epilation case study

EPILATION CASE STUDY

TREATMENT DETAILS

CLIENT PROFILE

About my client I have to say that she is 19 years old and she is a

student and a part time worker, inside a supermarket. Her complexion is oily

and the color of her face a little lighter. The main concern for her is the hair

existent on her face more precisely on her upper lip, and her underarm. She I

very aware o f the hair present on her face because it’s darker then the color

of her face and so the contrast is visible even from distance. It is obvious

that the presence of hair bothers her. For the hair existent in her underarm

she just wants to try and gradually eliminate it. She had been using wax to

treat both areas, but she wants something that will last longer and the results

will be better on a longer time basis and for that reason she wants to try out

epilation.

POSSIBLE REASON OF HAIR GROWTH

AND HAIR TYPE:

She is not taking any kind of medication except the contraceptive pill,

but she sustains that she had the same hair growth even before taking the

pill.

About her type of hair I have to say that it is not very coarse and thick

but it has a very visible pigmentation on the upper lip, but as in most cases

the underarm hair is more thicker and coarser, deeper rooted so that means it

is not a superficial type of hair like the one present on the upper lip.

It is possible that the contraceptive pill had produced some changes as

it affects the endocrine system. She also told me that she doesn’t have

anyone in the family with excessive hair growth so I believe that in this case

it could be about a slight hormonal modification.

TREATMENT PLAN AND RATIONALE FOR CHOICE OF

TREATMENT

Taking into consideration the fact that my client had never had this

procedure done before, I wanted to make sure she understood everything

about the machine and the way it worked. I suggested we try the short wave

diathermy first and see how that goes. I decided to split the areas into

smaller zones and to try and work on every zone at a time, but to make sure

that I work on both places in the same day. I planned to work twice a week

for 15 minutes on a smaller area of the upper lip and a smaller area of the

underarm, just to be able to observe the evolution of the hair growth closely

enough. I also needed to pay a closer look to the skin reaction to be able to

anticipate how long this treatment will last for. Even though the hair

regrowth will be grater with the high frequency in general, in this case I

think that it’s best if we start with it because it might work just fine.

TREATMENT DETAILS:

After checking for any contraindications I positioned my client on the

bed and started explaining the procedure, the needle sizes, the effects and the

sensation she was about to experience during the treatment. She was a little

nervous but she kept calm and decided to carry on with the procedure. I

decided to start with the first zone of the upper lip treat it for 10 minutes and

then move on to the underarm for another 10 minutes, depending on her skin

reaction. I sanitized everything, and started the treatment, using a size 003

needle for the best results as it was matching my client’s hair diameter and

the intensity of 17 for 3 seconds at a time. I began probing the hairs but there

was traction present when I tried to take the hair out. For that reason I

decided to go up with the intensity to 20, and tried to probe the hairs again.

Unfortunately I was still able to feel traction so I turned the intensity up

again to 25. This time around the hair was sliding out without any traction

which was great. After my 10 minutes allocated to the upper lip area I

moved on to the underarm where, again the area was split into 3 main zones.

This time I had to change the needle as the hair was thicker, and I went for a

004 needle to try and disperse the intensity evenly at the root of the hair

follicle and probe it efficiently. This time I started at a higher intensity of 20

and tried to probe one of the hairs present there. Unfortunately there was a

lot of traction so I decided to go up with the intensity at 25, and try again.

Even at 25 the traction was still there, and I then realized that this machine

wasn’t the best to use in this area, because the traction was still present, and

I did not want to hurt my client, as the underarm is such a sensitive area. For

the upper lip the short wave diathermy was going great, I was probing the

hair, but the underarm wasn’t looking that great. However, I will allow the

first 2 treatments to be done with the short wave diathermy, and in the mean

time I will take the time to revise my working technique and options for

treatment.

REACTION DURING/AFTER/BETWEEN TREATMENT(s):

I have to say that in a way I expected her to react in a certain way, but

fortunately during the treatment all I was able to hear were heavier breaths.

She did feel some pain when I was working on the underarm area, and she

did say she could feel me plucking out the hairs rather than probing them.

