Woman issues pedicure warning after almost losing her leg
A woman has taken to social media to warn others of illegal pedicure practices after a routine visit to the nail salon left her with a dangerous skin infection.
On June 22, Tracy Lynn Martinez of Winston-Salem, N.C. went for a pedicure at a local nail salon. Martinez thought nothing of it when the pedicurist began using callous scraper that left two small cuts on her ankle.
The next day, the 35-year-old says she was running errands when she suddenly began experiencing flu-like symptoms.
“I had the pedicure, and then Saturday morning I went to go drop off my daughter at a test, and I went over to a local store and I was just sitting in the parking lot on my phone, and all of a sudden I had this crazy chill; I was so cold,” she told her local news station, WFMY.
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Later that day, Martinez began vomiting and experiencing pain in her leg. The next day, the pain became unbearable, and she was taken by ambulance to hospital where doctors diagnosed Martinez with a staph infection known as cellulitis.
Cellulitis occurs when bacteria enters the body through a wound and travels deep into the skin. It typically makes the skin red, swollen and warm to the touch. If left untreated, the bacteria can spread into the bloodstream, infecting the lymph nodes with potentially life-threatening consequences.
Martinez was hospitalized for two weeks, and will need to be on medication and wear a compression stocking for the rest of her life to prevent another infection.
“Every day was a new chapter of what was going to happen to my leg. Was I going to lose my leg? Was I going to lose my life?” Martinez said.
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In a Facebook post that has since been deleted, Martinez shared her experience saying she had “been through hell” and urged everyone to avoid using a callous scraper or callous cutter as they are sometimes referred to.
“Going into a salon, you trust that person and you trust that they know their profession, you trust that they know what tools they’re using, what tools they’re allowed to use and what not to use,” she said.
Since the incident, Martinez has learned that callous scrapers had been banned by the North Carolina Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners, and has filed a formal complaint.
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