When is a contraindication preventative or restrictive to a nail treatment?
By Katie Barnes | 02 November 2021 | Expert Advice, Feature
A contraindication is a pre-existing medical condition that could either put you or your client at risk if the treatment was carried out. There are four types of contraindications which are illnesses you will come across. These are viral, bacterial, fungal, and parasitic infections.
Another contraindication would be certain medications the customer may be taking such as blood thinning medication or topical steroids, which may thin the skin. This for example, would be a contraindication to waxing as the skin in that area would be thinner and more prone to bruising or causing wounds.
There will be two categories of contraindication you need to familiarise yourself with; preventative or restrictive contraindications. Each case should be assessed individually and addressed in accordance with its severity.
Preventative contraindications
These are conditions that prevent a client from receiving a treatment as it poses too much of a risk. This could be because you may exacerbate the condition or if the client has a be a contagious condition, this could be passed onto you or your future clients. When working on a customer who has a contagious contraindication, it is recommended to not carry out the treatment until GP consent has been received.
This is because even if all possible precautions are taken it is still not unfeasible to prevent contamination.
With regards to medication, if we keep with the example earlier. An oral medication which thins the blood will also make the client more susceptible to bruising and thinner skin. This would be all over and would be a preventative to certain treatments such as waxing.
Restrictive contraindications
These conditions relate to a situation where a nail or beauty professional may carry out the treatment with a medical professional note, but they may need to modify certain techniques used which relates to the client’s condition such as changing the pressure or avoiding certain areas. It may even be as simple as to changing the working area layout to accommodate an individual client.
Another restrictive contraindication is a local contraindication. This may restrict treatments by avoiding the area affected or require medical professional consent.
Following the earlier example, if a client is using a topical steroid on their face, their face would be contraindicated for waxing treatments but not other areas of their body which the topical steroid was not in contact with.
Client consultation
All clients should be assessed on an individual basis and those suffering from serious conditions should be made aware about the risks that come with certain nail and beauty services and medical notes should be obtained where applicable. This is often a paid service from a GP which your customer will be responsible for. A GP may fob off the contraindication and impact a particular beauty treatment may have on the illness.
Even with a GP referral, you have no obligation to treat that customer if you do not feel it is safe to do so.
This is why completion of a client record card before every treatment is critical to find out if a customer has a contraindication. Prior to carrying out the service, you should also carry out a visual consultation, as a customer may not have openly shared a contraindication in the written consultation. Some of them might not be aware that their condition could affect the way their treatment is to be carried out and will therefore not think to mention it, while others might have underlying conditions that they don’t know about.
You should refer to your training and follow the manufacturer’s instructions when working on customers. These will usually advise of particular contraindications and recommendations for these.
It is important to follow this and the guidelines from your insurance policy. If these are not followed, then your policy will become void in the event of a claim.
As the old saying goes, it is better to be safe than sorry so if you are unsure, do not treat the customer until you have checked with a GP, your manufacturer or a medical professional.
Love Katie B x