About the upper lip area she told me she was able to control the pain better

and that it wasn’t as bad as the underarm. She was able to feel the current

flowing, but did not feel the needle at all, which was good news. Erythema

was present in the area, and on the underarm I was able to see the area a

little irritated, I guess it was because of the plucking I did. During the

treatment my client did not complain at all, she was very nervous and even

got sweaty at some point. She did tell me that she felt that the hair in the

underarm area was not probed but plucked and that it bothered her a little

because of the discomfort. For a good reaction between the treatment

sessions I tried to keep a good relation with my client so that I would get as

much feedback as possible; I needed every detail in order to see if this

machine was the best to go on with for the rest of the treatment. So she told

me that the hair on her upper lip grew out very slow and very thin and

almost lacking pigment which was a very good sign, meaning that the

treatment was successful. About the underarm hair she told me it grew back

just as thick as before and the she wasn’t very happy about it, and the

treatment at which point I decided to take another approach of the problem

and tried another treatment plan.

RATIONALE FOR CHOICE OF TREATMENT:

For both areas I wanted to try and work with the other epilation

machine- blend. The upper lip as I previously stated had a thinner hair type

not very pigmented, and I wasn’t very sure about the result I would get by

using the blend in this area, but I was worth trying. As for the underarm area

the blend machine would be more suitable for the deep rooted hairs existent

there, because it needs moisture so that the chemical responsible for killing

the hair is activated. I explained to my client that the blend machine was a

combination between the short wave diathermy and galvanic, and that

together are more efficient for the removal of hair. I also told her that this

procedure takes longer than the short wave and that the hair regrowth rate

would be lower.

TREATMENT PLAN:

I would try using the blend on these area 2 times a week for 10

minutes, depending on the skin’s reaction, for the next 6 weeks to evaluate

the efficiency.

TREATMENT DETAILS:

And so I met my client again to try and probe the existent underarm

hair. I chose a size 004 needle and started working with the intensity of

two(2) on the high frequency, the timing five(5) seconds and the galvanic

was set at fifteen(15).

After sanitizing the area I begun probing the hairs, but I was able to

feel a bit of traction when pulling them out so after announcing my client I

turned the galvanic at twenty(20) and started probing again; this time around

the hair was coming out easier but still not perfectly sliding, and for that

reason I decided to turn up the galvanic again and this time it was set at

twenty five(25). I made sure that the skin was stretched enough so that the

insertion was easier and the discomfort minimum. The hairs were easily

coming out this time at which point I knew I have found my working

intensity for the next visit of my client.

I was already familiar with the type of hair my client had on her upper

lip area and because the hair in the area I was about to work was a not very

thick I used a size 003 needle which would provide a nice even heat and lye

pattern. I knew that the upper lip area was a very sensitive area and so I

explained to my client that this procedure won’t hurt as much as the short

wave diathermy, that the skin reaction varies with each individual but that is

milder than the other one alone, and that depending on the hair growth,

fewer treatments may be required.

I started the treatment with the original settings, 2 for high frequency,

the timing was 5 seconds and the galvanic current was set on 15, I then

began probing the hairs in that area, but when I tried I was able to feel

traction when trying to pull them out; so for that reason I decided to increase

my galvanic current to 20 keeping the other settings as before and went back

again to try and probe another hair. I was successful this time because the

hair came out very easy and with no traction present, which was great. I

made sure to always keep my client comfortable and make them aware of

what I was doing, weather I was increasing the current or changing the

needle size.

I then tried to probe another hair, and the result was the same, they

were sliding out, without causing any pain to the client, and I was glad that I

had just found my working intensity for this area using the blend machine.


About the treatment performed today my clients was very enthusiast,

she told me she was able to feel a slight discomfort at the beginning but that

after that the area was numb, and I figured it was because of the sodium

hydroxide produced when probing the hair. The irritation wasn’t as visible

as before, and the pain wasn’t as bad because there was no plucking going

on. In time my client told me that the treatment was effective, that the hair

growth was slower, and that she couldn’t believe how thinner the hairs were

every time they would grow back. It was obvious that the blend machine

was doing a better job than SWD in this area.

