…and in what situations would you use different probes ?
I use Ballet Gold Probes on almost everyone. Gold provides the slipperiest surface for the smoothest insertions, with the added bonus of no allergic reactions. Most clients find the delivery of the treatment energy to be more comfortable when delivered by a gold probe.
Now that may sound like a product endorsement line right out of a commercial, but it is true. I used to keep a full stock of different types of probes, and would even do work with a Stainless, an Insulated, and a Gold in the consultation so that the client could pick which he or she found most comfortable. They almost always picked the Gold. As a matter of fact, I have only one current client who likes the insulated better than the gold. Sometimes, just as a test, I would slip in an insulated, or a stainless on someone who I had done work with golds only, and they would stop the treatment and ask, “What are you doing different today?!”
Of course, if I were not useing the Apilus SX-500 and the Silhouet-Tone VMC, I might have use for insulated probes. The current delivery given by these machines makes a bare probe nothing to fear.
Let me say that it is a personal choice that I don’t use flexible two piece probes. My average client books 2 - 3 hour appointments. The two piece probes just don’t last long enough for me to make practical use of them. If my client has really thick, deep hairs requiring high energy, I sometimes need two Ballet Golds to complete a 3 hour treatment. Just remember, these things are made to be disposeable, and statistically, the average electrolysis appointment is 30 to 60 minutes, NOT 3 HOURS.
Also, keep in mind that electrolysis is a team effort. The members of your team are your probe, the machine it is hooked up to, the vision device you are using to see the follicles, your treatment table, the work stool you sit on, and even the gloves you wear during treatment. If any of these is not delivering the best you can get, the whole treatment is less than it could possibly be. Of course, like in Football, there is a field advantage and a 12th man…The client you are working on presents with a growth pattern, be it neat easy to work cornrows, or knarly weed patches with no regular growth pattern, and that client either follows good pre and post treatment habits, (drinks enough water, avoids tanning, caffine, and smoking) or does not. If your client doesn’t co-operate, then all the best equipment in the world will still leave you just short of the best possible treatment outcome.
Um, sorry if I got off on a tangent there, but one thing did lead to the other.
[ February 02, 2003, 09:00 AM: Message edited by: James W. Walker VII, CPE ]
Does diet, such as eating high sodium foods, have an effect on electrolysis treatments? What about medications such as prednisone or diuretics?
Maybe you should write a book on this.
RJC2001
Anything that dehydrates the body will effect your treatment. This is why one of the biggest things that we harp on our clients to do is to drink water every day.
I had a client come to me after a night of partying and we do two hairs, and she is asking me if I changed the settings on the machine from the last time we worked. My machine remembers the last setting used, so it automatically goes to that when that client’s ID number is punched in. She was feeling more pain, and the reason was that her binge drinking the night before was the problem. It actually took her 90 minutes to fall asleep for the first time in the treatment LOL!
Your medications should not stop you from having electrolysis, you should just know that you need to drink enough to keep your body hydrated properly. You should keep that level maintained even if you are not getting electrolysis. Actually, the more salt you ingest, the more water you should drink as well. Salt intake is not a problem unless one is not increasing water intake in proportion to salt intake.
Thanks for the kind words. Perhaps I will write a book some day. If I cull all the stuff I have written on this and many other sites, I would have a good start, now wouldn’t I? :eek: :o 
We are very lucky to have James here as a contributor! The combination of practitioners and consumers has been an even greater success than I had anticipated. Thanks to all who continue to make this such a great forum!