WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.-- A woman has a warning for everyone who gets pedicures---watch out for illegal callus shavers.
Tracy Lynn Martinez shared her story on Facebook and the post had more than 140,000 views before it was taken down.
What started as a normal pedicure turned into something much more dangerous.
Martinez says she went to what she thought was a clean salon back on June 22nd.
Everything was going fine, until the nail tech started using a callus scraper. Martinez got two cuts on her heel but didn't think anything of it.
The next day she had chills and was vomiting. She thought she had a cold and decided to sleep it off, but the next day the pain from her leg was too much. She took an ambulance to the hospital and was diagnosed with cellulitis.
Cellulitis is an infection caused by bacteria. It's caused when bacteria enters a wound. The most common bacteria that can cause cellulitis is emolytic streptococcus, streptococcus pneumoniae, and staphylococcus aureus. In Martinez's case, hers was caused by a form of strep.
Martinez is not sharing the name of the salon right now, but says wants others to learn from her situation. She had to spend two weeks in the hospital.
"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.
Martinez is on a three month cycle of one medication, but will have to take another for the rest of her life. She will also have to wear a compressing stocking every day to prevent another infection from happening. She's not allowed to get a pedicure again, but says she doesn't want to.
According to North Carolina Board of Cosmetics, callus shavers are prohibited at salons in the state. If you see one being used, you can file a report.
Salons are inspected once a year and are required to post their results in a noticeable place.