CLIENT COMMENTS:

( SHORT WAVE DIATHERMY AND BLEND)

Aishling was a little concerned about the redness in the area after the

first treatment, because the irritation was present for around an hour and a

half after the treatment had stopped. She also told me that it is an unpleasant

treatment, and that she gets nervous every time she has to come back to get

it done but that she is indeed pleased with the results and hopes her hair

growth will eventually stop.

HOMECARE ADVICE:

(SHORT WAVE DIATHERMY AND BLEND)

As I had to pay attention to the way her hair would grow back, I

recommended her to stop shaving, or using any kind o depilatory method for

as long as this treatment takes place. In case the hair growth would bother

her that much I told her that what she could do about that was to cut the hair

to a bearable level using a scissors. I told her that she had to keep the area as

clean as possible for the next hours, not to smoke, because she is a smoker, I

told her to avoid touching the area, and later on to apply after care lotion if

needed. Along with this I told her to avoid any heat based treatments such as

hot bath or shower, or exposure to UV light, because this will minimize the

irritation risks for the next 24-48 hours. I also told her to try and avoid

make-up as her pores are opened and exposed, and make-up is not indicated

in such situations.

REFLECTIVE PRACTICE AND CONCLUSION:


I wasn’t very delighted with the fact that my client wasn’t very

comfortable with the whole procedure, and that I wasn’t able to probe the

underarm hairs efficiently at first, but this is all due to my inexperience and I

know the next time what machine to use for different types of hair without

putting my client under pressure and discomfort. I tried to stretch the skin as

much as I could so that the insertion would be accurate and from that point

of view I think I did well. The choice of needles was a good one, but maybe

the next time I will use a gold needle for the more sensitive areas. Another

problem I have is the magnifying lamp, I have a problem adjusting it to the

right angle and I have to keep on moving until I find my right posture which

could be disturbing for the client.

As an overall conclusion I was pleased with the treatment, with the

fact that I did manage to probe the hairs, and get some results. I took my

time when working and the results were good. In a way I regret putting my

client through all the trouble with the short wave diathermy, but it’s the best

way of knowing what machine is more efficient.

CLIENT PROFILE

My client’s name is Nicoleta Suciu she is 30 years old, and she has a

son for 2 years. She is not taking any medication, or contraceptive pill, and

she never did, but she always had a problem with growing hair on her jaw

line. That is her main concern because it’s visible, and it’s affecting her

emotionally. And she told me that if she is having epilation done on her face

she wants to try it on her bikini line as well, because she is tired of shaving

and she does not consider waxing as an option, because she thinks is painful

for that area. She wants something that will eventually solve her problem for

a longer time, and even though she knows epilation takes some time to

produce great results, she is willing to try it and to see how it goes.

POSSIBLE REASON FOR HAIR GROWTH

AND HAIR TYPE

From talking to her it might be because of a hormonal imbalance,

aggravated by the pregnancy. Another aspect I have to mention is that she

told me that she had some problems with her thyroid gland in the past, and

that this might have contributed to the hair growth as well. She had to take

treatment for this affection but stopped it when she wanted to try for a baby.

All of these must have affected her in many ways, and one of them is the

hair growth she developed on her jaw line.

RATIONALE FOR CHOICE OF TREATMENT

The machines I was going to work with in the first place was the short

wave diathermy because it would be the most logical option to start with.

Apart from that I believe that it creates less damage to the surrounding tissue

as and it’s best to try and avoid that for as long as possible when dealing

with epilation over a longer period of time.

TREATMENT PLAN

I have two areas to treat and two machines to use for both of them: the

short wave diathermy and the blend machine. Looking at her hair type on

her jaw line it was thinner than the one on her bikini line that for sure, but it

was still coarser and thicker for a facial hair. Fortunately the area covered

with it was a medium size, and because of that I’ve decided to treat it with

the short wave diathermy once a week for the next 7 weeks, and depending

on her skin reaction o would know for sure for how long I would epilate

each time.

As for the bikini line I would have to split in smaller zones that would

help me visualize the regrowth easier and will allow me to compare the

results. The bikini line is a very sensitive area to work on, and the hairs

existent there may vary in shape and color. In this case some of them were

very coarse and strong, others were thinner and not as pigmented. I would

work on each zone at the time, again once a week for the next 7 weeks,

depending on how effective is the treatment. Again I will determine the

amount of time allocated to work on each zone in accordance with the skin’s

reaction to treatment.

