An esthetician’s hands are the two most valuable tools of her trade. These skilled hands carefully stroke the face, neck, and shoulders of the client, and gently massage the head as well. While she is performing the steps of a facial, the esthetician is focused on relaxing her client, and administering the selected treatment protocol to achieve the desired results. Most estheticians have performed these movements dozens (if not hundreds) of times and view them as part of their client facial routine. However, to the client who has been diagnosed and is now living with cancer, these gentle strokes are anything but ordinary. To the cancer patient, the esthetician’s skillful touch can symbolize and feel like a return to normalcy after the mental, physical and spiritual challenges of treatment.
Uplifting the Spirit
Many cancer patients don’t want to be regarded as “special,” as their medical treatment alone sets them apart from the general population. On the contrary, they desire to be treated, to look, and most of all to feel “normal” like everyone else. Instead of the oncology client viewing the steps of her facial as routine, the hands of her esthetician (your hands) become the catalyst for her overall feeling of well-being. For the clients living with cancer, these same facial movements that we estheticians take for granted are a welcome and long-awaited lift to her spirit.
Emotional and mental distress often begins prior to a cancer diagnosis. Fear and intense anxiety can be the result of finding a skin abnormality or waiting for the results of pending diagnostic tests. This stress is compounded when a cancer diagnosis is actually received. Facing the anguish and harsh reality of having a life-threatening disease and the impact on family, work and personal finances can take an overwhelming toll on the patient; leaving them physically, mentally and spiritually drained.
The ensuing ordeal of navigating additional diagnostic tests, treatment options, recovery and aftercare can feel daunting and insurmountable. Ideally, once a cancer diagnosis is made, the individual is introduced to an oncologist (a physician who treats cancer), and a medical team that will discuss options and facilitate treatment of the disease with compassion and sensitivity. Although the intention may be to deliver services in this manner, the primary goal of physicians and medical personnel is to devote their entire focus on treating the disease, thereby making the physical body well. Adhering to this goal, the patient is given optimum physical care, yet the psychological impact of the disease is frequently overlooked.
Consequently, the mental and spiritual needs of the patient are virtually ignored and left unattended. This creates a significant gap in treatment for the cancer patient. However, the adept hands of an esthetician can effectively fill it. As a result of proficiently filling this void, estheticians have created a formal discipline known as “oncology esthetics.”
Oncology Esthetics
Oncology esthetics fills the cancer treatment gap by focusing on the cancer patient as a whole; taking into consideration their body, mind, and spirit. When using a holistic approach, an oncology esthetician considers the devastating impact that the disease has on the body, the effect it has on the emotional and mental state of the patient, and the debilitating side-effects of the cancer treatment. This determines the skin care protocol(s) and regimen to be used.
The most common form of cancer treatment is chemotherapy, which kills cancer cells and stops their growth. However, chemotherapy can compromise the skin, resulting in side effects such as dryness, loss of elasticity, itching, peeling, rashes and skin discoloration. As an esthetician, you are skilled at recognizing and treating these conditions. Your competence in this area is reassuring and brings relief to the client with cancer. Your touch gives hope and encouragement that her skin can look and feel normal again.
You are also trained to recognize signs of skin cancer before it comes to the attention of a physician. This knowledge affords you the unique opportunity to offer support to your client throughout all phases of her cancer-related journey; before diagnosis as well as during and after treatment. In doing so, you make a powerful impact on the lives of clients who live with cancer. The care received during each of these phases is critical to the overall health of the client and their potential to heal.
Education and Inclusion
Oncology estheticians acquire advanced education and specialized training to safely work with cancer patients. This training teaches the esthetician to modify spa treatments in order to safely and effectively address the skin concerns of the cancer patient. Oncology estheticians are positioned on cancer-care medical teams, and also found in day spas that specifically cater to people living with cancer. Servicing oncology clients in the day spa is a relatively new phenomenon. Unfortunately, not long ago cancer patients were frequently refused spa services due to misinformation and lack of knowledge about the disease. Today, oncology esthetics is fast-becoming a mainstream service with spa owners securing oncology training for themselves and their staff.
In addition to conventional health and beauty options, spa menus now include services to address cancer-related effects on physical appearance, such as bra fitting and breast (areola) tattooing for mastectomy patients. Another side effect of chemotherapy is hair loss, therefore wigs and other hair replacement services are also available. All of these services are invaluable to the cancer patient for developing a positive body image and maintaining a positive mental attitude.
Compassionate Care
Although you may not be formally trained in oncology esthetics, your heart-felt, compassionate, gentle touch can only result in the mental, physical and spiritual elevation of your client. Your hands perform protocols of peace, calm and hope for all those who experience your gifted touch; especially for a client who has cancer. It is possible to encounter spa clients who are living with cancer without you being aware of it. In their quest to feel normal, the client may not tell you, and it may not be obvious just to look at them. As a precaution, you can include a question about cancer diagnosis and treatment during your intake process.
However, whether or not you have knowledge of your client’s physical state, you will want to support her, by setting the intention of rejuvenation and healing at the beginning of your session. This sets the tone for the uplifting energy that will transpire for the duration of your time together. Your hands have the amazing ability to convey a message of comfort, inspiration, hope and acceptance directly to her body, mind and spirit.
The Power to Transform
Being an esthetician, you not only have the ability to effectively treat skin, but you also literally possess the power to transform lives. You heal adverse skin conditions and soothe souls with the compassionate, cradling movements of your hands. You provide a lifeline to the unsuspecting client whom you caution about having possible cancerous skin cells. You bring comfort to the client who is undergoing cancer treatment, and reassurance that life can be normal again to the cancer-recovery client.
This month is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a time when we support breast cancer survivors and honor the courage of all people living with cancer. Let’s also acknowledge the importance of one-on-one support, which estheticians provide, and the powerful impact it has on holistic cancer treatment.
