Tyra Banks just recently had a good show on fouled up cosmetic procedures. There was a lady that was very badly burned on the neck and another badly burned on the stomach. They had some really good things to say. Anybody considering laser should read up on what was covered on the show. The whole thing is just so sad. Below is the blurb they had in the shows recap:
“Laser hair removal went horribly wrong for three brave women. Elealah wanted to zap the unwanted hair on her chin and lower part of her face. She went to a “reputable looking” place inside of a mall. It turned out that the place was not reputable after all. She was severely burned. Today, Elealah covered up daily with makeup, but the scars were so bad that the heaviest of makeup could not cover it. Jaz went on a mission to eliminate unwanted stomach hair. She endured excruciating pain during the procedure until she could not handle anymore. As a result, she had to be rushed to the emergency room and has permanent burn marks. A little moustache removal is common for women, and Kimberly opted to have laser removal for the hair on her upper lip. When it was all over, she walked out looking like a new person - permanent burns, keloids, hypo pigmentation of the skin and crater-like indentation walked out with her. All three ladies were in the process of taking legal action for the pain incurred.”
But did they take the opportunity to say, “Electrolysis, permanently removing hair since 1875, and still the best, safest option”? I am sure they did not.
did they mention the name of the clinics? it’s good to educate consumers. i hope they didn’t present this in a way that makes it seem that all clinics are like this. the “reputable” part is the best part of that paragraph.
James, I know you like to promote electrolysis, but if they went to a bad electrologist, they would have had permanent scars from that too. You’re giving off the impression to consumers here that electrolysis is always 100% safe with all electrologists, while laser is not in general.
The point in these cases is not that electrolysis is always safer than laser. It’s that one should look for someone who knows what they’re doing with both methods, not a “reputable-looking” clinic at a mall, that’s not so reputable after all, whether they’re administering laser or electrolysis at that clinic.
You know that I always say that one needs to find a GOOD electrologist. I also always agree that poor quality electrolysis is a really bad thing… of course, most people getting poor quality electrolysis figure that out before they have a bad result over the entire area they are treating, and that sounds a lot safer than finding out only AFTER the entire treatment area has been treated to such universally poor treatment.
I see your point. Though from what the stories we’ve seen here, people usually assume that they’re having a normal reaction for a while before they realize it’s causing any permanent damage, since they don’t know any better. If that the only electrologist they have tried, they wouldn’t know a good treatment/post-treatment reaction from a bad one. a 30 minute (over)treatment on the upper lip would cause plenty of damage done several times over and over by a bad electrologist. By the same token, burns from laser often resolve completely within several months as only the top layer of the skin is affected as with other burns. Real permanent damage is rare. Damage to the epidermis (such as one that creates poke marks etc) with a needle doesn’t really go away as easily, even over the course of months.
And this is once again why we tell people to get as many consultations and sample treatments as possible before settling in with someone, as they are sure to find out that some practitioners are better than others while doing this, and unless everyone near them is not so great, they will find something acceptable and worth working with, without traveling for better treatment.
From what I have seen, people who get really bad upper lip work done repeatedly, end up needing dermabrasion to correct the disfigurement of the skin.
James, my only point was related to your original post on this thread (and many other threads). that one-liner gives the wrong impression. That’s all I’m trying to say.
I, of course, know all the nuances. We tell people to search for the best for both laser and electrolysis, in OTHER threads that the consumer might not take the time to read. That wasn’t my original point.
It’s horrible that people got burned and scarred by laser hair removal. There are tons more who had bad reactions and poor results, but they don’t get attention. She should do a show on what a complete waste of money the procedure is.
i would classify that as an incorrect bitter statement once again based on your personal experience. it’s not helpful.
btw, and i’m sure we all realize that these shows are looking for “hot sexy topics” and “horrible burns” etc to scare people because it’s great for ratings, right? take everything with a grain of salt.
I’ve been out for awhile but I would like to comment on this actual report from Tyra Banks.
Unless Tyra Banks did a second report, this is the same report that she ran at the end of April 2007. Let’s talk a little about where this report came from.
First, it comes from Banks and her (and all media to one extent or another) desire to dramatize and sensationalize. The same reason that car crashes make the news but safe trips don’t. But the other place this report came from is from the ASDS, an organization of dermatologists that has spent the last four years scouring the country looking for injured people after laser treatments so that they can show the “risk” of the non-physician practice of medicine. I know this because I get the routine fax and email asking me if I know of any patient that would like to go on TV to tell their story.
This is in conjunction with an expensive national PR campaign to get stories on TV and the national media. So we have a producer who wants to put “sensational stuff” on TV and a PR campaign that has found a few people who are willing to go on TV to show their injuries and a match is made in heaven. Unfortunately the truth gets lost somewhere in the media frenzy.
This is not to say that injuries are good. They are not. But they are also not very common. Plus, go back and watch the show carefully. What you will not see is any picture showing how they look now. While they were talking about being “scarred” for life, I didn’t see a single picture that was taken recently. All the photos they showed were taken immediately after the treatment when the reaction looks the worse. None of the photos show what they look like now, because I am sure that the producers made the decision that it was not dramatic enough to show. In other words, there was probably nothing to show.
Can long term scarring and derangement of skin occur? Yes, though it is very rare and usually requires something more than just a bad treatment. Normally these reactions, even as bad as they look, clear up completely. And when they don’t clear up completely, they are generally very minor. But that isn’t important because that wasn’t the purpose of the report.
I feel what you are saying as this is the kind of dramatizing and sensationalism that is splattered about electrolysis over over the internet in laser ads, physician journals like the renowned and well-respected Journal of the American Medical Association JAMA and scammy products like electronic tweezers and gel pads that won’t go AWAY.
Just a little note about JAMA, it’s a publication that’s kind of acknowledged silently as the ‘magazine of the clubhouse’, a trade/union type of publication. Yes, they have legit scientific studies, and yes, the very best drugs advertise in the magazine. But, it’s never looked upon as good as ‘Internal Medicine’(my old favorite), ‘Dermatology’, ‘Pathology’, ‘Journal of Endocrinology’ or all the heavies. As soon as you enroll in a certified American Medical School, you become a member of the AMA, as soon as you become a member of the AMA, you start recieving JAMA, and ‘Diversions’, and this, and that, and this, and that,…You get as many free magazines as they can possibly stuff in your hospital mailbox. JAMA, now, strikes me as a ‘good ol’ boy’ magazine. That never had much substance to it except for the predictable, usual, and conspicuous decent general article. Even the British ‘Lancet’ has more credibility as a trade publication.
What they should put on the cover of each JAMA issue is, ‘Don’t ever forget you’re one of us. We move as a team, we get paid as a team, and if you try to break free from us, you’ll get shot.’
Can I get a witness?
Mantaray
ps: I make fun of it now, but didn’t I feel like the king of it all when I brang my first issue of JAMA to the DMV to read while waiting. Kind of like my first beer.
