There is a need for better training …
If there wasn’t then the Keogh report would not exist
I have moles on my armpits and bikini line, can you tell me why they have gone black and crusted over? I am currently having laser hair removal at (we do have some diplomacy)
Questions just like that one, we hear a little too often. We have heard from both sides of the scale, clients and therapists alike, reporting cases such as burning, treating over moles, and ineffective treatment, which leads us to question the course and qualification taken.
It gives weight to the argument posed by people like Dr Callaghan Condon, a consultant at the Blackrock Clinic, who says tattoo removal poses a biohazard. Irish Independent Furthermore, Dr Condon is championing the need for regulatory change.
“An incredibly high-intensity light beam shatters the pigments under the skin, and they splatter through the skin. There’s blood, so aerosolised [airborne] viruses are a real concern, as well as the potential for eye damage. It’s definitely a biohazard,”
Dr Callaghan might be right, yet it can be addressed, with the proper training that also includes OH&S (occupational health and safety).
The entire argument over the beauty industry and the evolution it has taken with technology is not unique to Ireland. It is a war of words waged across countries far and wide. Recently, splashed over the pages of the Independent UK that Tayyip Erdogan signed an emergency decree on laser hair removal to win votes in the Turkish referendum. It would seem, that laser hair removal can be politicised. The decree he signed was the “right to operate certain tools to perform laser hair removal,” It came about after the right was removed, improper use caused thousands of burns cases.
Well, that is Turkey you say, we have better standards here in Ireland. Clearly, that is not the case when anyone can buy, import, and operate medical-grade equipment with no regulations to limit their use in unskilled hands. Backed up by the many questions we have received from the general public and therapists. Before you say well, maybe people should be fussier in the salon’s they use for treatment, the salon’s that have generated many of these questions are some of our larger chains and well-known clinics.
Burns, ineffective treatment, using cookie cutter settings, and a general lack of best practices in occupational health and safety (OH&S) has driven the Dermatologists Association in Ireland to try and spearhead action taking the matter to the EU championing the need for regulatory change. While diploma courses are available by a broad list of awarding bodies, it is quite clear; we still have many problems. Quality assured certification systems being one and training that better addresses the machines, treatment and technology being another.
Come back for part 2 & 3, as we look deeper into what is causing the industry to receive a black eye.
ATAI, tackling these problems head on; we have the framework in place to facilitate a better model for training on laser and light machinery and addressing the lack of quality assured certifications that take in OH&S (occupational health and safety). Unlike nearly every training centre in Ireland, ATAI has the machinery that is used in the clinical environment and the experience needed to facilitate clinical excellence in training. On top of that, every course ATAI teach contains a mandatory requirement of clinical environment hours.
