Dealing with waxing injuries

Following my recent post about skin lifting, I had several lovely emails, Facebook messages, tweets and texts from fellow therapists relieved to know they weren't alone!

If something does go wrong, a common concern therapists have is how on earth to inform a waxing client about an injury. This is something we cover on all of our classes at Axiom Wax Academy, but I figured I'd take the opportunity to share a few ideas here, too.

It’s enough to make any therapist’s heart sink: you pull a strip of wax off and realise with horror that it’s left behind a nice, shiny graze or a big ol’ bruise.

Welcome to the club

Take comfort in the knowledge that you’re not the first person this has happened to and you certainly won’t be the last.

First things first: have a little internal sweary moment, then take a deep breath and point it out to your client.

This is important. If you don’t mention it, you can bet your bottom dollar that he’ll go home, spot it in the mirror himself and think he’s going to die. He’ll also think you’re rubbish for not noticing it yourself, so bite the bullet and very calmly say something along the lines of: “Okay Bobby, just to let you know, you’ve got a little pink patch of skin here where it was a bit dry. Nothing to worry about, it’ll stay red for a couple of days and then either peel or form a wee graze, but pop some antiseptic cream on the area at home and give me a call if you’ve got any concerns.” (Adapt the specific advice for the injury, obvs).

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT panic and start screaming: “Sweet mercy, Bobby, I’ve just taken a chunk out of your scrotum with the wax. I’m sure it’ll be absolutely fine, but right now it looks like a fox has been at it.”

No drama

Stay calm and finish the service, then in a couple of days you want to give your customer a call or drop him an email: “Hi Bobby, just checking in to see how you are doing. How’s that little patch of skin we discussed?”

I can pretty much guarantee that in 99% of cases everything will be peachy and he’ll return as usual next month, but this quick call or email is your opportunity to reach out and address any lingering issues before they become problems.

A couple of extra, common sense pointers:

• Make a note of what happened on the client’s record card, along with any specific advice you give him.
• If something goes seriously wrong or an injury doesn’t improve as expected, refer the customer to a medical specialist for treatment and notify your insurance provider.

In fact, if you are ever in any doubt about what to do in a situation like this, it makes sense to call your insurer or membership organisation for advice. That’s what they’re there for and (I can speak from experience) they are always lovely and helpful.

Final word

I know it’s horrid when stuff like this happens as we all want to do the best by our customers. But we are only human. Wax is hot, sticky stuff and sometimes things don’t go quite according to plan. The key thing is to address the issue, learn from it and then get right back to the wax pots. Don’t let it scare you off.

Wax on, chums. And don’t have nightmares. 😉

© Andy Rouillard 2017