Each treatment that a Therapist offers to their client is different in many ways. From the products, to the tools used, to the aftercare, and even how long it can take to see your desired results. Also, many factors come into play regarding results as well, such as, home care routines, following your Therapists’ advice and the general health of your skin and body.
For example, if someone were to come into the Salon with moderate to severe acne for a facial to help with that concern, it will take at least 3-6 treatments to see results. The client’s skin could be breaking out for a number of reasons, such as hormones, diet, medication, age and illnesses. It will take your Therapist a little time to get to know you and your skin, to help you achieve the best results. But, after that first treatment, you will notice some difference. Usually with acne I see that redness around spots goes down, and perhaps not as many new spots will appear on the skin over time. But to heal that acne, rebalance and decongest the skin, it will take more than one treatment. Not only that, but good and consistent home care also plays a large part in achieving the best results. Such as not sleeping with make-up on, using good quality skincare and looking at lifestyle changes. Finally, if the skincare issue is very bad, I always suggest speaking to your GP, as you may need something more than products that you can buy in salons.
Another example is coming in for Chemical Peel Treatments to treat fine lines. If you think about it, your skin has formed those fine lines throughout your entire lifetime, so you are going to need more than one or two treatments to help minimise the appearance of them. Especially with Chemical Peels, prepping your skin is key, as well as ensuring you follow our aftercare advice when at home also. This way, you reduce that risk of damaging your skin, and creating more fine lines and Hyperpigmentation problems.
As for treatments such as massage, if your knots are very bad and sitting on top of one another, it will take a course of massages to help that problem as well. Normally I would suggest one a month, or one every two weeks depending on how bad the problem is and how much pain the client is in also. For treatments such as waxing and Mani’s/Pedi’s, the results of those treatments are instant, but the Therapist will always give home care advice.
So, as a general rule, I normally suggest to my clients to come in for a Consultation if they are ever unsure about what treatments to have for a certain problem. This ensures that they are booking in for the correct treatment for them, as well as giving me time to chat to them beforehand, to hear their concerns face to face and to check their Medical Form too. I will then go through different treatment plans and options, and will advise on how many I think it will take to help their issue. This is never guaranteed however, as we are not Doctors and every person’s skin is different, we can just try and help as much as we know how to. Then, once the treatment has been performed, aftercare advice is given to the client to continue on the care at home.
So, if you are having a course of treatments, and you feel disappointed after the first one or two, don’t despair! It takes time to correct problems. Your skin is an organ, so it needs that time to heal and change. So just keep going!