12:46 AM CST on Saturday, January 21, 2006

By BRAD WATSON / WFAA-TV

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Beverly Hills Nails says it complies with health regulations.

UNIVERSITY PARK — Pedicures are meant to be a relaxing treat. But some women who said they got pedicures at Beverly Hills Nails on Lovers Lane in University Park said after the pampering, they got pain.

Just days after Patricia Hall got a pedicure last month, something strange appeared along her shin bone.

"When I noticed the bumps, they started getting bigger," Hall said. "All of sudden, my legs started hurting."

Hall is among several women who confirmed to News 8 that after they got pedicures in whirlpool foot spas at Beverly Hills Nails, skin infections broke out on their legs.

Dallas County Health and Human Services confirmed there is a complaint against the salon.

Beverly Hills Nails manager Victoria Tran said state regulators came in and took water samples for tests that are not yet back. "But we're not 100 percent sure that it's from unsanitary of the whirlpool, or if it's caused by something that they have done or happened before," Tran said.

An aggressive bacteria can grow quickly in water if a whirlpool foot spa is not cleaned frequently.

The bug enters the skin through shaving cuts or abrasions. The infection leads to painful lesions that can last for months and leave scars.

Doctors call the drug resistant staph bacteria MRSA—methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus.

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Bacterial infections can lead to painful lesions.

"It can be really bad," said Dr. John Carlo, chief epidemiologist for Dallas County. "In fact, last year we had two deaths in the community of healthy people that have died from MRSA. It's a very serious situation."

Beverly Hills Nails said the business follows state regulations requiring the foot spas be cleaned with fungicide after each customer, and then a thorough cleaning with bleach and brushes at the end of every day. News 8 was shown state-required logs of cleanings that were performed.

Hall's leg healed with strong antibiotics; now she feels strongly about the whirlpool foot spa. "I won't do that again," Hall said.

Following a News 8 investigation in 2004, Dallas County persuaded the legislature to toughen sanitary regulations for whirlpool foot spas.

But county health officials said they are still investigating new cases of infections despite the stricter rules.

E-mail bwatson@wfaa.com