Groomer Longevity By Barbara Bird
GROOMER LONGEVITY – By Barbara Bird
As Presented to ATLANTA PET FAIR 2016
UNDERSTANDING STRESS
Understanding our relationship to stress is important to groomer survival. It is helpful to be able to identify your own signs of stress. What signals do you get at work that let you know you are in a stress mode? Here are some symptoms of stress that have been identified by mental health professionals.
HOW STRESS SHOWS UP - SIGNS OF STRESS
Cognitive Signs: Memory problems, indecisiveness, Inability to concentrate, trouble thinking clearly, poor judgment, seeing only the negative, anxious or racing thoughts, constant worrying, loss of objectivity, fearful anticipation.
Emotional Symptoms: Moodiness, agitation, restlessness, short temper, irritability, impatience, inability to relax, feeling overwhelmed, sense of loneliness or isolation, depression or unhappiness.
Physical Symptoms: Headaches or backaches, muscle tension and stiffness, diarrhea or constipation, nausea, dizziness, insomnia, chest pain or rapid heartbeat, weight gain or loss, skin breakouts, loss of sex drive, frequent colds.
Behavioral Symptoms: Eating more or less, sleeping too much or too little, isolating yourself from others, procrastination, neglecting responsibilities, using alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs to relax, nervous habits (e.g., nail biting), teeth grinding or jaw clenching, overdoing activities (exercising, shopping, hobbies), overreacting to unexpected problems, picking fights with others.
IDENTIFYING YOUR STRESSORS
The pressures and demands that cause stress are known as stressors. One person’s stressors may not be all that bad for another. What is stressful depends on many factors, including personality, general outlook on life, problem-solving ability, and available support systems. What are the stressors in your work situation? Identifying your stressors and your signs of stress are key elements in stress management. Stress management is critical to career longevity as a pet groomer.
External Stressors – Pet groomers share some common causes of stress. Difficult pets, clients with unrealistic expectations, being overbooked, all can push a groomer to the edge. A disorganized workplace, poorly performing equipment, unreasonable employers, coworkers who don’t pull their share of the load or who themselves are acting out their stress, are factors which can create stress. Constant loud noise of high velocity dryers and barking dogs is a significant stress factor for groomers.
Internal Causes of Stress –Not all stress is caused by external pressures and demands. Your stress can also be self-generated. Internal causes of stress include: Uncertainty or worries, pessimistic attitude, self-criticism, unrealistic expectations or beliefs, perfectionism, low self-esteem, unexpressed anger, lack of assertiveness.
Effects of chronic stress – The human being is designed to withstand short bursts of acute stress. Prolonged stress or “chronic stress” that doesn’t let up can challenge even a well-adjusted person’s ability to adapt. When sustained or severe stress overwhelms our coping resources, serious mental and physical health problems can result.
Emotional effects - Chronic stress grinds away at your mental health, causing emotional damage in addition to physical ailments. Long-term stress can even rewire the brain, leaving you more vulnerable to everyday pressures and less able to cope. Over time, stress can lead to mental health problems such as: anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and substance abuse.
Health effects - Recent research suggests that anywhere from 60 to 90 percent of illness is stress-related. The physical wear and tear of stress includes damage to the cardiovascular system and immune system suppression. Stress compromises your ability to fight off disease and infection, throws your digestive system off balance, makes it difficult to conceive a baby, and can even stunt growth in children. Hypothyroidism, adrenal problems, chronic fatigue and other hormonal imbalances are common to pet groomers and are related to chronic stress. Stress can also result in high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Chronic stress is not something that should be accepted as “part of the job”; it should be prevented or dealt with.
TIPS FOR STRESS MANAGEMENT - Don’t be a passive victim of your stressors. Actively planning for stress and its management makes the effects of your stressors less powerful.
· Practice Deep Breathing – Stop for a minute and take several deep, full breaths. Deep breathing can actually reduce the physical impact of stress.
· Aromatherapy works – Diffusion of essential oils is a well-established way to help with stress management. Try a Lemon, Lavender and Tea Tree blend. Lime, Vetiver and Bergamot is very calming.
· The Five Minute Vacation – When you have time, spend a few minutes imagining in detail a vacation retreat spot. Visualize the surroundings, whether it be mountain or beach, and find the sights, sounds and smells that might be there. When you notice yourself losing to your stress response, you can visit your vacation spot for five minutes and get some relief. Don’t just hide out in the bathroom, take a vacation!
· Don’t Be a Lone Soldier – Working in a vacuum without friends or support can lead to alienation and depression. Get a groomer buddy and join a support group.
· Music therapy (note: it only works if YOU like the music.)
· Take a Spiritual Bath –Did a difficult customer or a coworker give you grief? “Wash away” your stress by an imaginary cleansing of your aura, and swoosh off the negative energy into a sink basin or your tub. If this is too far out for you, just splashing the face with cool water can help. The Qi Gong exercise called, “Large Bear Swimming” is another way to get rid of bad energy and cleanse the spirit.
· Manage Your Mind – Work on your internal stressors to minimize their impact. Create positive thoughts to substitute for negative or pessimistic “tapes” that run you; practice self-praise to replace self-criticism; control perfectionism; honor yourself; practice being assertive with clients.
· Develop a personal stretching/tension release exercise program - Find stretches and energy exercises that address your particular needs and help you actively undo the tensions in your body from your work. It’s best to release this tension before you sleep – you will rest better and have better recovery.
· Attend Trade Shows & Seminars – Take home equipment, tools, techniques or ideas that will make a positive impact on the stress you experience at work. Have a plan on how you will implement change. Remember that change, even positive, can be stressful. How can you engage others around you to deal with the stress that your change might involve?
