Regardless of one's position on the appropriateness of the trademark names, MicroFlash and PicoFlash, an electrolysis practitioner in the United States who doesn't know that they exist is just not paying attention to the andvancements in the equipment industry at all.

MicroFlash is 1/1,000th of a second.

Yes, an older epilator can "kill" hair, and we never have said it couldn't, but the newer computerized epilators offer so many more positive advantages for the hairy. Once an electrologist comes to discover these positve differences, they wonder why they didn't make the switch a long time ago - and so do their clients. I'll go a step further and boldly say that it is highly likely that any electrologist that has not updated her/his equipment, including vision wear, is not fully serving the hairy to her/his best abilities. We must be able to serve the needs of clients with ALL hair structures. Thus, we hear passionate plea's from posters like "alli". Believe me, clients are extremely grateful to all those fabulous electrologists that have stepped into the 21st century.

I guess I've been away too long. Micro and Pico flash are trademarked names that apply to a individual epilator? Or are they just names for doing thermolysis really fast.. if so they are not "trademarked", just saying kleenex for a tissue

Milli 1/1,000th or .001
micro 1/1,000,000th or .000001
nano 1/1,000,000,000 or .000000001
pico 1/1,000,000,000,000 or .000000000001

Computerized epililators were available 30 years ago.. what does computerized mean. There were units that had a microprocessor that controlled timing.. others that just had a circuit board to convert your dial setting(still analog) into a digital readout for the front of the case.. just bells and whistles.. One guy actually drilled holes in the front of an epilator and ran christmas lights around the edge so there would be flshing lights. He said it increased business

Dectro (Apilus) uses microflash and picoflash, they are the only ones who do, I believe; my SM-500 does "microflash".

I was very skeptical of picoflash, but after a (contiguous) few hours of treatment I changed my mind. Versus regular flash (what my local electro uses), the reduction in pain alone was worth it. I went from needing a topical on my upper lip, to getting away with none (not absolutely painless but tolerable with no topical anesthetic.)

I wonder, are they working on an "attoflash" machine right now?

Apilus is not the only horse in this race. My previous epilator, Silhouet-Tone VMC, performed MicroFlash superbly! I believe Clareblend has a new epilator that does the same thing. Gentronics is another company. Don't know about Fischer, but I assume their top of the line epilator does as well.

Apilus is the only brand that offers an epilator that does PicoFlash thermolysis, so maybe thats what you were thinking about, Vickie.

Dee

I knew the Silhouet-tone VMC had the equivalent of microflash, but I wasn't sure if they called it that (I assumed "microflash" was a trademark of Dectro, I could be wrong.) I almost ended up with a VMC a few months ago, so I knew a bit about it. I almost got it for a song, but it turned out to the a story of the one that got away.

The fact that an electrologist has not heard of microflash bothers me much more than if he/she simply chooses not to use it. To me that means one of a variety of things: A. they are lazy. B. They don't care about the degree of pain delivered to the client, the speed of their work, or the variety of hairs they may be able to treat. C. They are not willing to invest the money or time to upgrade. All of the above are disappointing. Professionals of any kind should seek the most up to date knowledge, at the least, about technology and methods in order to better serve their clients.A well informed electrologist is just as important to me as a knowledgeable doctor, teacher, or dentist. One should always be on the up and up in his/her line of work, whatever it may be. Thats good business and good ethics.

When I only need to treat some random dark hairs on my chin I feel perfectly comfortable going somewhere closer to home who does blend and does not have a brand new machine. I know blend works. The issue is not whether it works or not. The issue is that I have an abundance of other finer hairs that need attention in sensitive areas with small follicles and any well informed electrologist will tell you that to address these with the least amount of suffering on the table and be able to clear an area in a reasonable amount of time microflash or picoflash is the best bet AND OF COURSE WITH SUPERB LIGHTING AND MAGNIFICATION EQUIPMENT. Although I don't have a lot of money I am spending a great portion of it on electrolysis and someone practicing closer to me could stand to make quite a bit of steady cash out of me for no other than doing the best job they can...but some simply choose not to.And no one has an excuse to not have decent lighting and mag equipment as far as I'm concerned.

So I am assuming that "microflash" and "picoflash" are exclusive to Dectro? If they are then they shouldn't be used as Kleenex(tissue).
If the Silhouet-tone(instantron?) has the equivelent of "microflash" then the word doesn't mean anything other than kleenex.

Not hearing of a term that is exclusive? to a certain manufacturer does not make someone less knowledgable than another, just means they didn't get a sales pitch from that company. As an example.. our epilator, the compuderm, actually timed out to 1 thousanth of a second. The unit would turn the current on and then off again before you had the foot pedal fully depressed, faster than you could blink your eye, and I KNOW that it was in thousanths not Millionths(micro), or faster (pico). Just buzz words.

FYI fischer now belongs to Hinkle;)

Not to change the subject.. but alli, what happened to you that you keep pushing lighting and magnification? Did you have an electrologist that used you as a dart board with their eyes closed in a dark room? Sorry not to make a joke, but most electrologist I have ever seen.. and thats been alot, most always use a lighted magnifier lamp with a 3 diopter lens, or a dental light with magni-focuser(or equivelent). Very few people could/or would use the naked eye.. it would be to eye-straining.

Dermarzob:

Silhout-Tone is not Instatron. They are two different companies. Microflash is not exclusive to Apilus/Dectro. Have you been to any continuing education classes or have you done any type of at home continuing education over the last thirty years? Have you done any networking with other electrologists?

Have you personally treated clients with, let's say,...... an Apilus Platinum or a SX-500 or a Silhout-Tone VMC for at least a year????? If you haven't used any of these products, which are just a FEW examples of newer generation computerized epilators available today, then what you say about trademarks, Christmas tree lights and "just bells and whistles" makes me think your skeptitism is all about fear to progress to newer technology.

This is the kind of language that clings to what worked for you in the past without any hint that maybe, just maybe, epilators, even computerized ones, have been improved and advanced so well over the last thirty years that the poor client may actually now experience treatments that have the advantage of less skin reaction, more comfort, fastest time to completion and thus less money spent. What novel ideas to deliver such wonderful permanent hair removal to hairy consumers? At rates of $80 per hour, I think clients deserve electrologists that can deliver all those things with surgical loupes, as oppossed to Sam's Club reading glasses, so they can see all hair structures. Also, for $80 an hour, the consumer should expect that the practitioner is using a superb epilator that allows one to speed through those "hair neighborhoods" to get a clearance asap.

Before you lay out your trademark argument with all your math charts, why don't you just purchase one of these fabulous epilators, get training, use it for a minimum of one year and then come back and tell us what you think. Otherwise, your statements hold no real value and the profession of electrology will continue to be dragged down by those that think that technology of the past is better than the technology of the present. Consumers are the real losers when electrologists don't move forward with proven, newer technology that really works well.

Your last paragraph shows you fear the new.

I also have what I think are little scars. They are little white bumps. The hair follicles turn whitish.