I am in the market for another client table.
If anyone can suggest a client table please let me know. (Not Dectro - purchased a defective one that caused me too much grief).
Thank you.
This is a great conversation to have. We all too often buy these products blind, and just have to stick with something just because it cost too much to chuck and start over.
I know that I wish I had had the opportunity to try out the tables that I bought beforehand. I never would have bought the model I first purchased.
Which model did you have trouble with? I will check on the name of the one I got stuck with, and let you know. Of course, my problem is one the average woman would not have had. It is a problem with my knee banging on a piece of steel. If I were a perfect size six, my knee would be nowhere near this metal when I work.
I purchased the Dectro Capella hydraulic table directly from Dectro Canada at the Oct. 2006 AEA convention. i think it arrived sometime in early 2007.
I also happened to purchase every single accessory that came with the table - mostly from my regular suppliers like Prestige/Texas/Aesthetic Systems CA.
So at that point, my financial investment was a few thousand dollars for just a client table.
So now my high end table had detachable arms and a separate head piece with the hole in the center and the table paper attachment and the thick separate ultra plush cushion to make clients extra comfy.
The problem is, the head rest, the top of the table, would not hold its position.
I saw this problem in 2007, was told to return the top of the chair, and they sent me a replacement top. The problem started all over again. I ended up finding out that the Hydraulic Capellas made during this time were defective. Unfortunately, I purchased my chair during the time the defective chairs were manufactured and so my replacement part was also defective. So, I again complained.
Mario and Pascal from Dectro - both technical people, were helpful and sent instructions to repair the chair. I had to hire a mechanic to fix the chair. It had to be repaired a few times, each time costing me $90. Do the math. The chair was becoming a liability.
This last time, my local mechanic told me to call Dectro Canada and insist they send me a new cylinder. So I called Dectro Canada and spoke with Pascal. Helpful as always. Really, I can’t blame the Dectro mechanics for the crap chair. Anyway, he told me that the replacement cylinder should be installed by my mechanic and that Dectro would charge me for the new part. So now, I am really annoyed thinking that my mechanic will charge me for the extensive work a couple of hundred dollars and Dectro wants to charge me close to $200 for the part.
So I tell Pascal that I resent buying the new part for a defective chair they sold me to begin with that cost me plenty of money and CAUSED ME plenty of GRIEF since the beginning. I told Pascal that I didn’t think it was fair to pay for the part - especially since I keep paying my local mechanic for the labor. He ended up transferring me to this lady in billing who tells me that since the chair was purchased in 2006, its old already. I told her that Dectro sold me a defective chair. She intimated that I was lying. I told her to speak with her mechanics who have been addressing my problem with the table since the beginning. She said that in the 4 years she has been working there, she has never heard of all of the problems I have had with my table and intimated that I was making the whole thing up. I sighed and realized she was a money person and it was probably her job to keep the money, as much as possible, in the company. It didn’t matter that the company screwed me.
Well, I have 3 Apilus epilators which I love and am ever so loyal to the epilator but I am annoyed with Dectro Canada. In protest, I will stop spending thousands of dollars a year on protec probes and switch to a competitor.
Thank you James for asking me about this. Most of us work as lone electrologists and its nice to be able to talk and complain shop with a colleague.
In response to your post - try not to get too excited while working.
I’m bummed. I was close to buying the capella. I may go to plan B now. I have a Dectro table that has served me well for over a decade, but it a basic one.
I would love to know what plan B is.
An old timer electrologist told me her favorite chair is a Silhouettetone Princess. I really want to try the chair out in person. This summer, at Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan, there is an esthetics show. I will go and check out chairs in person.
I currently have 2 other treatment chairs but they are not appropriate for electrolysis work, they are used for skin care and massage. Our electrolysis tables have to be comfortable 360 degrees as we travel around the table and our legs need to be free. A good treatment table is a big deal.
Plan B? I liked my dentist’s chair. It rotates, it’s comfortable, it will support more than 300 lbs. At present, I treat a 380 pound woman with her sitting in a chair. It is not good for me, but I suffer through it for her sake. If something goes wrong with the chair mechanically speaking, it can be serviced by someone in my locale. There have got to be good used dental chairs as well. I have no idea as to what the cost of new or used chairs are at this point. So that’s my angle, Arlene.
My table? I made it (James has seen it). Originally I had a dental chair, but his does not work for body. I tossed out the top (chair) and fabricated my own flat top. I made it from a surfboard blank (I used to shape boards and kayaks). I heavily reinforced the top and it’s only 1.5 inches thick (thin is best so you can get your legs under it). I also made some padded “swing arms” that I use for my own elbows (I typically work at the head of the table for face), and I can reverse the patient and put their legs out on the arms (like an medical exam table). The dental lamp is on a pole and the machine is also mounted on the pole. (The table base is a worm drive, not hydraulic.)
I definitely will show a photo of the set-up, but at the moment it’s in pieces because I refurbished the whole thing, and I need a new dental lamp. The best part is being able to adjust the height of the table. Worst part: it has to be bolted to the floor for stability. The key, I found, is being able to get your legs under the table (with no obstructions) and adjust the patient up or down to make the treatment comfortable for you.