By BBird, as presented at Atlanta Pet Fair 2016
©Birdzeye Press, BBird, 2012. All copyrights apply. For permission, email author at bbirdgroomer@gmail.com
Lavender Allergy - It's a thing
Originally posted 11/17/22 Revised 3/10/25
This is a heads-up post to alert pet groomers, pet owners, and aromatherapy folks that the essential oil of Lavender, Lavandula angustifolia, AKA, Lavendula officinalis, has been identified as an allergen and an increased risk of allergic contact dermatitis. The word from the European Union is that Lavender and several other essential oils appears on the 2023 update of the official EU List of Fragrance Allergens. (See Attachment Below).
The Current list of 25 fragrance ingredients are fragrance chemicals (components of fragrances) that must be declared on cosmetic labels in the EU when their concentration in a product exceeds:
0.001% in leave-on products.
0.01% in rinse-off products.
Note that this EU regulation applies to labeling, not to formulating or usage.
What is an allergen? Also known as a "sensitizer", an allergen is a substance that has the potential to trigger the immune system to marshal an allergic response. An allergen will not trigger reactions in all individuals and it may take many exposures for an allergic response to fully develop. In the case of essential oils, sensitizing substances are the natural chemical components that make up essential oils. Each essential oil has many chemical components in varying amounts depending on the plant source. Lavender oil has 8-12 chemical substances, depending on the type and variety of the plant.
One of the components of Lavender oil, Linalool, appeared on the original EU list. A second component, Linalyl Acetate, has subsequently been identified as causing allergic reactions and now appears on the 2023 amended list (along with many others). Linalyl Acetate and Linalool, are the two largest chemical components of Lavender essential oil, accounting for 50-80% of the common varieties. (Source: Tisserand & Young, Essential Oil Safety.)
A fundamental fact to know is that lavender allergy is most often a delayed-type hypersensitivity. This means that the reaction is not immediate and can take one or two days to show up. It is more likely to happen after increased use and exposure to the linalool and linalyl acetate of lavender. (per Healthline).
Why now? Essential oils have been around forever. Why are we just recently seeing their components identified as allergens? Good question! It has to do with the huge surge in the use of Lavender and other EOs and their components in the personal care, cosmetics, and pet care industries. It takes wide use and exposure over time in order for these fragrance components to emerge as allergens. BTW, synthetic fragrances utilize the chemical components to recreate the smell of the EO or to combine it with other components to make a complex synthetic fragrance.
What does Lavender allergy mean for pet groomers? Okay, just because this allergic reaction is possible does not mean that it is likely. Lavender allergy is relatively rare. The likelihood of it happening increases with:
Concentration - full strength in direct contact with skin raises a much greater risk than highly diluted in a spray product for the coat. Some of the most prevalent cases of Lavender allergy have been connected to use in massage therapy.
Duration of contact - Brief contact in a rinse-off shampoo is much less likely to spark a reaction than contact in a cream that is left on the skin.
Frequency of contact - Lavender allergy has been identified as an occupational hazard. The massage therapist using Lavender in a massage oil several times a day is at greater risk than a person getting a massage with lavender fragrance once in a while.
Sensitivity of the individual - individuals (dogs or humans) who have experienced allergic reactions to other things are more likely to have a reaction to fragrance chemicals. There are people and dogs who have an overactive immune system.
Conclusion: We do not need to ditch our fragrances or essential oils now that we know about fragrance allergy reactions. We need to be mindful that delayed reactions can occur and not be in denial. The fact that a pet leaves our care not showing any signs of itching, rash, hives, etc. does not guarantee that there is not a problem related to our products. And be aware that bathing staff is at the greatest risk of fragrance allergies, especially if they are using the same product repeatedly. The old notion that lavender was a completely benign and harmless “natural” alternative is simply not true. Now you know! Listed below is the complete list of essential oils contained in the draft of the soon-to-be-added fragrance allergens. (2023)
References:
https://www.healthline.com/health/lavender-allergy
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30779160/
https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2022/TBT/EEC/22_6171_00_e.pdf
https://cosmeservice.com/news/regulation2023-1545-changes-the-allergen-list/
ATTACHMENT - ESSENTIAL OILS IDENTIFIED BY EU AS FRAGRANCE ALLERGENS:
Bay Leaf Oil (Laurus nobilis)
Bergamot Oil (Citrus aurantium bergamia)
Cinnamon Bark Oil (Cinnamomum zeylanicum Bark oil)
Cinnamon Leaf Oil (Cinnamomum cassia Leaf Oil)
Clove Leaf Oil (Eugenia caryophyllus)
Eastern Red Cedar Oil (Juniperus virginiana)
Eucalyptus Globulus Oil
Jasmine Oil (Jasminum officinale grandiflorum)
Lavender Oil (Lavandula hybrida, Lavandula intermedia, Lavandula angustifolia)
Lemon Oil (Citrus limon)
Lemongrass Oil (Cymbopogon citratus / schoenanthus/ flexuosus oils)
Neroli Oil (Citrus aurantium amara and dulcis Flower oil)
Orange Oil (Citrus aurantium amara and dulcis Peel oil)
Patchouli Oil (Pogostemonn cablin)
Peppermint Oil (Mentha Piperita)
Rose Flower Oil (Rosa Alba Flower Oil, Rosa Canina Fruit Oil, Rosa Centifolia Flower Oil, Rosa Gallica Flower Oil, Rosa Rugosa Flower Oil.)
Rose Geranium Oil (Pelargonium graveolens)
Rose Otto Oil (Rosa Damascena)
Spearmint Oil (Mentha Spicata)
Sandalwood Oil (Santalum Album)
Ylang Ylang Oil (Cananga Odorata)