TREATMENT DETAILS

Today the 19th of January 2010, I started the epilation treatment on my

second client. Before beginning, I wanted to talk to my client about what is

going to happen during the treatment, about the discomfort the treatment

causes, the amount of hair that I would remove from one area in one

treatment, the duration or treatment, and especially about the fact that I did

not want her to get high hopes about permanently removing the hair after

one treatment. As she had no contraindications to treatment I set her on the

bed, and started doing the electrical checks just to make sure that everything

was working right, and began sanitizing everything.

I then positioned my lamp and wiped the area to be treated, in this

case the jaw line with cotton wool and Savlon and then used a tissue to blot

it dry. I was then able to take a closer look to the hair size in order to select

my needle size, and I went for a size 003.

I turned on the high frequency machine, set it with the intensity at 18,

repositioned my lamp and chair to have a good working posture and I started

probing the existent hair on that area. As I was expecting the intensity of the

current was to low to kill the dermal papilla, so there was traction when I

tried to pluck the hair out. I explained the situation to my clients and turned

the intensity up to 23, then went back again for the same hair to try and

epilate it this time.

This time I was able to epilate the hair but I did feel some traction and

my client felt it as well. In this case I had to go back again and turn the

intensity of the current a little bit higher so I’ve set it on 26 and tried to

epilate another hair in the area. The needle size was just perfect, the intensity

higher, and this time I was successful, because the hair slide out without any

traction. I also paid a very close look to her skin’s reaction to treatment, and

I knew then that I would have to work around 15 minutes in one treatment

for that area in order to get the best results without irritating the skin too

much. At the end of those 15 minutes I applied aloe vera gel to soothe the

area I’ve just worked on, and dispose the needle intro the sharps box

provided.

My next treatment area with the short wave diathermy was the bikini

line, or the first zone of the bikini line the upper left part of it, I sanitized the

area and replaced my trolley and magnifying lamp in order to work on this

area and for the hair she had in this zone I picked up a size 005 needle.

I turned on the machine again to the starting intensity of 18 and began

epilating the hairs making sure I maintain a very good stretch as my position

wasn’t very comfortable. After the 3 seconds I released the button, took the

probe out and tried to pluck the hair but I was unsuccessful as I expected.

The hair existent in that area is a very strong hair and because of that I told

her that I would have to put the current up to a higher intensity which I did

not once but twice and the last time I tried the intensity was at 28. The hair

was coming out but not perfectly sliding out. So I tried again on other hairs

to see if the intensity was good enough. On the thinner hairs it would work

perfect with no problem, the hair was sliding out, but for the thicker one

there was still a problem. As I performed this for around 10 minutes I

decided to stop because my client’s skin got a little bit irritated and I wanted

her to be able to get a second treatment as well.


My client had been very honest with me and told me that she was able

to feel it when I was working on her jaw line but that it was something she

could handle, she also thanked me for always talking to her during the

procedure and always filling her in about what I was doing or about to do ,

so that she would know exactly what to expect. About the bikini line, we had

to stop after the 10 minutes because she couldn’t take more than that and I

completely understood her because of the sensitivity of that particular area.

After the treatment there was erythema produces on her jaw line

nothing very visible though, but then on the bikini line there was oedema

produce at the opening of the follicles, and a slight irritation, which calmed

down a little bit with the aftercare lotion that I applied after the treatment

was over. I explained to her that the redness would disappeare within the

next hours and that she shouldn’t worry about it too much.

I was very curious about the feedback my client would give me about

the way her hair was growing back, and if she was pleased with the

treatment, and she told me that on the jaw line she believed that there was

still a large amount of hair growth but that the pigment wasn’t that strong,

and about the bikini line she told me that she is not very satisfied, as it

seemed that the treatment wasn’t working as we expected. I did not get

upset about it because in a way I saw it coming, and I anticipated this

reaction.


AND TREATMENT PLAN II

This time I had to use the blend machine for both areas. The blend

machine is a very efficient machine but unfortunately takes a longer time

each treatment.

