Electric nail trimmers spark safety warnings in Japan after string of injuries

Japanese authorities have urged consumers to exercise caution after a series of accidents involving electric nail trimmers.

Electric nail trimmers work by bringing a rotating blade into contact with the tip of the nail to shave it down gradually. The products are also sold in South Korea and have proven particularly popular in Japan among older adults with diminished eyesight or grip strength.

Japan's Consumer Affairs Agency and the National Consumer Affairs Center have warned that the spinning blades on electric nail trimmers can suck in the surrounding skin, according to Yonhap, which cited a report by the Asahi Shimbun.

The Consumer Affairs Agency has recorded 13 such incidents since 2016, with the elderly — particularly those aged 70 and older — accounting for most cases. Five of the incidents involved young children who touched the devices and had their tongues or lips drawn into the blades.

In 2020, a user in their 80s had skin around a finger pulled into the blade, resulting in about 1 centimeter of skin being cut away. In 2024, a 3-year-old touched a running device and suffered a wound after the tongue became caught in the rotating blade.

An emergency medicine physician who said they had treated three cases of children between the ages of 2 and 4 injured by electric nail trimmers warned that the devices are more dangerous than they appear. "It may look like only a fingernail could get in, but children's skin and mucous membranes are soft and can easily be drawn inside," the doctor said.