Apilus: microflash vs. multiplex, your opinions

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

For those experienced with Apilus Senior modes, how would you rate the efficacy of kill rates for body work between Microflash and Multiplex?

  1. If you get equal smooth releases from Microflash and Multiplex, which mode would you still prefer and why? If Microflash requires 2-3 zaps on body hairs to release, is it better to just work in Multiplex to begin with?

2)Would you say Microflash would be a better mode for coarse genital hairs or you would get same results by doing 2-3 zaps from Microflash to get releases?

#2

I use a SM-500 which has both multiplex and flash, and presets for it the same as a senior does.Having recently done a lot of work in thermolysis for both I can give you some feedback though certainly not as much as someone who has worked in these modalities for years.I can give you some feedback though.

First, I want to say having switched back and forth between modalities quite a bit, that in some areas of the body, the multiplex settings and flash settings are virtually identical in some cases but with different timing.An example would be for arm hair, the presets have for course arm hair a setting of .08 seconds flash at 88% intensity. Multiplex has a single pulse, of identical intensity and duration.So what is the difference? Timing and this affects accuracy. Thicker hairs may use 4-5 pulses, but the difference is in how that energy is delivered.

Whether flash or multiplex, I generally end up increasing the settings . With a .08 pulse that gets increased to 0.09 and 90-92 % intensity.However with flash, that pulse is delivered as soon as I put my foot on the pedal. With multiplex single pulse, it is almost a full second before the pulse is delivered at the end of the cycle.

Typically if working on courser hairs I deliver 3-4 pulses, at either 9 oclock 3 oclock ( then pulled out slightly to destroy the bulge) or at 12, 4 and 8 oclock and then the bulge depending on releases. This helps to deliver the energy to the right part of the follicle.The energy dispersal area is relatively narrow.With flash, I can accomplish this in something under 1/2 a second. Because of the delay with multiplex, this same task takes 3-4 seconds to accomplish.

Now with multi-pulse multiplex, the energy is delivered , lets say I program multiplex for 4 pulses of .90% .09 seconds. These 4 pulses will be spread evenly over about a 1 second to 1 1/2 second period. Additionally, I may not have the probe exactly where in the follicle I want it when the energy is delivered. For this reason, for me at least both accuracy and speed are better with the flash.Itā€™s all about control and timing.

For effectiveness, I still like the multiplex blend but having tested both flash and blend on the genitals, I think blend is too painful for that area, at least for me. I recently got to see a client who had paused for 6 months her treatment. I had treated her almost entirely with blend. I was delighted to see that 6 months later, it was clear my blend was reaching about a 90-95% kill rate. I dont have as much confidence in thermolysis to produce the same results, but perhaps I will have another client pause similarly and Iā€™ll be just as happy with the kill rate but at the moment I dont have confidence this would be the case. Itā€™s definitely faster than my blend however.

Seana

#3

Thank you Seana for replying with so much detail. I had both Multiplex and Flash done on my back today. Because All these years I got used to fast flash modes, the Multiplex felt like a slower elephant. The 1 second delay before the Flash is released at the end was making me think I was wasting my time with this modality. My electrologist was frustrated that I wanted to try Multuplex, as she doesnā€™t like the slow speed of it for the back.

We then switched to Flash but in Chin setting at 62%. I donā€™t know if thatā€™s aggressive enough for back hair, but she used 2 zaps to release the back hairs. She stated that Chin setting is more aggressive than other settings in the Senior unit. She noted that even though most of my back hair was not coarse, the hairs were deep and curvy so she worked slower than she did on my feet. I guess first clearance is always the biggest hurdle to overcome.

I will begin genital work next week. I doubt she will even bother experimenting with blend. Iā€™ll let her do her own thing and use what she feels is efficient for her. Maybe Iā€™ll try Multiplex on the shaft just to see if itā€™s better, but wish it were a faster mode. The slow flash in the Multiplex did not feel like it was even cooking the follicle, the only zap I felt was the last punch from the micro flash. If she does 2-3 pulses with micro flash, eventually it probably ends up being just as strong if not more strong than Multiplex (?).

#4

If my memory serves, in that video I was using Multiplex in Apilus Platinum. Iā€™m not familiar with Apilus Senior, but I know that you can make adjustments to achieve a similar speed as in Multiplex of the Platinum. The default values are only indicative, and rarely work because they are too conservative (undertreatment).
I wonder why schools do not teach their students to work with sufficient autonomy.

#5

Because most of them have put their professional opinions up for sale and only teach what they are told to teach. :wink:

#6

It all starts at the top when companies like Dectro train and certify affiliate instructors. I donā€™t know if they preach presets to avoid liability issues or fear that electrologists will scar clients if they teach them to play with manual settings?

But I canā€™t blame individual electrologists who on good faith spend thousands of dollars on these machines, take time and effort to get trained by Dectro approved instructors who teach that these machines are powerful and make their students believe that preset settings are effective.
If Youā€™re only taught to never go above 150 EL (just as an example) an electrologist wouldnā€™t even dare try 220 EL as that looks dangerous to the skin. etcā€¦ So the only way these trained electrologists will feel comfortable about trying a manual setting that reads high on display is only if they see other electrologists try such a setting and confirm that it would be safe on skin.