The blend machine uses a combined current direct current provided

by the galvanic machine and alternating current provided by the high

frequency, the effects of each modality : the chemical destruction of the

sodium hydroxide caused by direct current and the coagulating heat of the

short wave diathermy are both combined in the follicle.

It is also more suitable for darker, deep rooted hairs than for more

superficial hairs, and today I will try to see how well it works on the two

areas.

So as a treatment plan I suggested my client to have this one done

once a twice a week on her chin and once a week on her bikini line for the

next 6 or 7 weeks depending on the rate of hair growth.

TREATMENT DETAILS

Before starting I told her that some people find this procedure more

painful than the short wave diathermy, and some people might say that this

is less painful and that is has a slight numbing effect on the area.

I also explained to her how the machine worked, and why she had to

hold on to the inactive electrode in order to complete the circuit. I then

mentioned the fact that I was going to use the simultaneous method,

meaning that the production the chemical and the production of heat will

start and end at the same time.

With all these said I prepared the machine on the trolley, gathered

everything I needed for the treatment, made the security checks, and started

the treatment with the jaw line. I used the same needle size of 003 and

started with the original setting of 2 in thermolysis, timing 5 seconds and the

galvanic current set at 15. With this I started to probe the hair on her jaw

line, maintaining a good stretch and applying a little bit of pressure to the

area to diminish the sensation of the current.

To my surprise the hair just slide out of the follicle without any

traction. I then epilated another one and another one and the result was all

the same, I was epilating the hairs efficiently at a small intensity without

causing any pain to my client, I have just found my working intensity for the

treatments to come with the blend machine for this area on this client. I’ve

spent around 15 minutes doing this procedure and I was able to epilate a

good amount of hair from the area; at the end I applied after care aloe vera

gel for its antiseptic proprieties. In the future I will try to work just as well

as now, if the skin’s reaction will be the same every time.

Moving on to the bikini line, again I selected a number 005 needle

that will match the diameter of hair and sanitized the area, positioned my

client in a comfortable position and started epilating the hairs with the

original machine settings thermolysis at 2, timing 5 seconds and galvanic

current at 15. I was unsuccessful the first time and so after notifying my

client I decided to turn the galvanic intensity up to 20 and try again, but with

the same bad result. I was now working at an intensity of 25 and there was

till some traction in the area, at which point I decided to leave the galvanic

current at 25 and to put the timing up to 6 seconds. This extra second will

allow a bigger quantity of sodium hydroxide to be produces inside the

follicle, therefore the method being more effective in killing the hair’s blood

supply. I also told my client that I added an extra second to allow more

chemical production in the area. So this was my third time that I was trying

to epilate efficiently the unwanted hair in this area and I was becoming more

nervous with every strike.

This time I was more lucky, the hair did slide out without any

problems and I felt relieved and so did my client. I carried on with the

treatment for around 15 minutes and then I stopped because the area was

getting irritated again. When I was done treating the area I applied after care

to keep the area clean an clear after the treatment.


During the treatment this time my client did not complain at all, she

told me that she was aware of what was happening and that she felt the

current and the heat being produced in the area I was working on but that it

did not hurt as much as the other procedure alone. She also told me that she

didn’t feel as much traction as the last time, when I was trying the machine

to get the settings right.

After the treatment the redness was more visible on her jaw line, than

with the short wave, but she did not mind. She just told me that she was very

curious to see how this machine worked and the results it had on her hair

growth. The bikini line had the same problem with the irritation but it would

be better in time.

I asked her to tell me everything she saw different in her hair growth

and she told me that for her jaw line, it didn’t really grow back, she told me

that is was here and there, and very fine think hair, and as for the bikini line

the one I was more nervous about she told me that she did see an

improvement in the texture of the hair, in the way it felt at touch, and visibly

thinner than before. she also told me that she did not believe that this

tretment would work, but now that she had seen it’s results she would really

like to go on with the treatment and eventualy remove it from the area.

CLIENT COMMENTS

Short wave diathermy:

My client found the treatment painful enough, she was hoping to get

the best result though, and for that she was really patient. She also said that

she had chosen this method because it is more accessible for her, financially

speaking. She expected the hairs to slide out without any problem and she

couldn’t believe how resistant the hair can be until she had this treatment

done. Nicoleta wasn’t very pleased with the short wave diathermy, because

of the higher rate of hair re growth and the pain it caused during treatment.

