Two years ago, motorized electric nail trimmers had almost no published injury literature. Today there are four reports describing nine children, and the injuries in the newest one were serious enough to require a plastic surgeon.
The devices are sold as the gentle option. They enclose a rotating file or blade behind a small opening, and marketing routinely pitches them for infants, children and older adults with limited dexterity. That enclosure is exactly what makes them hard to get off a child's face.
