Georgia Woman Loses A Toe After Pedicure Trip At Salon

A 59-year-old woman in Georgia firmly believes that a visit to a local nail salon in 2019 was the cause of a nail infection that resulted in her right toe being amputated.

Anita House, of Flowery Branch, Georgia, went to a nail salon together with her sister on the last weekend of February 2019 to receive pedicures. According to House, she had visited that same salon multiple times before with no issues, Fox News reported.

Staff used what seemed to be a clean, disposable liner in the pedicure tub, House told the outlet. During the pedicure, the salon worker who was giving service to House's feet reportedly removed an ingrown toenail on the large toe of House's right foot.

"They would often see it and get it out," House said, referring to her ingrown toenail. "I've never had an issue with it ... but she cut it, and she cut deep. It bled. That's [my guess] of when bacteria got in. I can't prove it in a court a law, but if I was a betting woman, that would be my bet."

House then described the painful experience she went through over the next few weeks, which extended into months. Over the next four days, her toe became "red and puffy," she said.

"I said, 'If it's not better in four or five more days, I'll go to a podiatrist,'" House recalled.

House ended up seeing a podiatrist, who gave her antibiotic cream plus an oral antibiotic, which House was instructed to take for a week. However, the treatment didn't work, and her toe became more red and swollen.

"That was the middle of March," House said, claiming that the wound became painful. "Not to the point where you couldn't walk. It was sore. It was tender."

House then went to see a second podiatrist, who prescribed her another round of antibiotics, but things didn't get any better.

"He said, 'OK, we are going to remove the nail,'" House recalled of what the doctor decided at the time. "I looked at the ceiling, talked to myself, prayed ... It was not fun."

Four weeks after House's toenail was removed, she still noticed no improvement. That was when she met with Dr. Manuel Rodriguez, an infectious disease specialist.

Rodriguez told Fox 5 Atlanta that he had seen the type of infection that House had in people who had other health issues like diabetes. But the doctor said House "didn't have any of the typical comorbidities" so her situation was unusual.

House received IVs, and when her veins had trouble, a port was placed into her chest to treat the bacterial infection. By that point, the doctor "knew" the infection "was in the bone in the toe," she recalled.

Still, House managed to live her life just like other people, even taking a vacation in September 2019. However, that same month, she started to feel ill. It was on Oct. 15, 2019, when House's right toe was removed.

"We decided to take it off in the joint into the foot, just in case [the infection] had jumped to the second bone," House said, saying that the procedure was performed by a doctor (not Rodriguez) at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.

"Going through it, it was very interesting," she said. "I always thought of myself as strong in my faith. Let me tell you, that was a test. I did pretty good. There were only two times where I broke down and got pretty upset."

House also said that Dr. Rodriguez told her that her infection had him "stumped," since she had no underlying health conditions. She added that another doctor who treated her for this infection had mentioned that he had seen other alleged nail service-related infections, but those incidents had been treated with antibiotics.

After her surgery, House was reportedly mobile four weeks later. She wore a boot for two to three weeks. She now uses a dancer's pad to help support the ball of her foot.

"I'm a walking PSA," she said.

House did speak to an attorney as well as the county health department after the incident. She said the nail salon where she believes the cause of her infection took place is currently "operating and running."

"It's not necessarily that I wanted them punished, but [rather], 'You should be aware of what you've done,'" House said, referring to the local nail salon.