Blend:

She also told me that she would rather finish her treatment using the

blend machine, which even though takes longer, double the time that the

short wave diathermy would take, she was pleased with the blend and its

effects. She was also a little bit concerned about the irritation caused in the

bikini line area, because she did not expect the area to be so sensitive and to

respond so fast to external stimuli.

HOMECARE ADVICE


To complete te treatment the homecare advice must be taken very

seriously as the follicles are open and the risk of infection and further

damage or irritation is high. That is why I started by telling her not to wear

any makeup for the rest of the day because of the treatment done on her jaw

line, along with this I recommended her to avoid touching the area, exposing

her skin to the sun or sun beds, to used any kind of moisturizer that would

produce a follicle blockage and to keep the area clean and sanitized. For the

bikini line I advice her to avoid wearing any tight clothes, to avoid friction,

or excessive sweating. To try not to expose herself to sun, or to chlorine,

such as in the pool water; to avoid any heat treatments that might irritate her

even more.

In case she needed something to soothe the area she should use an

after care gel like the aloe vera gel, that will assure that nothing unwanted

would penetrate the area. If she did not have any aloe vera gel she should

use savlon then or witch hazel which will minimize the follicle opening and

has an antiseptic propriety.

REFLECTIVE PRACTICE AND CONCLUSION


In my opinion the treatment went on well, if we take out of

consideration the pain my client felt. Unfortunately this is not a very

pleasant treatment and the pain is more likely to occur depending on the area

you work on, and I’ve seen this today once again when I worked on her

bikini line, that there is just some much a person can take, and that as a

becoming therapist you have to do your best in achieving the best results in

that particular time, weather is a 10 minutes treatment or a 15 minutes

treatment.

On her jaw line everything turned out just fine, but for her bikini line I

was concerned about he irritation there, and I believe it was because of the

needle I was using; the area was so sensitive and it was interacting with the

needle producing this adverse reaction that appeared as an irritation on her

skin. The next time I do this treatment I will try out a gold needle to see if

the reaction persists, but from my point of view it shouldn’t.

About the results I have to say that I’m always happy when I see that

I’m getting along with the procedure and that I get positive feedback from

my clients. What I do know is that I need to practice all the time in order to

become more confident about what I am doing.

As an overall conclusion I have to say that I am progressing with

every client I have, and with every area I have to treat. I just hope to get

better at communicating with the client, and making them less nervous about

the whole procedure.

CLIENT PROFILEAbout my last epilation client I would like to say that she is a 21 year

old girl and that her name is Iris. She had decided to come to me today to

start a course of epilation treatments in order to eliminate the unwanted hair

she had on her face, to be more specific her chin was the first problematic

area; and the second one was an area on her chest, at the bottom of the

sternum between her breasts. She had been using waxing for a while now,

but she wanted to try epilation because she was looking for a more efficient

alternative and I recommended her to try and give this treatment a try and

she agreed.

She enjoys a healthy and active lifestyle and she plans on going into a

longer holiday this summer. This is one of the reasons she wanted to try and

sort things out before taking her vacation.

POSSIBLE REASON FOR HAIR GROWTH

AND HAIR TYPE

She believes it to be because of a hormonal imbalance, but she never

got it checked with a doctor because she never thought it was ever the case.

Along with this she had been taking the pill on an on off basis, so this as

well might have caused the problem, or worsen it. The hair type was thinner

and less pigmented on her chin and coarser, deep rooted on her chest area.


She was very aware of it presence and that is why she got it bleached

at some point. Not long after that I took care of the area using wax as a

temporary plan. She eventually changed her mind and asked me for advice at

which point I offered to treat her problem using the short wave diathermy

because this machine would allow me to pay attention to the hair regrowth

as it is said to have a bigger amount of hair regrowth after treatment.

However I have to mention that I have seen situations when it wasn’t the

case and when the short wave diathermy worked wonders and this treatment

could be one of them.

