What you need to know before you go get a haircut

Stay-at-home orders in Illinois and Wisconsin left a lot of people feeling a little shaggier after a couple months of missed haircuts.

But now that stylists and barbers are back to work, is it safe to go get a trim?

The key is to take some of the same COVID-19 precautions you would anywhere else.

Dr. Nicole Zaremba, an Aurora Health Care breast surgeon based in Milwaukee, said she felt comfortable with a recent trip to a salon because both she and her stylist were wearing masks, she was sitting six feet away from other patrons, she waited in her car until her appointment, stylists were wiping things down between appointments, and she was asked about her symptoms in advance.

“It’s about employing those same guidelines that we’ve been harping on over and over and over again,” Dr. Zaremba said at a recent Facebook Live event.

Before you go in for your haircut, it would be a good idea to call ahead and ensure the salon is taking important precautions.

“It’s ensuring that the salon that you’re going to is practicing all these safety guidelines,” Dr. Zaremba said. “And assuming they are, I think it’s safe to go in.”

She advocates a similar approach to nail salons, calling ahead and checking into what precautions they’re taking.

“Questions to ask include: Is each chair cleansed and sanitized between patrons? Do they use a disposable plastic covering inside the pedicure tub? Do they use sterile instruments?” Dr. Zaremba says. “A new addition at my nail salon since re-opening after the pandemic is a plexiglass shield at the nail station separating the client and technician from close face to face contact.”

And of course, people should be wearing masks.

Dr. Zaremba’s comments came during a Facebook Live event where he and other experts answered questions about common COVID-19 myths. You can find the full video below.