My electrologist told me in between sessions she prefers me to bleach and cut with scissors the areas she treated. She said shaving makes the hair courser and harder to treat. She said if I come each week though no hair should be there throughout the week anyway, but if some pop up just to cut them. Is this right? She was to do my face in sections, so I know where to shave and not to shave.
shaving does not affect the hair follicle beneath the skin.It will not make hair courser.
Seana
I know, why does my electrolosist think shaving will make treatment harder?
I cant fathom a guess why she would think that. It’s a bit of an old wives tale that that occurs, but has no basis in fact.
Seana
Not coarser, but if she’s going after finer hairs then “no shaving” makes sense. Fine hairs (and telogen) grow slower so if you shave them she will not be able to see them for some time.
If you are saying, “Just remove the longer hairs” then that’s the “tip off.” Not shaving to the skin is appropriate.
With all my male clients … if they shave even a month before treatment, I’m going to miss at least 20 - 30 percent of the hairs … sometimes more.
Trim yes, shave no … in most cases.
Well, the hairs I want treated are not really fine, but not extremely course.
My hair grows pretty fast and you can always see them a day after shaving. I just use a girly small electric razor that doesn’t do a close shave.
She just wants me to not shave the treated areas. She feels shaving will get in the way of treatment. I cut and bleach the sections I want her to do anyway.
She wants to do my face in sections, so I know where to shave and not to shave.
Also Michael, I would love to hear what you think about her not wearing gloves, mask or goggles. It was just a consultation, so maybe she will wear all that for the first treatment, but if she doesn’t is this a concern?
Also, will thermolysis work on medium to course hair? She said she performs all three methods, but never really told me which one she is going to do on me.
She also said I can wear make up and swim with no problems, is this true?
Thanks so much for your advice!
Not wearing a mask, while not generally a health requirement, is just the professional thing to do. You are in close proximity to the face and bad breath, coughing on a client well, it’s unprofessional at the least.Would you expect this from a dentist? You shouldnt expect it from your electrologist either.
In most places, gloves and scrubbing before every client is a health code requirement. In some places there is no regulation on this, but it is still the proper and safest way to work and I dont think you will find any electrologist here that will tell you that it’s unnecessary. The probe, probe holder, and hands all come into contact with the skin, and possibly blood as well. Not maintaining suitable cleansing of equipment, and hands, is unacceptable in my opinion, even for a consult which is supposed to be your chance to show off your routines and demonstrate the safety and sterility of your process.
That said, I often work on myself with no gloves, and having only washed my hands. I dont stand the same chance of passing on a blood borne infection from one person to the other however. Will not gloving up or washiing the dropped needle cap kill you? Probably not. I still wouldn’t do it. I also dont think I would recommend a client ever go see an electrologist who doesnt glove up, use sterile tweezers from autoclaved packages, and clean equipment , and wash their hands and glove up between clients. It’s just not worth the risk .
Thermolysis , blend or galvanic, should not make a difference as to effectiveness. Used correctly, all modalities kill hair and are effective.
Seana
Sterile disposable needles, sterile tweezer, washed hands & gloves. Doing these simple steps eliminates more than 99.99% of all potential (serious) infections … probably 100%.
My only critique of the voluminous pontificating AEA rules is that there are so many "rules,’ that the most important ones are over-shadowed. These most important elements (stated above) get muddled-up in all the details. Sure, the AEA document is stellar, but that’s what you get when you involve CDC-type experts and committee meetings: too much minutia.
The electrology operatory is not an operating theater. (I have worked in surgery … it is different folks!) So, if you keep to the basics everybody’s safe.
I work in the food catering industry and our hygiene rules seem more strict than the medical profession!
So, should I not goo to her now, not wearing these things is deal breaking?
Not a deal breaker.
Consider that gloves were never worn by electrologists for some 100 years. In that time, operator-to-patient infections (cross-infection) would certainly have been noted; never was. Gloves and sterilization practices were instituted during, and because of, the HIV tumult in the mid-1980s. So, it hasn’t been that long.
The gloves we wear are not sterile and a case could be made against using them altogether. Non-sterile gloves are primarily used when minor amounts of blood are likely to be encountered … such as during a blood-draw or a routine "physical.’ Overall, electrolysis is bloodless (but not always!).
REAL surgical gloves are something like $50 (or more) per pair and are put on with extreme care. Even touching the glove with a finger or touching a non-sterile surface? You have to toss them out and start all over (I’ve done that on a few occasions). Total sterile garments (including sterile booties), really scrubbing, sterile gloves, head hear and mask … sure, fine for surgery because you are "in the patient’s body and under their skin.’ We don’t do this in electrolysis!
