A West Island woman is speaking out after she says she experienced a painful experience at a Pierrefonds nail salon. She says what should have been a pampering experience ended with her limping and covered in bruises.
“It’s like I fell or had a car accident or got beaten,” Marjorie St-Jean told Global News. “The manipulations were very, very, very hard.”
On Thursday, St-Jean had her leg on ice, and was having trouble walking. A large bruise could be seen on her left leg. She said she got the wound when she went for a pedicure on Tuesday.
“I’m leaving on vacation today, and just wanted to get my nails done before going, just as a treat,” she explained.
St-Jean went to Ongles VIP on St. Charles Blvd in Pierrefonds. She says things started badly as she was getting her toenails done.
“When he cut my nails, I noticed it was bleeding a bit, but he said I had a lot of ingrown nails, so I said ‘whatever,'” St-Jean said.
READ MORE: Fish pedicure causes woman’s toenails to peel off, medical expert warns of ‘serious infections’
Then came the massage.
“He started to massage my legs, but it wasn’t a massage. It was really hurting me,” St-Jean recounted. She said she alerted the man that the massage was causing her pain.
“He said ‘you’ll see, you’re going to feel so much better after tomorrow, during the week,’ so I was like ‘okay, keep doing what you’re doing.”
The next day, she says her legs were black and blue all over.
“He said ‘don’t worry, it’s because you have bad circulation,’ and I’m like ‘okay, nobody ever told me that before and I don’t bruise easily.'”
READ MORE: Nail salon safety: What to watch for at your next manicure or pedicure
St-Jean shared her anger on Facebook in the popular West Island Community group. She was surprised to get hundreds of comments. Some defended the masseuse, but at least five different people said they sustained similar injuries at the same salon.
“I just want people to be aware,” she told Global News.”I don’t want this to happen to anyone else.”
She called Ongles VIP owner Lynn Nguyen on Thursday morning, asking for an explanation. Nguyen apologized, said she wanted to do something to make things better, and asked St-Jean to delete the post from Facebook.
Met by Global News outside the salon, Nguyen was extremely apologetic.
“I’m so sorry,” she said.
Nguyen then defended the man who massaged St-Jean.
“He massages very good, and they thank him a lot. 100 people come and thank him,” she said, adding that maybe St-Jean is sensitive.
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Massage is not regulated by Quebec, meaning there’s no assurance the man has any formal training.
Nguyen said he “studied in the United States,” and spoke of all the customers who enjoy his work.
“This example illustrates, once again, the importance of regulation the profession of massage therapist, just like other provinces have already done,” said Sylvie Bedard, president of the Quebec Federation of Massage Therapists. She said in Ontario, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, British Columbia and Newfoundland, massage therapy is regulated.
Nguyen said the man who gave the massage will face no consequences.
“A lot of people when they get out of the door, they say ‘thank you, thank you.’ I will not fire him,” she told Global News. Nguyen said she hoped St-Jean would pay a visit so she could give her some medicine and try to make things right.
St-Jean said she’ll never get a pedicure again, and will stick to doing her nails herself.
WATCH: On Feb. 28, 2017, dermatologist Dr. Alexandra Kuritzky spoke to Global BC about how to avoid health risks when visiting the nail salon.