TREATMENT PLAN

The areas I wanted to start working on were fortunately not very wide,

so I only had to split them in two, to try and work one area at the time and

take note on the hair growth when working on the other on. Judging from a

first impression I would have to say that for the chin area I could consider

treating it 3 times a week for around 15 minutes depending on the skin’s

ability to tolerate the treatment.

For the other area I was a little nervous because I had never worked

on that specific area before and I was certain that the sensitivity of the skin

was extreme, and so I decided to try and work on the area two times a week,

for as much as her skin can take, I wasn’t able to determine a specific timing

at the start of the treatment so I had to wait and see how the treatment would

progress.

TREATMENT DETAILS

I started the treatment on the 14th of February; and I began by

positioning my client comfortably on the bed in a comfortable position that

would allow her to see me because I wanted to go through the procedure

again with her, to make sure that she understands all the aspects of the

treatment. I also wanted her to be aware of the fact that she might feel

discomfort especially on her chest area.

I had the machine ready and everything prepared, so I started doing all

the security checks before using the machine to make sure that it was in

perfect condition for the treatment to come. I sanitized the machine and

lamp, my hands and positioned my chair comfortably to begin the treatment.

The first area I wanted to work on was her chest because of the bigger

sensitivity and because I was sure the treatment won’t be very long and I

would be able to move on to my next area, her chin.

After looking at her hair type and considering its position, I decided to

go for a size 003 gold needle to avoid any irritation, except the normal one

produced by the treatment itself.

The starting intensity for the short wave diathermy was 18, and the

timing was 3 seconds. I tried to keep a very good stretch of the skin to allow

a correct insertion and I also applied some pressure to try and annihilate any

pain caused by the current flowing in the area I was working on.

Unfortunately there was traction when I wanted to pull the hair out so

after announcing my client I had to put the intensity up to 22 at which point I

went back to try and get the hair before. This time I was successful in

removing the hair without any tractions and I was very happy. I found the

intensity I should work with on this area for the next treatments, and I was

happy about it because I expected it to be harder to find, but to my surprise

the hair slide out without any traction. I was able to work on this area for

around 10 minutes, and after that I had to stop because my client wasn’t

feeling very well and needed some time to let the skin heal.

So because of that I took the opportunity to ask her if she wanted me

to still perform the treatment on her chin area and to my surprise she said

yes. I applied after care gel onto the treated area and gave her some time to

rest while I was preparing the machine and needle for the next area.

After sanitizing the area I started again with the original settings on

the machine 18, and for 3 seconds, and this time I used a normal size 002

needles. A size 002 needle is a finer needle and it matched the diameter of

her hair type but I had to make sure I would not bend it as it is very fragile to

work with.

The original settings were not very efficient and that is why I had to

turn up the intensity to get a better result so my new intensity was now 22,

point at which I tried to go back and epilate hairs again but to my misfortune

the intensity still wasn’t the right one, at which point I had to turn it up even

more and so I’ve reached 25. When I tried to pull the hair out, it would slide

out but not perfectly, so I got a new idea and that was to replace the size 002

needle with a size 003 and to keep the intensity at 25. So I started working

with the size 003 needle and to my surprise this time it worked perfectly. I

was able to treat the area for 15 minutes and was very happy with the result.

REACTION DURING/AFTER/BETWEEN

TREATMENT(s):

During the treatment erythema was present in the area and a slight

oedema at the opening of the follicles. She felt some discomfort when I was

working on her chin and she told me that the worst area was her chest area

and that is why she couldn’t handle more than 10 minutes in one treatment.

After the treatment she the redness was still there on her chin area and

it was more visible on her chest area; fortunately both areas are not that

visible in a way and she was able to hide the redness by keeping her head in

a normal position.

I kept a close relation with my client in order to receive feed back

with all the details that might help me decide further in this treatment, and

she told me that the treatment was effective and that the amount of hair

regrowht was minimized.

CLIENT COMMENTS

She had been very nervous about the treatment and so had I, but it

turned out just fine. She told me that it had been very painful to work on her

chest area and that she could not wait for the treatment to be done in that

area. As for the chin area she was able to take that better and for a longer

time. She was happy with the results and with the amount of her I was able

to epilate in the allocated time. She was looking forward to come and get

her next treatment done.

