Good evening guys, how do the guys here handle getting a haircut? Had a haircut the other day, told the barber not to shape my hair but he ended up shaping the back of my head. Worried that might have exposed the clipper to microscopic blood… Can I blame myself for this? Will have to self-cut my hair from now on. But I get to worry about the possibility of that clipper incident… The emotional rollercoaster of worrying out transmitting the virus is a lot…
Hi @sam12,
To me, the barber should be the responsible one with regards to changing and sanitising their tools between each person, as is the recommended practice. Most people with Hep B do not know they have it, so it seems unfair to put the entire responsibility on the people with the condition.
Thomas
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Thanks @ThomasTu
Will be more careful going forward. Will learn to selfcut my hair…
Hello Sam,
What I did that helped with the emotion was I bought my own clipper set and took it to the hair salon whenever I needed a haircut. You can try and buy one they are affordable these days. I hope this helps.
Regards.
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Thank you @Dosara
Getting a personal clipper soon…
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I so much agree with you. I don’t have any family history of hepatitis B. I just came across it recently when I was sick.
Sadly, while analysing possibility of source of my infection, I rated barbing saloon as the most prominent place I might have contacted it.
Most times, my hair are cut with little cut on my skin.
Even though the clippers are slight disinfected, but the virus is too small for the eye to see. How sure are we that the clippers was cleaned in the contaminated spot?
This virus is spread from minor things we do without noticing.
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I’ve never had a hairdresser that was OK with BYO clippers. That said, I haven’t had my hair cut in >5 years, so what do I know? Have you had any issues with the hair salon and have they asked questions about it? How do you answer?
Hello everyone 
So I got a personal clipper, which I will take to the barbershop to have my haircut. Is there anything else I need to do to protect people around me? or having my own personal clipper is enough? I don’t want to deal with the worry of transmitting the virus to anybody…
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Hi @sam12
This is very honorable of you!
It is impossible to discuss all possible transmission scenarios, but in general, avoid contact with blood and intimate bodily fluids such as semen or vaginal secretions (by using a condom). Don’t share personal care items such as toothbrushes, nail clippers, and hair brushes. Disclose your status to people with whom you will have sexual contact and encourage them to be vaccinated (this will be very awkward–the people in the HepB Community who are living with HBV can give some tips on how to handle this).
Remember that HBV cannot be transmitted by casual contact (like holding hands, hugging, bumping into someone, holding a railing on stairs, etc…). It also cannot be transmitted by kissing or sharing silverware if you don’t have a bleeding wound in your mouth. It cannot be transmitted by tears.
If you are female (Sam could be for Samuel or Samantha), talk to your doctor about how to prevent transmission to a newborn if you have a baby. That typically involves suppressing your HBV with nucleos(t)ide analog drugs such as TAF, TDV, or ETV late in pregnancy and vaccinating the baby as soon after birth as possible (this should be done in the delivery room as part of the immediate post-delivery infant care).
With these precautions, you will be able to live a normal, happy life without the fear of transmitting the virus to others. There are lots of people in the HepB Community who could give personal tips on how to do this easily.
I wish you the very best,
John.
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I mean this with a touch of humour…does your barber draw blood when he cuts your hair?
They talk about nail clippers but that’sin case you clip skin accidentally and it draws blood.
Wait for the experts on here to reply but my guess is that it’s a little overkill.
Denny
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I am not an expert and I agree with Danny.
I never heard of needing to bring a clipper to the barbershop. Like all the people in the world, who are infected with hbv, bringing their clipper?
There is no requirement for a person with HBV to bring their equipment to the barbershop.The responsibility lies on the barbershop to disinfect or change the equipment not on the patient.
Yes statistic probabilites are stilll there, you are not going to have 0% transmition risk, and there is a still not a zero chance of being hit by a light if I walk in a storm. We have all of the problems with our condition and we want to add more layers to it?
And I would not care if someone would say yes bring a clipper to a barbershop because these research paper shows that 0.04 % of the people where infected
Rant is over
Thanks 
@john.tavis
I get your point @Denny
I’m just trying to do whatever I can, getting knowledge so I don’t find myself in that emotional stress of possibly transmitting the virus…
I understand you @anonml
Would love to get your perspective on this sir @ThomasTu
Some HBV patients do struggle with the same problems. One possible rationalization is that, in the developed world, all barbers should change the blade after each customer use, or at least sterilize it thoroughly. For dentists, the requirement is more stringent, they must sterilize their equipment after each patient. Some dentists used to ask patients their HBV status and then scheduled HBV patients as the last patients of the day. This is not good enough. Universal precaution must be adopted and practised by everyone regardless, including HBV patients. That is why you see police and ambulance medics automatically put gloves on when they handle a person. Public education about infection and universal precaution are important. Vaccines for all types of infection are really needed, so does a cure for chronic HBV.
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We understand that HBV patients should be cautious and not going around bleeding and spreading the virus.
I personally have some callous spots in my hands due to lifting and I always bring up with me a package of sticking plaster just in case.
But we should be careful to burden the hbv patients with more “precaution”.
Like what, if a child have HBV, is he going to be apart from the other children, not playing with them, because well children could bleed, and then he can spread the virus, and you do not know if the other are really vaccinated apparently, he should be cautious.
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I agree. Sometimes the stigma can be worse than the disease. And stigma is a human issue, not a medical issue.
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My understanding is that the greatest transmission risk comes from reusing razors for shaving and edgework, rather than hair clippers. As long as your barber uses new blades for each person (or thoroughly disinfects them), that particular risk would be reduced - not only for HBV but for transmission of all sorts of blood-borne infections too.
I am actually not too sure about the extent to which clippers drive transmission and so can’t comment on how effective bringing your own personal set helps.
Thomas
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Hi @sam12,
I agree with Thomas, I think a lot of salons or barbers will be hesitant in using a clipper that does not belong to them. Can you try and cut your own hair? Get a hand held mirror and use one in the bathroom to help you out. I have not been to a barber shop in over 10 years. I cut my own hair at home. With the help of the hand held mirror and the mirror in your bathroom you can get an all around view of what you are doing. The first time might be a struggle but by the second time you have a hold of it. That could be an option as well. Best, Bansah1
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