Mom warns of dangers of eyebrow threading after contracting a bacterial infection

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT/Gray News) - An Omaha woman is shining light on state cosmetology and esthetician licensing procedures after being hospitalized.

As a busy mom and a nurse, Beatriz Rodriguez says she still tries to find time to pamper herself by getting her eyebrows done.

For many people, there are a few ways to get them done: tweezers, waxing or threading.

Rodriguez said her go-to option was threading.

“It’s something I did about every month or every other month,” she said.

But that self-care routine landed her in the hospital and she said she wants to protect others from this happening to them.

After her March appointment, she said she noticed something was wrong.

“It was a pimple on the side that got bigger. And I was like, this is weird,” Rodriguez said.

Above her left eyebrow, the penny-sized spot then turned dark purple.

“I had the worst headaches of my life, and my lymph nodes were inflamed,” Rodriguez said. “They did a CT scan and determined that I had periorbital cellulitis.”

According to Rodriguez, doctors told her she had a bacterial infection.

She is calling for changes to be made after two weeks away from work, three prescriptions and about $4,500 in expenses later to have her wound heal.

“None of this should’ve happened. How can we help prevent this?” Rodriguez said.

She filed a complaint with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, hoping for ability.

“Maybe they can go in and check things out,” Rodriguez said.

However, they can’t revoke a license when it is not needed to do threading. 

According to state law, you do not need a Nebraska license for several services. Threading and ear piercing are among them.

Therefore, the department istratively “closed the complaint due to insufficient evidence to indicate a violation of the regulations has occurred to warrant continuing an investigation.”

Rodriguez also requested that the DHHS Board of Cosmetology take a look. But it also had the same determination.

“Education is so important,” Courtney Birnstihl, with The Aesthetics Academy, said. “That is the whole reason we started this school.”

Several hours of their coursework are dedicated to learning clean practices.

“If you don’t know what you’re doing, if you don’t know the sanitation process, you’re setting yourself up for problems. And that could even end up in a lawsuit,” Birnstihl said.

Students wear gloves, use hospital-grade disinfectant and bleach for sheets.

“We tell all of our students, just assume somebody has a communicable disease. Just assume that. And clean accordingly,” Birnstihl said.

Ultimately, the standards are up to the state.

“Licensing is incredibly important, because without it, it would just be anybody watching maybe a YouTube video, and thinking, ‘Oh, OK. I can do that. That’s easy,’” Birnstihl said.

Which is why Rodriguez says she is calling for change.

“There is definitely a loophole in the laws and regulations,” she said. “I just hope that my story can help our community be more informed.”

Rodriguez said she’s since switched up her form of pampering to waxing with a licensed esthetician.

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