05/23/2025 Janet McCormick, MS
Salon Visits Increase Risk of Infections: DC Podiatrist
Saylee Tulpule, DPM is correct. Getting pedicures
can “increase potential risks of bacterial,
fungal, and viral infections.” However, further
qualification of that statement should be made.
Blanketing judgement of all nail salons and
technicians through a statement such as this one
is not only unfair, but also inaccurate. Safety-
trained nail technicians do not cause transfer of
infections of any kind.
True, the licensing education of nail technicians
is inadequate and constantly being reduced by
uninformed state legislators, but nail technicians
who target higher level safety in the practice of
their craft are out there for patients to
experience safe aesthetic services, such as
pedicures. These technicians are safety certified
as medical nail technicians through advanced
education and can be sought out by you, as
podiatrists, to send your patients to for
pedicures. Many of you are not only finding them,
but are referring patients to them with confidence
in their safe practices in pedicures.
Medical nail technicians have taken further
training in how to safely provide pedicure
services to their clients, including their
chronically ill ones. Knowing that the CDC states
that 48-51% of Americans over 20 have a chronic
illness, these caring technicians sought out, paid
for and attended advanced training in how to
safely perform cosmetic care on them. They
attended the courses and passed exams at
www.nailcareacademy.com, completed a 40-hour
internship in a podiatrist’s office to learn what
their clients experience when they are referred to
one, and then refer their clients who have needs
to the podiatrists who wish to collaborate with
them.
Also, many MNTs work in a podiatry office
performing RFC and pedicures for the practice
patients, bringing in cash while also relieving
the podiatrists of this routine care. Many
advantages become evident when bringing patients
into the office regularly, though the care is
performed by a safety-trained nail technician, an
MNT, not the podiatrist.
This technician is still in beautification but
learns and is committed to high-level disease
control and in how to recognize abnormalities to
refer to the podiatrist. After sign off for their
internship by their proctor podiatrist, they are
awarded their medical nail technician (MNT)
certificate through Nailcare Academy.
These technicians are still working within their
cosmetology scope of practice, which includes
overall evaluation, trimming safely, reducing
calluses, cosmetic debridement, and
moisturization. (Sound familiar?) These
technicians are trained to never diagnose and
never go outside of their scope of practice;
instead, they refer to a collaborating or in-
office podiatrist when “outside of normal” is
noted. They become true advocates of podiatrists
and support the growth of the referral or in-
office podiatrist’s patient list purposefully.
Many podiatrists have brought MNTs onto their
teams or have collaborative agreements with them
to 1) relieve the practice of overwhelming routine
foot care, 2) to grow their practices through
introducing their offices to new clients, to 3)
add to their non-insurance income, and more. These
MNTs sell footcare products and educate their
patients in how to maintain their foot health with
good home care. In seven plus states, they can
also perform laser care in the office. Also, they
know how to build prosthetic toenails for patients
who need them. And more. But best of all, they
free up the podiatrist to do more advanced and
lucrative care while knowing the patients are
receiving safe cosmetic care.
I believe the addition of an MNT to their business
model is a concept that more podiatrists should
explore. For certain, dentists experience every
day the positive results of hiring dental
hygienists in their practices, as do
dermatologists and plastic surgeons who hire
medical aestheticians. Why not podiatrists? Yes,
adding an MNT is new and different to many
podiatrists, but addition of an MNT can be a
practice’s next step to move to a higher income
per year easily and quickly while saving their
patients from “potential risks of bacterial,
fungal, and viral infections.” This new concept is
a win-win for all.
Janet McCormick, MS, Naples, FL