And Josefa, the Multiplex in your clip is definitely fast, fast as the Pico!

#7

Yes, Mike, thatā€™s what I thought, but give me one reason why a manufacturer would not want their machines comply with the purpose for which they were designed, that is, eliminate as many hairs as possible in the shortest time possible.
What favor does to the company that their trainers continue teaching their students that: 1) It is sometimes necessary to force the hair out. 2) You must act in the anagen to be more effective. 3) It is impossible to eliminate a specific area with just 3 clearances. 4) Electrolysis not have to hurt, 5) Side effects are only some redness that lasts a couple of hours.

This is what is still being taught in schools directly or indirectly controlled by the firm ā€œDectroā€. This is what the Spanish trainers learn when traveling to Canada, and this is what they teach their Spanish students in most private and public schools in my country.

Please explain why a manufacturer would hire very good engineers so that after their instructors are unable to teach you how to get the most out of the machines.

#8

Lawyers Josefa, lawyers. The Kree institute was sued out of existence because one machine got out of control. The company takes no risk if the client was under treated or the hair grows back. Permanent results are of second consideration for some manufacturers.

#9

I do not see it that way.

#10

The presets are for the most part insufficient. I think I learned this the first week I had my machine.For the most part I aam increasing the timing approximately 25 % and the intensity by roughly the same margin, after choosing a setting that is 3-4 grades thicker than th hair I am actually addressing. They are stating points, but very weak ones for sure.I was rather hoping the platinum would be different in this regard, but from what you are saying josepha, they are not.

Seana

#11

This is why I laugh and shake my head in disbelief when critics of Dectro epilators say that they wouldnā€™t own one because they want to be in control of the epilator - they do not want the epilator to control them. Dectro epilators do not control the Electrologist . If they knew how stupid this comment was they would be so embarrassed that they even said it.

Pre-sets are there, yes, and are the most comfortable for the client. I have found that to be so, BUT !!! It is okay to venture beyond those presets if it takes more intensity or timing to get a certain type of hair to release, because we are thinking human beings in control of our epilators at all times.

The principle of ā€˜start low and move higher gradually, until hair releasesā€™, is in effect, no matter what epilator you use.

We are also allowed to be creative and make our own formulaā€™s / recipes for getting hair to release well. All this depends on accurate insertions, of course, which are at the very core of doing excellent electrolysis. Without perfect insertions, energy levels canā€™t be determined with accuracy.

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#12

Well said Dee
Thank you

#13

YES! Iā€™m often criticized because I ā€œdonā€™t follow the ā€˜blend religionā€™!ā€ And, I donā€™t. I donā€™t EVER compute ā€œunits of lyeā€ either ā€¦ Iā€™m bad at math anyway.

Somehow, through the fog, we all DO find our way.

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#14

The presets offered HAVE to be low. It would be suicidal for Dectro or anybody else to do otherwise. If they say ā€œuse this on a chinā€ and it manages to hurt anybodyā€¦well,we go to courtā€¦it is up to you to leave the supposed ā€œboxā€ to find your settings in the real world. They are obliged by common sense to offer very conservative guidelines.

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#15

I have to say, I often use settings higher than the settings* recommended by the school (also an Apilus dealer) that I went to. I may be the only one in my classes that was willing to exceed that range (which may be why I was the favorite student of most of the schoolā€™s regulars while I was thereā€¦ ok, my insertions played a big role too, but the competition was pretty sad in that department, with some students just putting the probe against the skin and hitting the pedal, rather than actually inserting it).
The school didnā€™t really go much into what the other modes do and I had to learn that on my own. Iā€™ve found each of the modes useful for their own purposes, which comes from understanding the nuances of that mode (and the little time that I do spend in multiplex is taking advantage of the heating properties of slow thermolysis combined with one pulse of flash, not using it to deliver automatic multiple pulses of flash, as I find the pedal a better option for that - and I prefer my pedal over the automatic mode). Iā€™ve gotten creative with my settings, including using the blend setting to do pure galvanic for the couple people Iā€™ve had that came in wanting that, given that we donā€™t have a button for a pure galvanic mode.

I had the benefit of reading this site while I was going to school, so I had an advantage thanks to several of youā€¦ and even though Iā€™m a professional with a couple years under my belt now, I feel the need to continue to learn, developing more insight and better techniques - something a lot of electrologists neglect to do after they finish school, based on my experience.

  • they gave us a ā€œtypical rangeā€ for each of the areas, most of which didnā€™t even get into the ā€œcoarse hairā€ recommendation by the machineā€™s manual from Dectro
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#16

Yes, Michael, but it is easier when there is a lighthouse that shows you the way, instead of a road marker pointing the wrong way.

#17

I am not blaming the individual electrologist, they have been taught in the belief that after the presets shooting, hair has been properly treated, no matter if you have to use force to remove it.

Fenix, schools are for something. If a certified electrologist not know how to make good insertions, the blame for this failure is the teacher who has approved this student. The school is directly responsible that there is a ā€œcertified professionalā€ on the street.

If overtreatment is reason to sue, it should also be undertreatment and lack of results, both for electrolysis and laser.