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A child having his nails trimmed by a street nail trimmer.
A child having his nails trimmed by a street nail trimmer.

Stay away from street nail trimmers

Children who patronise the services of ‘street nail trimmers’ popularly called ‘abochi’ put their lives at risk of contracting various infections.

A medical doctor at the Paediatric Department of the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, Dr Emmanuel Owusu Danquah has, therefore, cautioned parents against the use of street nail trimmers, particularly for children because of the dangers involved.

Dr Danquah told the Junior Graphic in an interview that children have very delicate skin and their immune systems are fragile, hence they could easily contract infections when they come into contact with contaminated and unsterilised sharp objects.

“These guys hardly use any form of sterilisation for the tools they use. Besides, the solution they use in cleaning their tools cannot be guaranteed as very safe,” he added.

Aside from contracting infections such as HIV and Hepatitis, he said, one stood the risk of contracting onychomycosis also known as ingrown toe nail, which is a very painful fungal infection of the toe or fingernails.

“Ideally, the person cleaning the nails must wear gloves and a facial mask to prevent transfering infections he or she might have to the client or contract any infections from the one whose nails are being cleaned,” Dr Danquah noted.

Initially, the services of the street nail trimmers were mainly patronised by adults, however, checks by the Junior Graphic have revealed that some parents are now allowing the ‘street nail trimmers’ to cut or trim the nails of their children.

A parent, Madam Sherifa said having the ‘abochi’ trim her nails and that of her daughter’s was better than doing it herself at home or in the nail studio.

“These ‘Abochi’ boys do it better than all others so although I am aware of the risks involved in using their services, I ensure that they trim our nails gently to avoid any cuts,” she explained.

Another parent, Mr Amuzu said he had been patronising the services of the street nail trimmers because their services were cheaper.

“With GH¢2.00, I can get my child’s nails done very nicely and I do not have to go to any nail shop besides, there is no queuing ‘wahala’.” he added.

It is common to find young boys going round with sharp instruments for finger and toe nail trimming these days. It is not clear whether they sterilise the instruments they use after serving each customer.

Speaking to Abu one of the young men who engages in the nail trimming business whether he sterilises his instrument, he seemed to have no knowledge about sterilisation and only said he sharpened the tools when they were blunt so that he could cut his customers’ nails properly.

Another nail trimmer who only gave his name as, Hassan, disclosed that in a week, he made between GH¢150 and GH¢200, attributing it to the friendly nature of Ghanaians, making it easy to work here as compared to his home country, Niger.

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