Your First Visit

Going to some stranger and letting them get as close to you as it requires, can be daunting. Of course, I know from experience. It took quite a bit of nerve to go to my first operator and ask to have hair removed. Let’s face it, it is just plain scary. Add to this, the horror tales that seem to percolate unended throughtout the internet.

It often happens that people are just not comfortable with who (or what) I am, and that is most certainly understandable. HOWEVER, what is really at issue is the quality of my work. Remember that this is the fundamental thing. No matter what our personal relationship may be, I try to do my best to leave it at the door of the treatment room. Every job I have ever done has remained clearly focused on quality. Even when the temptations were there to yield to the demands for speed, I have never given in to that.

Many times, I have heard clients tell me through a face full of pits and scars:
“My last operator was sooooooooo cute!!!” (You can substitute your own descriptor : “fast”,”painless”…the list goes on and on)

I remember a student at electrolysis school who really had the “beauty parlor look” down. Her shop was absolutely magnificent. I truly envied her ability to decorate and present such a nice place. I also saw one of her “flash thermolysis” projects and the clients face was so horribly damaged, that, after 3 chemical facial peels, it was still quite obvious. Ironic, as well, that this very same client junked me as her operator becuase:

I was too slow !!!

*sigh*

As they say: Watcha gonna do?

First, it is important that you set aside all the badness that you may have heard. I have had clients arrive with so much anxiety, that if I stuck them with a needle, they would have blown up. It is a tough thing to do, but at least give me a chance to show what I do and more importantly, what I DON’T do. There is a world of difference between me and a lot of other operators out there. Perhaps that is why I worked for the first 10 years in my practice based solely on personal referral and reputation.

It is the expectation of so much pain, that can sometimes derail even the first 5 minutes of the consultation. But, most often, I hear the comment:

Is that all there is?”

Yup. To clarify, galvanic electrolysis uses no heat. It is entirely a cold process of making a chemical to destroy the follicle. What everyone feels is a stimulation, but not necessarily pain. Pain is what we perceive it to be when there is simply no other explanation. I can completely control this, increasing to get effective work and decreasing in very sensitive areas to minimize sensations. However, electrolysis is expensive and time consuming and the harder you try to deal with what you are feeling, the faster and more effective this process becomes. This is where mental attitude is so important. If you want it to be painful, it will certainly be all of that.

Some things that can only help…

Avoid road rage on the way to see me. Sometimes a bad drive to a visit, only makes things worse. I purposefully allow a 15 minute “no questions asked” late arrival. In one notable case, I blew off the appointment and bought lunch for the client. Between her job and the driving through the commute, it set the whole visit up for failure, minute one.

If coffee winds you up, don’t. ’nuff said.

Learn to relax. This is a great “zen” thing, but it can pay serious dividends. Galvanic electrolysis, due to its very nature of passing a small current through the body, has a unique way of feeding on stress and amplifying the sensations. Not good. Please see my section on pain for more.

Take a deep breath and don’t let the “weirdness” fool you. One client from New York City left me after an upper lip clearing and I know she won’t be back. I could sense the uneasiness. It wasn’t about my work, it was about me…who I was, and the complete lack of her expectations.

Sad to say, she will NEVER find work like that in NYC. I have worked on the victims from there.