very worried about possible exposure

Dr. EWH / HHH,

I just had an incident that I'm stressing out about now. I just went to a hair salon and after my haircut was done, as I was paying my bill, I noticed that the hair stylist had a fresh, actively bleeding cut on her hand!

I'm extremely worried about this because she used a straight raisor to trim my hair in the back and on the sides. She also accidently poked me with scissors a couple of times and I don't know if it was hard enough to cut me or not.

Now I'm thinking - what if she did cut me a little when she accidently poked me with scissors? Or what if she cut me a little while trimming with a straight raisor and her blood got on my cut? Or worse - what if she cut herself with scissors or straight raisor and then cut me a little with those scissors or raisor? Or what if I had a pimple that she scratched off while cutting my hair (I get them sometimes on my head)?

I'm extremely worried about this! This is the first time I stoped by that hair salon and know nothing about the girl that cut my hair. If she's hiv positive - would I be at risk?

I can't really check if I have any cuts because it's hard to check on the back where she trimmed my hair.

Please help - I'm very worried about this. She had a fresh cut with fresh, actively bleeding blood and I'm afraid that hiv could be transmitted in case she is hiv positive and if she cut me somehow while cutting my hair.

Thank you very much.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Nobody in the world ever caught HIV from getting a haircut or hair styling from an HIV infected person, cut on hand or not and bleeding or not -- and the odds the stylist has HIV probably are low as well.  Aside from the first line, your question is a series of somewhat unlikely "what if" questions.  Even if one of those scenarios happened -- or even if all of them happened at once -- there still was no risk of HIV and you do not need testing.  Period, full-stop, end of story.  Please educate yourself about HIV transmission risks.

I won't have any follow-up comments or advice.  There is nothing you can add that could change my opinion or advice.

HHH, MD

[medhelp11]

Dr. HHH,

What a relief! Thank you so much for answering my question so quickly! This is the only resource where people like myself could get accurate information from real Doctors who specialize in this.

Thank you very much once again!