--- title: Why You Should Never Shave Your Legs Before a Pedicure description: “Shaving the legs may cause microfissures (like tiny nicks) in the skin, increasing your risk of infection after the pedicure,” canonical: https://time.com/5205992/shaving-legs-pedicure-infection/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-03-20T14:45:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T19:41:50.531Z article:section: Health og:title: The Gross Reason You Should Never Shave Your Legs Before a Pedicure og:description: It may be setting you up for a nasty infection og:url: https://time.com/5205992/shaving-legs-pedicure-infection/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8441388dad38281d/69892b44db2987647725f23c/pedicure-shave-legs-infection.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5700 og:image:height: 3206 og:image:alt: Close-up of a female feet receiving a beauty treatment for nails in spa og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Gross Reason You Should Never Shave Your Legs Before a Pedicure twitter:description: It may be setting you up for a nasty infection twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8441388dad38281d/69892b44db2987647725f23c/pedicure-shave-legs-infection.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Gross Reason You Should Never Shave Your Legs Before a Pedicure > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [Jamie Ducharme / InStyle](https://time.com/author/instyle/) ## Jamie Ducharme / InStyle Contributor Mar 20, 2018 2:45 PM UTC  Getty Images by [Jamie Ducharme / InStyle](https://time.com/author/instyle/) ## Jamie Ducharme / InStyle Contributor Mar 20, 2018 2:45 PM UTC [Shaving your legs](http://www.instyle.com/beauty/skin/how-to-shave-knees) before a pedicure seems like a no-brainer. But what may seem like a simple act of hygiene (and courtesy) could actually be setting you up for a nasty infection, according to Georgia-based dermatologist and American Academy of Dermatology fellow Dr. Lauren Ploch. “Shaving the legs may cause microfissures (like tiny nicks) in the skin, increasing your risk of infection after the pedicure,” Ploch explains. If bacteria, fungi, or viruses are lurking in an improperly cleaned pedicure tub, Ploch says, they can “take advantage of breaks in our skin barrier” and result in an infection. Worst-case scenario, she says, is that you may end up with a bacterial infection, such as one caused by staphylococcus aureus—which, if not treated with antibiotics, penetrates deep into the skin and finds its way into the bloodstream. Most spa-related infections, however, would be relatively minor if treated early, she says. Still, “the scary part,” Ploch says, is that you can’t always tell if your salon is cleaning its equipment well. “A basin may look perfectly clean, but it may harbor bacteria, fungi, and viruses,” she says. To play it safe, both Ploch and the [American Academy of Dermatology](https://www.aad.org/public/skin-hair-nails/nail-care/manicure-safety) recommend simply waiting to shave your legs until after your pedicure. You should also stay away from the spa if you have a blister or other broken skin on your feet or lower legs, Ploch says. “I recommend waiting until the skin has healed completely (one to two weeks) or [doing a pedicure at home](http://www.instyle.com/beauty/10-ways-perfect-pedicure),” Ploch adds. _This_ [_article_](http://www.instyle.com/news/why-never-shave-legs-before-pedicure) _originally appeared on_ [_InStyle.com_](http://www.instyle.com) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5205992/shaving-legs-pedicure-infection/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5205992/shaving-legs-pedicure-infection/"},"headline":"The Gross Reason You Should Never Shave Your Legs Before a Pedicure","datePublished":"2018-03-20T14:45:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:41:50.531Z","description":"“Shaving the legs may cause microfissures (like tiny nicks) in the skin, increasing your risk of infection after the pedicure,”","url":"https://time.com/5205992/shaving-legs-pedicure-infection/","keywords":["Public Health","onetime","healthytime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8441388dad38281d/69892b44db2987647725f23c/pedicure-shave-legs-infection.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jamie Ducharme / InStyle"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8441388dad38281d/69892b44db2987647725f23c/pedicure-shave-legs-infection.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Close-up of a female feet receiving a beauty treatment for nails in spa","caption":"Close-up of a female feet receiving a beauty treatment for nails in spa","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/public-health/","name":"Public Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5205992/shaving-legs-pedicure-infection/","name":"The Gross Reason You Should Never Shave Your Legs Before a Pedicure"}}]}] ```