I'm a transgender client who has had electrolysis. One thing that has stood out for me is how much better the Apilus electrolysis machines are compared with ordinary electrolysis machines, particularly in terms of comfort of treatment, and minimal skin reaction following the treatment. But I guess this would only be relevant if your potential employer uses Apilus; it's certainly been available for several years though, as I was having Apilus electrolysis treatment done back in 2000, as well as a few sessions this year too.
In terms of (male to female) transgender clients though - at the start of their electrolysis regime, many will have very dense facial hair growth often with thick, tough beard hairs; my understanding is that the most effective technique of tackling these sorts of hairs will be the blend method - this is because the combination of galvanic electrolysis (DC current which generates sodium hydroxide, "lye") with the heat from diathermy can be much more effective than either galvanic or diathermy alone - primarily because of the lye being much more effective at killing the hair follicle when heated by the diathermy. So the "kill" ratio for each insertion should be higher for blend compared with diathermy alone. The main disadvantage of blend is that it usually takes longer per insertion than diathermy - but this should be balanced out by it taking fewer sessions to kill off a given hair - particularly at the start of the treatment regime when hairs will be at their thickest and densest.
Another important consideration - particularly early on - when treating male to female transgender clients - is that some may still be working in the male role and not "out" to their work colleagues - thus you would want to work at "thinning" the beard density out gradually, rather than trying to clear a particular area completely - so as to minimise the chance of the client's facial hair distribution looking "out of place". That's another reason why the use of equipment such as Apilus - which minimises the amount of skin reaction and "collateral damage" can make such a big difference for transgender clients; back in early 2000, before my electrologist switched to using an Apilus machine, I would often get comments in work about my face looking really red and blotchy - and "was I OK?" - thankfully no-one guessed I was having electro; my mum thought I was eating too much chocolate which was causing me to have "zits"; however after switching to Apilus, there was a lot less skin reaction. So any steps you can take to minimise skin reaction and redness for your clients can make a big difference to their wellbeing. My current electrologist also uses the "cataphoresis" function on her Apilus machine to treat the skin following an electrolysis treatment; this runs the DC current with reverse polarity to the galvanic electrolysis - so hydrochloric acid is created on the face rather than sodium hydroxide - and the current is applied via a metal roller - this treatment helps neutralise any lye left in the skin following blend electrolysis, as well as helping to close up the treated hair follicles to reduce the risk of bacterial infection.
In terms of "modality" of treatment (e.g. blend vs. diathermy), later on in a client's treatment regime, you should find that any regrowth of previously treated hairs should be a lot finer; if you have a machine such as an Apilus which offers a "flash" diathermy mode, then you may be able to save time by switching to "flash" mode for the finer hairs; unlike the tough beard hairs which really benefit from the extra effectiveness of the blend method, the finer regrowth hairs should respond a lot more effectively to the quicker flash technique. Although please do ensure that an appropriate power level is used, so as to avoid skin damage. I would always prefer blend for tougher hairs rather than trying to max out the power on flash and end up with pitted skin as a consequence!
In terms of pain levels, the top lip just underneath the nose is probably the worst area to treat; one electrologist I went to said it was absolutely necessary to have that area treated though, if you wanted to avoid looking like the infamous German dictator that we fought against during World War II! So this is one area where client comfort is paramount; if a client absolutely can't tolerate the pain level of blend in that area, then switch to flash (or vice versa)... also you may be wise to tell your clients that they would likely experience less pain if they eat a decent sized meal before they come to you for treatment (or maybe pop a paracetamol or ibuprofen pill); there was one particular electrolysis session that I went to back in 2000 (pre-Apilus), where I was running late and had skipped breakfast, that I had to ask to end in the middle before my hour was up - simply because I was finding the pain so intolerable; conversely I found that the pain was a lot more tolerable after eating a big bowl of Weetos!
One of the real benefits of treating transgender clients is that it's hard to find a more loyal client base for electrolysis; most transgender clients will need at least 100 hours of electrolysis in total; people with especially dense hair growth may need 2 or 3 times that - so if you are able to provide an exceptional service, you should find that repeat business is pretty much guaranteed. An important consideration with transgender clients too is that electrolysis is the only recognised *permanent* method of hair *removal* - laser and IPL only offers hair *reduction* by comparison; electrolysis also effectively treats lighter coloured hairs that wouldn't be suitable for treatment by laser or IPL.
Hope that helps anyway; it's a mixture of my own experiences as a client, information I've picked up during the treatments I've had, and research I've done around the subject.
