3.7 The Nervous & Circulatory Systems in Cosmetology Services

3.7 The Nervous & Circulatory Systems in Cosmetology Services

The NIC outline requires candidates to identify functions of the nervous system and the circulatory system. Both appear constantly in practice: massage stimulates nerve endings and increases circulation, electrotherapy applies current to motor points, and every contraindication involving numbness, tingling or poor circulation traces back to one of these systems.

The Nervous System: Three Divisions

Neurology is the study of the nervous system. The body contains three divisions:

The brain is the largest mass of nerve tissue in the body and is the origin of twelve pairs of cranial nerves. The spinal cord originates in the brain, extends down the length of the trunk, and is the origin of thirty-one pairs of spinal nerves.

Two Types of Nerves

• Sensory nerves (afferent nerves) carry impulses from sense organs to the brain. They register touch, cold, heat, sight, hearing, taste, smell, pain and pressure. Sensory nerve endings are located close to the skin surface — which is why a scalp massage feels the way it does.
• Motor nerves (efferent nerves) carry impulses from the brain to the muscles, producing movement.

A reflex is an automatic, involuntary reaction to a stimulus that involves the movement of an impulse from a sensory receptor along the afferent nerve to the spinal cord, and a responsive impulse along an efferent neuron to a muscle — causing a reaction. A reflex does not have to be learned, and the brain is not required for it. Pulling your hand off a hot thermal iron before you consciously register the heat is the everyday example.

Cranial Nerves That Matter to a Cosmetologist

Of the twelve pairs, three are directly relevant:

Do not mix up the fifth and the seventh. Fifth = sensory (feeling), seventh = motor (movement). A common examination distractor pairs the right number with the wrong function.

Named branches a facial-massage protocol touches include the supraorbital and supratrochlear (skin of the forehead and upper eyelid), the infraorbital (skin of the lower eyelid, side of the nose, upper lip), the auriculotemporal (external ear and temple), the mental (skin of the lower lip and chin), and the buccal and zygomatic branches of the facial nerve.

Nerves of the arm and hand include the ulnar nerve (little-finger side of the arm and palm), the radial nerve (thumb side and back of the hand), the median nerve (a smaller nerve running through the mid-forearm into the hand — the one compressed in carpal tunnel syndrome), and the digital nerve serving the fingers.

The Circulatory System

The circulatory (cardiovascular) system controls the steady circulation of blood through the body by means of the heart and blood vessels. It has two divisions: the blood-vascular system (heart, arteries, veins, capillaries) and the lymph-vascular system (lymph, lymph nodes, lymph vessels).

The heart is a muscular, cone-shaped organ about the size of a closed fist, normally beating 60 to 80 times per minute in a resting adult. It has four chambers: the right atrium, right ventricle, left atrium and left ventricle.

Blood is a nutritive fluid that constitutes about eight to ten percent of body weight. It carries water, oxygen, food and secretions to cells, carries away carbon dioxide and waste, helps equalize body temperature, works with the immune system, and clots to close injured vessels — the last of which is directly relevant to the blood spill procedure.

Arteries of the head, face and neck

The common carotid arteries are the main sources of blood supply to the head, face and neck. Each divides into an internal branch (supplying the brain, eye socket, eyelids and forehead) and an external branch (supplying the skin and scalp, and the anterior parts of the head, face and neck). The external branch is the cosmetologist’s territory. Its subdivisions include the facial artery (lower region of the face, mouth and nose), the superficial temporal artery (muscles of the front, side and top of the head), and the occipital artery (the scalp and back of the head up to the crown).

Blood returns from the head, face and neck through the internal and external jugular veins.

Blood supply to the arm and hand

The ulnar and radial arteries are the main supply to the arm and hand, running along the same sides as their namesake bones and nerves.

The lymphatic system

Lymph is a clear fluid derived from blood plasma that circulates through the lymph spaces, carries waste and impurities away from the cells, and returns to the bloodstream. The lymph-vascular system reaches parts of the body the blood does not, and massage assists lymphatic movement — which is one reason facial massage patterns are directed toward lymph nodes rather than away from them.

Application: Why Massage Works

The physiological effects a cosmetologist claims for massage are the effects of these two systems. Massage increases blood circulation to the area, stimulates nerve endings located near the skin surface, helps move lymph, relaxes muscle tissue, and increases the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the skin. That is why the five classical manipulations are graded from light to firm — effleurage (light stroking), petrissage (kneading), friction (deep rubbing), tapotement (percussion), and vibration — and why effleurage opens and closes a massage sequence: it is the soothing movement.

Contraindications follow directly. Avoid massage where circulation or sensation is compromised or where stimulation is unsafe: uncontrolled high blood pressure, recent injury or surgery in the area, inflamed or infected skin, varicose veins, and any client instructed by a physician to avoid it. When in doubt, refer to a physician — diagnosis is outside a cosmetology license.