Issue link: https://www.ascpskindeepdigital.com/i/526887
Create your free business website! www.ascpskincare.com 29 • What products does the client use for home care, and what products should be used during treatments? Do your research and use gentle, pH-balanced products with no harmful chemicals. Hers will be a very compromised skin and needs to be cared for gently as it recovers. • Understanding a client's specifi c needs means you must have a detailed intake form asking specifi c questions such as: When were you diagnosed? What type of cancer? What type of treatment have you had? Have you had any surgery? Where? Have you had any lymph nodes removed or radiated? What medications are you taking? If you're on chemotherapy, what type and when was your last infusion? Knowing the answers to these types of questions—and how to respond to them—is necessary for creating a unique and healthy treatment plan for the client. Determining the client's specifi c needs and knowing how best you can help, learning the proper timing of services, understanding what products should be used during treatments, and having the ability to offer advice for home care will set you apart. If this is a population you feel called to serve, consider seeking specialized education to meet their needs. This feature is a starting point for understanding the considerations for working with those fi ghting cancer. Your clients will love your knowledge and confi dence as you help them when they need you the most. Imagine yourself in this situation for a moment. You've enjoyed your hair your entire life, then one day you look in the mirror and see a person with no eyelashes, eyebrows, or hair. How would you feel? How would you go out into the world? Many clients in this situation tell me they don't even recognize themselves. They avoid mirrors or avoid going out at all. How sad is that? ASCP members receive 10 percent off classes by Oncology Spa Solutions. Visit www.ascpskincare.com to access your discount. Becky Kuehn is a 37-year cancer survivor, and the founder and owner of Oncology Spa Solutions, a company that teaches spa professionals how to care for clients as they go through cancer and its treatments. In addition to two hospital locations in Washington, she travels the United States teaching spa therapists how to care for cancer survivors. She is also the founding president of the International Society of Oncology Estheticians and Allied Professionals. Learn more at www.oss-us.com. I once had a 70-year-old client who was undergoing therapies for breast cancer after a mastectomy. She told me it was her fi rst visit to any spa since before her diagnosis. When I asked why, she explained she didn't know what to do or where to go. She was unsure that her regular spa therapist (who she had been going to for many years and appreciated) could help her with "this." We started with her visible skin issues—excruciatingly dry and wrinkled skin, as well as red patches on her forehead and cheeks—then talked about her scalp and hair loss. She had no hair, including brows and lashes. As we spoke, she talked softly and shyly about her appearance (she wore her husband's navy blue hat) and shared how unattractive she felt. I performed a calming, hydrating esthetic treatment that concluded with corrective makeup, and brow and lash restoration, then we moved on to her scalp and hair-loss issue. We discussed care and products to encourage hair growth and scalp health until her hair grew back. I fi nished with a halo hairpiece and let her pick out a new, more feminine hat. As she looked at her refl ection in a mirror, her smile was priceless. She was with her granddaughter that day, who observed her grandmother's treatment. After the transformation, they started to giggle and take selfi es. In less than one hour, she was transformed from a woman who did not feel good about her appearance to a giggling, smiling grandma The memory still makes me cry. –Becky Kuehn Making Her Smile