Lots of great posts here; nice to see them. I suppose my “angst” manifested from a week of “academic backsliding?” (My opinion only.)
I got a call from someone that insisted that removing a tiny facial capillary would result in the immediate DEATH of the client (from a clot moving into the brain or heart). In a sense she was trying to be helpful, and said that I would be sued because someone had read my book and followed my instructions. She insisted I take my book off the market immediately … or else!
I got an email from a person that said that local anesthetic cannot be used in electrolysis: it doesn’t work and cannot be used in an area more than a square inch. Besides, the patient would die from it. (People, please look into what surgeons do when they use local for lipo-suction! I mean, this is liters of local!) Instead of asking questions, this person only wanted to condemn … and it’s always been like this! Maybe they might want to look into the 30 years we (surgeon a few other doctors) have spent producing a protocol for using local.
Indeed, I have nearly finished a book on this subject but it will never be published (maybe after I’m dead?). I published the telangiectasia book in 1991 and the technique is still being fought by the “powers that be” in the electrolysis world (at the same time estheticians are doing this as a commonplace treatment.) I’m still getting threats from “our industry!” Sometimes, I wish I’d never done it. Writing does cause you grief.
(You know, there are LOTS of negative things that can justifiably be said about me. But, I’m not a stupid or wreckless guy. I don’t do things without years of research and absolute care for the patient. Indeed, I “drive all my doctor friends crazy” And, hit the books on every issue.)
Then there was the post about DC (electrolysis/blend) causing convulsions and, therefore, being dangerous. The (recent) talk about HF-thermolysis causing blindness and tumors in the brain. And, of course, that fool near me that says DC causes liver and kidney failure because it puts either lye or ACID in the blood (she wasn’t sure which one).
Add to all this the unending “war” about the ability to kill telogen hairs. “New on the scene,” is stated on the new Dectro DVD where the lecturer says, “Catagen hairs are difficult to treat, because they are both too shallow AND too deep!” WHAT? So, we now have a NEW “electrology myth! Just freakin’ perfect!
So, I was probably not so diplomatic to Mantaray regarding the “anchor.” I am sorry about that. After all, this is a dedicated person who is trying … and I believe will come out as a “leader” in this silly industry. I will always “be there” for you.
As far as “God?” Well in the vernacular, people often say “Oh my God.” This is so common, that we abbreviate it as “OMG.” My use of “God” was not intended to insult my religious friends. There are PLENTY of atheists that don’t garner much notice: Woody Allen, Kevin Bacon, Kathy Griffin, Hugh Hefner. Ernest Hemmingway, Bruce Lee, John Lennon … even Barry Manilow! I might quote them, but that doesn’t mean I AM them.
Still, I’m an unabashed Anglophile and Hitchens is admired. I especially like his irreverence, underlying haughtiness (kind of through a “Jack Daniels veil”), and unwillingness to be swallowed up by the “common mundane ‘American’ culture.” (You can almost see the cigarette stains on his fingers.) This is “English at it’s best!”
He once said, “You Americans fail to recognize your ‘betters’.” After that, I was hooked! What a wonderful, brilliant “ass!” I like him because he “pisses people off” and makes them (eventually) THINK! See, (unlike most Americans) I don’t want to vote for a president that “I can have a beer with!” Hitches “pisses me off” too, and that’s what I like! You are not going to progress in thought if you are always comfortable! Continuous reinforcement of your beliefs is intellectual death!
Anyway, my views on most things are not predictable and certainly not easily simplified. Thanks for the dialogue!