Is HIV Transmission Possible Through Sharing Of Instruments?

Posted on Mon, 19 Dec 2016

Question: Hello doctor, today i went to lakme saloon and got my black heads extracted through that black had removal pen.. it was very painful and i am scared because my face had many pimples, They poked my pimples with black head removal pen.. they removed many blackheads with so much of pressure and its paining. Iam scared that i might get hiv because they may use the same black head removal kit for many people and that black head removal kit may cause any cut on my face or it may have pierced my pimple. Iam so scared if i may contract any hiv infection because they re-use the same black head extractor for all. Now what should i do, Kindly reply. As i saw a video of black head removal in internet and that pen has caused bleeding on a clients nose. Now iam scared it that situation happened to .. If they h

Answered by Dr. Sankaranantham Murugan (10 hours later)

Brief Answer:
HIV risk through comedown removal instrument is negligible.

Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Welcome to HCM.
Thanks for posting your query.
Routes of transmission of HIV is sex contact, blood transfusion, sharing sharp instruments and mother to child transmission.
What you told comes under sharing of sharp instruments.
But this type of transmission from a beauty parlor is not common. This must be either disposable instruments or adequately sterilized one.
Moreover, The individual who got used with that instrument not necessarily be an HIV positive individual.
HIV can not viable outside the body fluids for not more than few seconds. If the interval time between the prior customer and you is longer it could not be infectious. So not to worry.
Dr S.Murugan

Note: Hope the answers resolves your concerns, however for further guidance of skin related queries consult our Dermatologist.Click here to book a consultation

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar