1st Time Electrolysis Experience (Chicago)

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
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Hi folks, I just wanted first to say a BIG thank you to everybody who has posted on this forum. Your stories, advice, pictures and experiences are invaluable. It has been a huge help to me as I start this journey into electrolysis.

Very briefly, I’m a 35 year old woman who is hispanic/middle eastern. Around age 22, I started to notice what used to be a couple of hairs on my neck started to increase. By 25, I was shaving daily and by 30, I read about PCO on the internet and decided to see a doctor for help.

I was helped with my PCO symptoms for a while by BCP and metformin and later by medicine to help my underactive thyroid.

However, I’m not a big fan of pharmaceutical drugs and wanted to get to the underlying problem so I tried acupuncture and some holistic treatments (including taking Saw Palmetto for a while, which helped at first but then did little.)

The PCO was not cure…and the hair increased.

Anyway, I have a wonderful, loving patient partner, but I never wanted my face touched and it was leading to very weird behaviors on my part. ( I mean, who doesn’t love to cuddle and nuzzle? But, can’t really do that with stubble.)

Anyway, this year, I decided its time, TIME, to do SOMETHING about all this facial hair.

I’ve appreciated the pictures others have posted, but I’ll spare you pictures of me. Let’s just say, if I don’t shave for 4 or 5 days, I can grow a pretty decent goatee and beard. (Weirdly, tho, never had a moustache! <knock on wood>.

A friend of mine casually mentioned about 5 years ago that she was seeing a “great Polish woman” electrologist and I thought, OK. I gotta find this woman.

Now, I did everything wrong. I didn’t read anything on the internet (except reviews of Chicago area electrologists on Yelp.com). And I went to my first consultation hardly knowing which questions to ask. (I know MUCH more now from reading this forum. Thanks again everybody.)

I HAD gone to one salon to get my legs waxed where they did electrolysis but I didn’t feel like the service there made me feel comfortable enough to talk to them about electrolysis.

So, I made an appointment for a consultation with Grace, of Grace Electrolysis in Chicago. I noticed on her wall that she has a license from the state of Illinois and is a member of the AEA. That made me feel comfortable. She has other training certificates on the wall and she is very easy going.

(cont…in the next post…)

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She put me on the table and looked at my face and started to talk to me about my PCO and getting that under control. She did say right away that “of course she could help me.” She said she has a lot of transgendered clients so I wouldn’t be a problem. Now, I’m NOT transgendered, but I am gay, so it was a big plus that she is gay friendly.

She was also very upfront that it could take up 2 years to do my cheeks, chin, neck, upper lip and sideburns.

Now, I wasn’t surprised by that … and that’s largely thanks to the info here! Otherwise I would’ve been completely deflated by how long it’s going to take.

However, I am determined to have smooth, clear soft skin one day and put this hairy-shaving-stubble-unfeminine thing behind me once and for all.

My first appointment was just to talk. We talked about doing one hour a week and about post-treatment (she recommended Vitamin E oil as a moisturizer, only oil free makeup, no more plucking (shaving is OK), and she said to avoid aloe vera.)

My second time this past Monday was actually a treatment.

Now, thanks to James advice I loaded up on water 48 hours before treatment. I drank 10 16oz glasses of water both days and 4 16oz glasses before my treatment. I drink coffee every day, but I didn’t have any the day of the treatment. I also had only 1 cup the day before.

One hour before my treatment, I took 2 advils (I told Grace one reason I put off electrolysis was the fear of pain.) She asked me what I took because I was so comfortable.

Well, I was happy to report that my first treatment did not hurt! Grace used a numbing, topical wipe on my face (not a cream, but I don’t know what it was and it lasted about the whole hour.) It made my appointment very comfortable. She was friendly and chatty and worked quickly and steadily. She did my cheeks, part of my chin and my upper lip (she put cotton in my mouth under my lip and applied more numbing ‘stuff’ and that didn’t hurt at all either.)

That was very cool. I love that she was very careful to make sure I was comfortable.

I had 4 days of growth (which was h*ll on my self esteem and social life) when I went in, and Grace said that was too much. She said 2 days would be plenty for next time.

After the treatment, she gave me ice packs to put on my face for 10 minutes. Now I was concerned because I’ve read elsewhere that the face should be left alone, untouched, but the ice felt good, so I used it.

Grace did say I could shave the untreated areas if I wanted to, and I read somewhere that an electric shaver is better while a person is doing electrolysis, so I went out and bought one.
After the treatment, I went home and the treated areas looked beautifully smooth. I took the day off work because I didn’t know how my face would look. Grace didn’t mention it, but thanks, again, to this forum, I knew to use Witch Hazel when I got home. That seems to have worked well. I’ve used it every day.

The first 48 hours, my face did indeed look like I had very bad acne. I had bumps and little pinpoint scabs on my cheeks and some “whitehead” looking things on my chin. That freaked me out a little. Every day, 3 times a day, I’ve used the Witch Hazel and by 72 hours, my face looked much better. Today, (96 hours after treatment) in fact, I wore makeup to work (Neutrogena oil free) and my skin looked almost back to normal.

I have been religious about keeping my hands OFF my face (I didn’t realize how much I touch my face) and today I used a very gentle face soap I ordered online from Skin Biology. I didn’t scrub or exfoliate and my skin feels good.

