

Washing hands with disinfectant soap and warm water after working on a customer removes bacteria from the hair dresser’s hands.

Precautions for clients
Take your own tools everytime you visit a salon.
Check whether the salon is licenced and consult other people who use the same salon for advice

Ensure the instruments are properly sterilised.
Make an assessment of the hygiene levels of the salon and choose whether to continue using their services or not.

Some salons have sterilising instruments that are not functional. Observe and ensure the instrument is functional.

Cost of treatment
Dr. Robert Candia says incase you get a simple cut that needs only cleaning and dressing, you will part with sh5,000. However, if the cut is deep, you will need sh20,000 for a tetanus shot and stitches.

Candia says if you catch HIV or Hepatitis B and C, treat the symptoms and take measures to avoid further aggravation. He says no cost estimate can be attached since there is no cure for the above cases.

In case of fungal infections, you need to see a doctor immediately. Candia says treatment could cost between 50,000 and sh60,000.