SECOND TREATMENT PLAN

My next step in this treatment is to treat both areas with the other

epilation machine – blend. The blend method as it is known is a

combination of the two methods of epilation short wave diathermy and

galvanic. The blend method takes the best of both techniques and produces a

faster and more efficient treatment. The heat generated by thermolysis is

combined with the chemical transformation to ‘lye’ of electrolysis giving

heated lye. This is what damages the hair follicle to prevent hair growth.

This method is particularly effective on thicker coarser hairs.

So in this case to try and solve the problem I would recommend my

client to get the treatment done for the chest area 10 minutes for the next 4

weeks and for her chin area 15 minutes for the next 5 weeks, all of them

depending in the skin’s reaction.


The reason I’ve chosen to work with this machine today is because of

the fact that in a treatment both machines combined together would give the

best result and that is what I was looking for from the beginning. It’s a very

suitable method for more sensitive skin types, and for coarser hair, and the

results are often better than the ones obtained by using the short wave

diathermy.

TREATMENT DETAILS

Once my second plan was done, I started talking to my client about

how the blend machine works, the reaction it would have and what she was

going to feel during the treatment. After all these had been covered to set her

on the bed and got a comfortable position so that I would be able to work

easily reaching the area I wanted to get treated.

Again I decided to go for the chest area first as it was more sensitive

to the procedure, and after I had chosen the needle a 003 gold needle, I

began probing using the original settings, thermolysis at 2, the timing was

for 5 seconds and the galvanic current was set at 15.

But as I thought the intensity was too low to be effective and there

was traction when I wanted to pull the hair out. Now when using the blend

machine it is advisable not to probe the same hair again and in this kind of

situation the only thing left to do is to pluck it out with a tweezers which can

be very unpleasant depending on the area you would be working on.

So I increased my current at 20 and then again at 25 after I have seen

that it still wasn’t the right intensity to work with. With 25 now I tried again

and the result was great because I managed to get the hair out without any

problem. I carried on the treatment with this intensity for 10 minutes and

then stopped to apply the after care and move on to the next area to be

treated.

For the chin area I now started with a 003 needle, as the last time I

used a size 002 needle it did not work out so well, because the heating

pattern was not correctly dispersed into the hair follicle. My starting point

were the original setting which were changed at the second attentive to

probe the hairs, so my working intensity was 2 in thermolisys, for 5 seconds

and the galvanic intensity had been increased to 20. I was content that I had

found my working intensity for the treatments to come in this area and for

my client and after 15 minutes of treatment I stopped and applied aloe vera

gel for after care.

REACTION DURING/AFTER/BETWEEN

TREATMENT(s):

She responded to treatment better than before and I have to mention

that this time the redness on the skin was not as visible as before, this

treatment took longer than the last one so I wasn’t able to removes as much

as I did then but I was still happy with the results and sop was my client.

After the treatment was finished the skin reacted normally, there was

no excessive swelling in the area or intense erythema or irritation.

As for the reaction between the treatments I have to mention that Iris

was very happy with the fact the amount of hair regrowth was not that big as

before and that her hair would only grow in certain areas, not as visible and

not as coarse as before.

CLIENT COMMENTS

My client wanted to let me know that she found this treatment less

painful than the other one performed with the short wave diathermy. Along

with that she was pleased about the results obtained after the blend

treatment, and she thought that she liked this one better. She also told me

that for the next treatment sessions she would rather have the treatment done

with the blend machine.

HOMECARE ADVICE

(HIGH FREQUENCY AND BLEND)

Taking into consideration the area that I had worked on I had specific

homecare advice for each treated area, and so for her chin area I

recommended her to try and not apply any makeup on after the treatment

and to allow the follicles to heal and close. Another thing I mentioned was to

avoid smoking, and using any kind of moisturizer that could block her pores

and create further irritation to the area. As for the chest area first of all I told

her to avoid wearing anything synthetic or tight as the area was already very

sensible and friction or excessive sweating were not advisable after an

epilation treatment.

To try and avoid and heat producing activities like hot baths, sun beds,

sun bathing, and to apply specialized after care lotion and not any kind of

body lotion, oil or cream that might irritate the area.

epilation case study

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