An electrologist friend got WAY carried away with sterilization. She put her entire needle cord, removed the dials from her epilator and put them in her "sterilizer’ … and melted the whole lot! She was even thinking about putting her phone in the sterilizer. All this is nonsense. If you wish, you can wipe down surfaces … but they do not have to be STERILE!
Still, I wear gloves all the time but (frankly) mostly for my own protection: I don’t want to get NOTHIN’ NOHOW.
Again the electroloysis operatory is not an operating theater. If your electrologist is thoroughly washing her hands and drying appropriately, e.g., with paper towels, that’s probably just fine. Remember there is NO WAY that bacteria can be eliminated in any operatory. You cannot remove all the bacteria from your skin and those doing skin prep with, say, Betadine or other hospital-grade material are being silly. You can’t even get the skin "sterile’ by scrubbing off the top skin layers (and they do for surgery)!
Normal resident bacteria is going to get into your treated follicles. However, you have an IMMUNE SYSTEM and such "invaders’ are not going to be a problem at all. The main items: needles, tweezers and (gloved) washed hands covers it. A nice overall clean environment is important too … but you don’t have to treat the electrolysis room like a surgical theater.
To echo what Michael said, I’ve participated in actual surgical procedures and can vouch for it being a completely different level of care and attention. For operatory purposes, gloves come in sterile packs which are meticulously opened, unfolded and put on. It can take several minutes just to glove up. Note that, when you’re going to the dentist to have “dental surgery” done, they are NOT using sterile gloves but they are using sterile instruments.
In electrolysis, like in the rest of the hospital where you’ll see the same little wall rack of gloves that we use, the gloves are really used more as a convenient disposable barrier to protect against casual transfer of materials (be it bacteria, excrement, or whatever). Thoroughly washing your hands will eliminate almost everything, the gloves just give a little extra assurance, particularly when we do end up coming into contact with blood or other bodily fluids - it’s possible for a client to be carrying HIV, hepatitis, etc and not know it or, for that matter, the last thing I want to do is put my hands into some lidocaine, EMLA or other anesthetic and dull my sense of touch any (it’s vital for us). It’s good practice to wash and dry your hands before and after you put on or remove gloves, whether they are sterile or not.
As for the equipment, the guidelines say that we only need to sanitize (clean to remove most pathogens) most things afterward. I personally choose to use the same thing you’ll find in most hospitals, doctor/dental offices, etc and that’s cavicide, which I use to wipe down all surfaces that got touched and, in all honesty, I’m probably overdoing it a little. I don’t reuse my probes (which come in sealed sterile packages), but my tweezers and probe caps all get sterilized since those things are the only things likely to break the skin. The caps aren’t quite as important, but the probes and tweezers are mandatory.
As long as the room is clean and proper procedures followed, you’re FAR more likely to accidentally cause an infection yourself after treatment than you are to catch something while getting electrolysis done.
As others point out, it’s entirely possible to go “too far” in making sure everything is clean. No, not using gloves is not a deal breaker if you don’t want it to be. I said I would not RECOMMEND going to an electrologist who doesn’t follow necessary procedures, it’s not the same as saying don’t do it.I think I strive for a standard, that not all subscribe to but nevertheless do good work without complication. Electrolysis is performed world wide, and in many places without any such precautions. Taking proper sterilization procedures brings the risk factor down to almost zero that’s all.
When people refer to infection do you mean skin infection or an infection that affects your health?
typically, we refer to a skin infection… however, left untreated, it’s possible for a skin infection to become systemic (people used to routinely die of “minor” skin infections before antibiotics and indoor plumbing).
What would an infection look like? I am concerned she doesn’t wear gloves or a mask, but I do like her.
Washing hand with an antiseptic soap before practicing electrolysis is the most important thing. I also do recommend wearing gloves.
GH101 you should take care of your skin and your health, I mean if this practicionner doesn’t observe the basis hygienic rules, it could represent a risk as it was already said.
Well, I am going for one 15 minute treatment with her next week, so I will ask her about the gloves/mask. She is relaxed, so she’ll probably say she doesn’t need them. She has a sink in the room, so I will take notice if she washes her hands. I have a few other consultations the next week, so I can compare. I do like her and want to give her a chance, but hygienic practices are important. Is she really touching anything that goes into my face? I mean the probe looks like it’s on something.
Washing hands and wearing gloves are important standards of care. You should insist on that being done.
The probe is slid into a probe holder, which attaches to the epilator via a cable. The electrologists that you are consulting with next week can explain all that to you.
I can’t say that she didn’t wash her hands at the consultation, I will take better notice at my next session. Exactly, the epilator doesn’t go into my skin and that’s what she is holding, so why do gloves matter, maybe they get in the way?
It doesn’t seem like people are that concerned about her not wearing a mask, it didn’t seem like she was breathing on me.