… on to plan C.
what a treat to be in the company of Renaissance people
I tell you what Arlene.
I will trade you my Princess hydrolic for your Capella and future draft choices.
From the top, the Princess is a nice comfortable table, but beneath the client bed is a chamber of horrors for the practitioner. Lots of metal for you to encounter with your legs and knees. A base that keeps you from getting too close to the mid section, and a metal box that makes mid section access hard, even if you swivel the table to make a plus sign with the big base below.
I have had the opportunity to work with the Dectro Cappella at the conventions, and always found the position and base to be an improvement over the Princess, but did wonder about the sturdiness of the piece, as it seemed awfully lightweight.
At this point, we may be on to Plan Bono, and making our own.
I have not found the Capella to be sturdy and god forbid you have a client who enjoys eating (like myself) without exercising (like myself). In those cases, I have to open my sturdy massage table that holds 500 pounds – but is not ideal for my legs. The Capella is fine for clients who are no more than 250 pounds. Put a scale near the table? The plus about Capella is that you can maneuver your legs easily.
I would love a Bono design kit with modification - I think gyno stirrups would help me get to the pre-op TG Meltzer areas better. I have thought of hooking some contraption to my ceiling but with that and my decorative MNG machine in the corner, it might be too scary a-looking place. I wouldn’t even dare put a scale in the room.
Those who design furniture for the Electrology do not seem to think much of the professional who spends many hours sitting. I think they are more focused on the customer, however, if the electrologist is not comfortable enough this will affect their job performance and therefore the total treatment cost.
Arlene, strategically placed pads are usually my best assistants. Best of all, it does not scare the client, on the contrary, the comfort they provide is often very reassuring.
Hi Josefa. I have plenty of padding, cushions and pads and rolls. However, there are still some areas (peri-anal area, labia, scrotum for example) that are very difficult to reach and work. Skin needs to be held taught. Then there is the neck strain.
Looking forward to the Bono design w/stirrups!
There are a couple of good reasons why most of my colleagues reject this sort of work… but then where do the pre-ops go? It does not seem that most want to opt for the surgical scraping.
Maybe James can provide some insight.
I know I will hate myself a little for this comment but… here goes…
WE NEED MORE MALE ELECTROLOGSTS.
Oh, by the way, off the topic. There is an amazing movie out now.
It is Scandinavian and subtitled however much is in English.
IN A BETTER WORLD. Its about bullies and how their targets/victims, respond.
Just received an e-mail from a company in Lawrence, Kansas. The treatment tables they have are beautiful. They hold up to 660 pounds, and appear to have leg room. Not sure if they rotate. I just e-mailed a sales rep. Costs a little more than a capella.
Hi Dee,
I also got email from MedSpa. Its a beautiful table, nice and wide too. The base is in the center, does not look like obstructions elsewhere. I have to get to the trade shows and suppliers to see the tables in person. Hmmmm… HEY BARBARA - if they are close enough to you - wanna check them out for us? Maybe we can get a group discount!
Wow! In Lawrence! That’s only 20 minutes away from me. I wish I’d known about them, as I just purchased a new table… If they have tables on hand, I would be happy to go look, take pictures, ask questions, sit by it, etc…
Dee - Do they have a website? Phone number?
My old, old, old hydraulic, foot pumped treatment table died last year. It couldn’t be moved at all when a heavier client was on it, but I tried one time. Click. No more pump. No crashes, no burns, no accidents/injuries…just a dead table. It was looking shabby, too. So, I called up my girlfriend/massage therapist and borrowed her portable massage table. It was too wide and very long, but there were some great things about it. My legs fit under it! No more folding up and around metal pipes. I got it from Oakworks and it will hold 600 lbs., I believe. I’d looked at the electric one at Dectro California - too much money. The one I purchased was under a thousand dollars…
The idea of my favorite table (currently i still use two old and simple tables which i consider not optimal) is much more simple, similar to a large ironing table. Something similar to this one comes close 
but i would prefer a narrower base frame for better space for my legs and no sharp edges underneath the table to protect my tights.
Beate
Arlene, if that’s any consolation to you, I also think there should be more male electrologists. Apparently, men working in this office are a minority, however, how much have they brought to the Electrology.
According to a study by psychologist S. Baron, the male brain is more inclined to analysis and competition. In this profession prevail female brain, more inclined to have a global vision. Mr. Baron stated that 80% of those surveyed responded to this classification.
I must belong to the 20% who have a brain “opposite”, because I like the competition and challenges.
Intimate areas that you mentioned are indeed more difficult to work. My daughter has made some drawings to highlight the positions that I have recommended to work in these areas. It will be a pleasure to share this with everyone. I usually ask the help of my client to the perianal area.
My concern with this table is that my average client weight is probably 200 lbs., and I just have a vision of this table folding up with my legs under it… …and, working on the center (abdomen, BK area) of the body would be difficult, because you would have to straddle the middle of the X.