Skin so dried out it won't conduct current?

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

On the AEA website homepage this is featured:

"Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!
Drinking plenty of water helps unwanted hair slide right out.’

The assumption is that drinking "plenty of water’ adds more moisture to your skin and therefore allows the currents to work better? Where did this idea come from … probably the world of beauty? A few weeks ago, one client said she drank eight glasses of water before and after her appointments.

Drinking appropriate amounts of liquids is important … but a normal person being so dehydrated that the currents won’t work? REALLY! Are there any clients so "dehydrated’ that the currents won’t work because their skin is dried out? I think this is nonsense, not supported by evidence and reproach our own profession with perpetrating stupid myths.

What say you? Evidence please … not random opinion based on hearsay. (I did mention this to an AEA “top brass” and she had zero interest in the issue … )

#2

The day when a client of electrolysis dies as a result of drinking too much water, someone will regret not having listened to your complaints.

#3

“Dehydration” occurs to my experience if clients are overly nervous, reach my office in stress or become stressed if the treatment time becomes too large.

The solution is not giving them water (well, mostly … if they come to me stressed too much i tend to offer them a cup of tea in order to help them to come down…)
or making a break as soon as the treatment stress is becoming so large that the energy i need to treat the hair increases.

But anyway, using a moisturizer on the treated areas often helps to reduce the energy level. The effect is almost instantanously - therefore i am a bit unsure if it is really the “moisturizing” effect of the substance.

#4

interesting topic, referencing a thread where this got some coverage

#5

Interesting perspective beate. I am fully supportive of the practising electrologist using the calming powers of a nice cup of tea to break up treatments.

#6

I remember Josefa describe how she uses moisturizer (with occlusion?) to make releases in telogen hair much easier.

#7

Posted on the British site today … my “take” on this issue:

I get Jossie’s idea. Both skin and hair are "hygroscopic,’ meaning that they absorb and hold water. The observable example are your wrinkled finger-tips if you’ve been in the bath too long.

https://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/wrinkles.html

The outer epidermis (dead keratin) absorbs water so the built-up keratin mass (if there is one) in the infundibulum would get softer with water … or with a moisturizer … and that would make inserting into a telogen follicle (or other follicle for that matter) … a lot easier. Dry air vs. humid air … same deal.

Surface water (or moisturizer) will not penetrate into the follicle: the unit is closed tight. I’m still skeptical about drinking "plenty of water’ (or more than normal) to make the skin wetter or more conductive. If that’s the case, why not drink salt water, or take salt pills?

I don’t think anybody is so "dehydrated,’ from not drinking "plenty of water,’ that the current doesn’t work well. I think the idea is silly … but, I’m open to evidence. (Drinking water won’t create more "ground substance’ … but it will increase blood volume … still I’m not persuaded. YET!)

The problem for me is that even tiny helpful suggestions to our clients often get greatly exaggerated. If drinking one glass of water is good … then five would be better? If "exfoliation’ is good, then I guess "rubbing the hell out of my skin’ is better?

Usually, I don’t recommend anything unless I see an actual problem. I mean I recommend nothing for both pre- and after-care. NUTTIN’ HONEY! A list of aftercare, a recommendation of vitamins, and having them purchase and put on special creams, does one thing for certain: it communicates to the patient that we are doing something "risky’ and they need to take extra care so nothing bad happens. Why "raise the flag’ when you don’t need to?

The clients that do best (in my opinion) are the ones that generally "just forget about it.’

#8

One stupid example of enterprise not knowing physiology (and why products don’t penetrate the follicle):

The first laser was called "Thermolase’ and they would wax (or shave) the hair and then rub-on oil containing black graphite particles "down into the follicle.’ Then, the laser would "blast out’ the black material. It didn’t work AT ALL (the waxing, however, did make it look like it was working.)

Products won’t even penetrate a "waxed out’ follicle. One of my clients spent $8,000 on her legs with this fraud. Again, the "marketing guys’ trumped science and clients got "taken big time!’ Super-rich guys were flying in from the Middle-East for this nonsense … and paying thousands for the worthless treatment. (I know one of the former Thermolase technicians … a TOTAL fraud!)

#9

I think you need to be very careful what you put onto the skin before treatment. Moisturizer I dont think I would try.

Recently I treated someone with significant issues with pain. They came in with about 1/4 inch of EMLA on their skin to be treated, and some ink around the area which had bled into the EMLA indicating where they wanted to be treated and saran wrap keeping it all in. I wiped the skin down, but not as well as I should have. I was using thermolysis and a gold probe.

What I realized about 15 minutes into treatment was my probe was covered in this black crap. I took several opportunities to scrape this off, but you could see it on the skin at the entrance to nearly every treated follicle I was worried I had used too much energy, but it wasnt, it was literally cooked Emla, and ink from the writing staining the follicle opening.

Given that experience, I would say my inclination would be to NOT put anything on the skin to increase moisture content.

Seana