I touched a little on skin lesions and waxing last week in Part One of our Contraindication Series. Just to clarify (because to be honest I don’t think I really explained this last week) a contraindication is anything that indicates to your technician that you should not be getting a particular service. So skin lesions and bruising is what we are talking about today.There are several types of skin lesions, most of which you are all probably pretty familiar with! Cold sores, herpes, infected ingrown hairs, open pustules, and any major surgery scar less than 6 months old are all things we can not wax over.
First of all, if you are prone to cold sores make sure you are taking your medication before coming in to get waxed or that you are getting waxed in a dormant period because stimulation to the skin in that are can potentially cause an outbreak. But if you are currently dealing with a cold sore we just can’t wax over that. Same with herpes- you can NOT get waxed during a break out at all!! As long as the virus is dormant and you are on medication there shouldn’t be an issue. For your safety ANY type of virus outbreak on the skin can NOT be waxed over to ensure that there is no risk of spreading it.
No one should want to be waxed over an infected ingrown hair for multiple reasons. One, its already sensitive to the touch when you have an ingrown hair, if its infected even more so!! But the main reason is if you wax over an infected hair follicle, we are touching the stick to the infection with the wax on it and then as we spread the wax over the area to be waxed guess what else is spreading?? That’s right! The infection from that pore is now in all your other pores! Not fun for anyone! This also goes for any open pustules.
Cuts, blisters, or bruises should all be healed before waxing. No need to damage them any more and risk getting an infection. If you’ve had major surgery, we cannot wax over the incision for six months because we don’t want to reopen it. Varicose veins and waxing is a huge no-no because rupturing can occur when the skin is pulled on. And again none of us want to cause any of you any pain and suffering.
I’m going to add sunburns and any kind of laser resurfacing here. Both of those things burn and damage the skin and cause peeling. I understand that the damage is deliberate and for a reason with the laser but it is still damage of a sort and can not be waxed over. While it may not necessarily be an open lesion it is still skin damage caused by UV exposure or laser service and we want to avoid lifting any skin and scaring you. Always ask your doctors permission after having laser done before you begin waxing again. Make sure to bring a doctors letter informing your technician that you are now safe to wax.
Refusal to wax over these things in not because we don’t want to perform your service! We want to make sure you have the best and SAFEST service possible!! That is why we always wear gloves, check the temperature of the wax, sanitize rooms between clients, and NEVER double dip on ANY of our services!!
Join us next week for Part Three- Medications and Chemicals. And make sure you are following us on Facebook because we have some really exciting things coming in the next few weeks!!