Are you in pain? When you chose a career in hairdressing you may not have thought that you were entering
a highly physical profession. Yet often the reason someone leaves the industry has to do with the physical toll it can take on you. Longtime Redken
hair styling educator Sam Villa (in photo), who now has his own company called Allvus, tells me that the way hairdressers hold their body is most common mistake they make.
"Your body position is critical every time you pick up a section of hair," Sam says. "Hairdressers have to pay attention to how they're holding their head, arm, wrist and back. So many stylists have back problems, carpal tunnel, sore legs and other physical ailments because all of their attention is on the hair they're cutting. Improper body position not only hurts the hairdresser but also creates problems in the cut. Then the hairdresser has to spend time going back and fixing the hair."
To correct your body position, Villa recommends simply forming new habits. The habit of standing properly will lead to a fundamental change in your belief system about how to hold yourself. Sam says, "If you change your habits and get better results, you'll believe in the new methods." And whenever you're watching an cosmetology educator perform a technique, whether it's a
hair video or in person, observe the positioning of the entire body so that you can create the same style in a physically safe manner.