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Skin Disorders & Diseases (Contraindications)

Contra-indications

Prior to performing a treatment you must always do a skin analysis. There are two main reasons-

  1. To check for contra-indications that may prevent or restrict your treatment.
  2. To work out the best treatment plan for the client to meet their expectations.

Contra-indications are broken down into two categories-

  1. Prevent- this means they are often contagious and a treatment cannot be performed.
  2. Restricts- this means that you can still do a treatment but adjustments will need to be made to the ‘standard’ treatment routine.
Contra – indications Description/Characteristics  Never Treat  Restrict     Treat
Aids/HIV HIV is a virus that attacks the immune system     X
Cancer Undergoing treatment for cancer anywhere.

Wait until the all clear has been given

X    
Circulatory Diseases Coronary artery disease. Will be on blood thinning medication so steaming and electrical facials will not be permitted

 

 X  
Unidentified lumps or swelling Lump with no known reason for appearing X    
Open cuts / abrasions Use judgement. Is it infected, red, swollen and weeping fluid?   X  
Acne Bacterial Infection, can spread.

Remove heads from pustules.

 X    
Sebaceous Cysts Round,  nodular lesion with smooth shiny surface which develops from the sebaceous gland.   X  
Boils A boil begins as a small inflamed nodule which forms a pocket of bacteria around the base of a hair follicle or a break in the skin.  Local injury or lowered constitutional resistance may encourage their development. X    
Impetigo Superficial contagious inflammatory disease caused by streptococcal and staphylococcal bacteria.  It is commonly seen on the face and around the ears and shows as weeping blisters which dry to form honey coloured crusts.  Bacteria is easily transmitted by dirty fingernails and towels. X    
Conjunctivitis A boil begins as a small inflamed nodule which forms a pocket of bacteria around the base of the eye.  In this condition the inner eyelid and eyeball appear red and sore and there may be a pus like discharge from the eye.  The infection spreads by contact with the secretions from the eye of the infected person. X    
Herpes Simplex Herpes Simplex is normally found on the face and around the lips.  It begins as an itching sensation, followed by erythema and a group of small blisters which then weep and form crusts.   X-

while active

    
Recent scar Tissue Over 6 months old. Anything under avoid the area   X
Ringworm Begins as small red papules that gradually increase in size to form a ring.  Affected areas on the body vary in severity from mild scaling to inflamed itchy area. Fungal infection. X    
Infestations

Scabies

Lice

A contagious parasitic skin condition caused by the female mite who burrows into the horny layer of the skin where she lays eggs.  The first noticeable symptoms of this is severe itching which worsens at night.  Papules, pustules and crusted lesions by develop. X    
Sunburn Radiation burns. Wait until the area has fully headed (about 4 weeks) X    
Pregnancy Check with your insurance but very rarely will you be insured to work on a pregnant client X    
Auto immune disease

Addison’s disease

Graves Disease

Lupus

An autoimmune disease is a condition in which your immune system mistakenly attacks your body.

Often their skin will be sensitive so not heat treatments like steaming and be careful with active products and massage pressure.

If in doubt always get a doctors note before proceeding

X  
Shingles Herpes zoster

Viral infection

 X    
Skin Pigmentation Standard facials can make limited progress on reducing pigmentation concerns and more advanced facial treatment will have better results  

 

   X
Psoriasis A chronic inflammatory skin condition.  Psoriasis may be recognised as the development of well-defined red plaques, varying in size and shaped, covered by white or silvery scales

Any area of the body may be affected but the most common site are face, elbows, knees, nails, chest and abdomen.  It can also affect the scalp.  Psoriasis is aggravated by stress and trauma but is improved by exposure to sunlight.

   X  
Acne drugs

Roaccutane/retin A/Vitamin A

 These drugs make the skin very sensitive and the barrier is extremely compromised

Wait until the client has been off them for 6-12 months

 X    
Overly thin/delicate skin Hypersensitive skin Work around sensitivity or adjust the treatment plan to work on the area briefly and not go over as much   X  
Eczema If on the face and inflamed or infected do not proceed. Can be work around if not serious   X  
High blood pressure If controlled it is fine, often will go red and can feel hot so avoid steaming   X  
Dermatitis Dermatitis literally means inflammation of the skin.  Contact dermatitis is caused by a primary irritant which causes the skin to become red, dry and inflamed.  Substances which are likely to cause this reaction include acids, alkalis, perfumes, solvent, lanolin, detergent and nickels.  There may be skin infection too.   X  
Moles, skin tags Projections on the skin should be worked around   X  
Mild bruising Should be worked around   X  
Botox/fillers Wait 2 weeks   X  
Hypertrophic disorders

 

 A blue-black nodule which increases in size, shape and colour and is most commonly found on the head, neck and trunk. X