Hand care professional..Basics

Hand care does not involve just the hand alone,but the whole forearm if not the upper limb.There are some basic principles that the hand care professional should always remember.First and foremost,remember,no matter what we do, we must do it as much as we can under sterile conditions.

Any procedure in hand care ,no matter what our ambitions is, starts with hand washing with water and if possible with an antiseptic soap or liquid soap.By washing the hand, it means washing both our hands and the client's hand.This should be followed by sterilising our instruments with our antiseptic liquid.It is wise to do this in front of the client to let them see that you really cares about sterility.They will feel safer and clears all their thought about the possibility of contracting the various diseases around.

The next big step which is one of the most important is to consult the hand in all its aspect:i would say like a doctor even if you are not and make like a diagnosis.However to do this,you must have basic but essential knowledge about the hand anatomy,orthopedics and dermatology.This will orientate your future steps.

Hand care procedures should not be performed in the following conditions and should be send for medical attention if not under treatment:

Client is having fever

Client with depressed immunity

Clients with history of bad tissue regeneration

A traumatic hand

A hand with an ongoing healing process.

Client suffering from circulatory disorders

Any infection in the hand,suppuration,paronychia or fungal or viral infections.

Any abnormal cell growth on the hand

Any changes such as edema suggestive of certain diseases suffered by the client

There are also relative contraindications in which hand care procedures can be done but requiring special attentions.e.g

Diabetes

Allergies

Dry or sweaty skin

Pigmentation disorders

Deformed nails.

In these cases,it should be discussed with the client the procedures you intend to do,any deviation from normal procedures,the risks ,any induced costs to have an optimal result.

Every procedures should be noted in the Clients file.It is of uppermost importance to keep a client file so that if ever any claim is made by the customer,it will be easily remembered what what was the problem.Finally,you may also make and keep a photography of the hand before and after the procedures.

Time leaves its marks!Aging hand

With aging, obvious changes are seen on the hand namely appearance of pigmented spots,loss of volume caracterised by wrinkling, prominent tendons and veins and soft tissue atrophy in general.Of course we cannot go back in time but with plastic surgery and non surgical methods we can mask these changes resulting in a youthful glamourous hand.

What choices do we have for the pigmentations?well we might consider light chemical peelings,dermabrasion,intense pulse light treatments.These methods would also acts against light wrinkling as they do in the face.

Volume restoration!this is the more important aspect in hand rejunevation.Several methods exist now to give volume in any parts of the body including the hand.Fat transplantion would be an option.Results may be conserved even after 18 months.Dont be scared about the word transplantation!its a simple technique (with risk of course)whereby fat tissue is obtained from one part of the body,let say the abdomen or thigh and implanted back in your hand!But please dont let your cosmetician do this for you!it may be a simple process,but needs to be done under local or general anesthesia and under strict sterile condition.The quality of the skin is also ameliorated with fat transplantation.Another way to give volume to your hand,is by using fillers.There are lots of fillers on the market.Just to name a few of them Radiesse,Juvederm,Teosyal.These are injections done under or not local anesthesia that gives immediate volume restoration to the hand.The results vary with the kind of fillers but all in all we can expect volume restoration up to 6 months.So with fillers we can mask the soft tissue atrophy rendering less visible the wrinkling,the tendon show or the prominent veins.

How about this prominents veins on the hands ?Can't we remove them as varicose veins in the legs?well its a tricky questions!right now some physicians actually use sclerotherapy to make them disappear.Sclerotherapy is done by injecting a substance in the veins which causes the wall of the veins to stick together.Other actually remove the veins through tiny incisions on the hand while others would even use endoluminal lasers to burn these veins.These techniques require someone who is a real good expert in veins .Remember that the veins you see on the hand are superficial veins and once you obliterate one of them, the blood will find a way to dilate another one which was not visible before and you can end up with another prominent veins.

To finish,there are other techniques used in hand rejunevation like mesotherapy which consist of injecting different substances into your skin to heal or to nourish the skin.And of course,there is nothing better than a good hand massage or hand spa........