Hi
Can anyone tell me the effect steroids has on the skin and what treatments are not allowed?

I have a new client who wants a half leg wax and a paraffin wax treatment on her feet. She has also been asking about an eye lash perm. I asked her lots of questions and it was also obvious to see that she has severe arthritis in her hands and feet. She is on medication for this including steroids. Does this affect the skin?

Any advice would be really helpful.

Thanks

Victoria

steroids will thin the skin.

I googled "effect of steroids on skin" and found this.

Skin problems from systemic steroids

The skin is prone to the following adverse effects from prolonged courses or high doses of systemic steroids. These may include:

• Increased risk of skin infections such as bacterial infections (e.g. cellulitis) and fungal infections (e.g. tinea, candida)
• Skin thinning resulting in easy bruising (purpura), skin tearing after minor injury, slow healing, and stretch marks (striae).
• Acne: clusters of small spots on face, chest and upper back.
• Subcutaneous lipoatrophy (loss of fat under the skin surface) from injected steroid that does not go deep enough into the muscle.

Thanks for the info Kate

If you log onto medicines.org.uk u can read the patient information leaflets (you know those really long things folded up inside the drug box), they tell you all the side effects of the medicine. You'd need to type in the drug name rather than just 'steroid' so try something like 'deltacortil' or 'prednisolone'. (I'm a pharmacy tech, and imo this is the best most reliable way of reading up info on any drug in 'English', rather than the scientific gobbledy gook on journal papers etc., or just by looking on websites you don't know where they got the info from)

thats really helpful, thanks,

You could always try a small area and see how it goes, but get her to get a docs letter for your files first. It's a shame as people who have medical conditions still want to get waxed and for the most part, they are fine if they do get waxed. xxx

Hi hun, i would explain to your lady what u have read above and perhaps suggest using a cream instead for hair removale. I certainly would not wax this lady hun or even test patch an area as different parts the skin on the leg will be thinner than other areas and as such could leave your lady in a teribble mess.

Kim is right that ladies who have medical conditions do want to be waxed and i feel for them to, but these guidlines are put in place for our ladies and for our safety so please hun just explain to your lady and i am sure she will understandxxxxx

I think I would make a referral by letter to her GP asking for medical permission to do the treatments. If you include a simple statement for the doc to complete at the bottom of the letter, he/she will probably complete it without charging your client. It will give you peace of mind and satisfy insurance requirements.

i cant say i would palm her off so quickly without trying to help her first. i wouldnt want to tell a client to use cream or shave, as i dont reccomend it. If they want waxing, its up to us to try and help them as much as we can. And to be honest, its so unlikely anything will happen. I would still get permission from her doc or see what they say. Make sure you use a little oil to stop the wax from stucking to the skin in the first place, it cant tear what its not stuck to can it! lol.