I know I’m in for a long haul of treatments, but I’m so happy and excited to finally, finally begin this journey.

I do have a couple of questions:

–Is it OK to ice right after treatment?
–Is it OK to use Witch Hazel every day, 3X a day between treatments (applied with sterile cotton balls).
–Any reason why Vitamin E oil would be a problem? I put it on at night before I go to bed and my skin seems to be responding well. (It’s Nature’s Gate 40K I-U Vitamin E organic oil)
–Is there anything more I can do to reduce the “acne like” look of treatments on my face in the first 48 hours, or will that lessen over time? OR is that a factor of the electrologist’s capabilities? What can I say to her about this that will be helpful about lessening that?

–Grace uses the magnifying light and not a microscope or anything like that for treatment. Can I still feel confident I’ll get good treatments? How would I know for sure?

Anyway, sorry for the long post. Thanks for listening and thanks for all your great advice, folks. Keep up the great work.

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Hi ChicagoGal – Just got back from Chicago, myself!

Yes, witch hazel can be used as often as needed. Sometimes you can alternate it with aloe vera–straight from the plant.

I have been told NOT to use any kind of oil after electrolysis, so I haven’t tried vitamin E oil. Might skip it.

I haven’t used straight ice on my face, but cold washcloths or a cloth-covered ice pack (gel) feels nice. I don’t know why ice would hurt.

In time, that red “acne look” will be less noticable with each treatment and will heal faster. I used to have that red bumpiness for two days; now it only lasts an hour! By the time I get home, it’s gone. I still wash the makeup off that she puts on it (covers the red) as soon as I get home and cover it with witch hazel.

You might ask Grace if she will do cataphoresis on your face after treatment. It feels good and closes off the capillaries, meaning faster recovery.

Stay out of the sun. Skin seems more photosensitive with electrolysis. Electro on a burn–ouch.

Grace is Polish? Polish people are some of the most maticulous people I’ve ever known, no matter what their profession is. Sounds like you have a winner.

Now, you need to treat the cause of your facial hair, which is undoubtedly androgen excess. Try to find a hormone doctor who will check your free testosterone level. You may just have very sensitive androgen receptors. I couldn’t find a doctor, myself, and had to resort to buying an androgen blocker overseas. See if you can’t get that handled by an M.D. It needs to be looked at, or else it will appear the electrologist isn’t doing her job when it’s really all the new growth caused by free testosterone.

I learned the hard way!

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Thanks for your reply, CoffeeGal! I’ll ask about cataphoresis.

In terms of the androgen excess: no doubt there’s something going on there.

However, I’ve had blood test after blood test come back with testosterone levels right in the middle of the normal range. In fact, my hormone levels always come back “normal”. What comes back elevated in the blood glucose levels, which always leads MD’s to suspect insulin resistance and PCO.

I’m seeing a new doctor next month and I’m hoping we’ll be able to figure out what exactly is going on here and get it under control.

Separately, it’s weird, because, 5 days after my treatment, the treated areas still look smooth and clean. It looks like the electrologist cleared them pretty good. I know it’s only the beginning, and I’ll be tackling this for dozens of months yet, but, boy does it give me hope!

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I do have a couple of questions:

–Is it OK to ice right after treatment? [color:#6666CC]YES.[/color]

–Is it OK to use Witch Hazel every day, 3X a day between treatments (applied with sterile cotton balls). [color:#6666CC]Absolutely YES.[/color]

–Any reason why Vitamin E oil would be a problem? I put it on at night before I go to bed and my skin seems to be responding well. (It�s Nature�s Gate 40K I-U Vitamin E organic oil) [color:#6666CC]The research is very mixed on Vitamin E as a topical. Most say it is of no benefit. You don’t need this, in my opinion. The oil will clogged. Keep things simple and pure by usining witch hazel and cold aloe vera out of the fridge or cut from a plant. Tea tree oil is a winner in my book for night time use. Only use a dab.[/color]

–Is there anything more I can do to reduce the �acne like� look of treatments on my face in the first 48 hours, or will that lessen over time? [color:#6666CC]This will lessen over time as less hair needs to be treated. The first several treatments are the hardest and worst you will ever have because the hairs are numerous and usually thick. [/color]

OR is that a factor of the electrologist�s capabilities? What can I say to her about this that will be helpful about lessening that? [color:#6666CC]Communicate with her definitely, but please try to understand that we electrologists are in the business of destroying tissue so that big ugly hairs will never return. Skin manifestations should be minor and heal with a week or two, but most heal sooner. I don’t know how anyone could expect to look normal right after treatment when we are doing microsurgery on hundreds of individual hair follicles at a time. There will be swelling, redness, maybe some pustules (that’s where that wonderful tree tea oil at night comes in),maybe some temporary hyperpigmentation that will fade gradually. All these things should be expected, but many times to everyones delight, they don’t happen. If they happen, don’t freak out, but rather talk to Grace. She is trying to get to know your skin type, healing powers and your cooperation as a client. She may be able to do something different next time, but if she trys all the goodies she has up her sleeve and nothing works, then it just amy be something that you can’t help and she can’t help. [/color]

I like the fact that you are seeing a new doctor. Even though your hormonal levels check out fine, you may still just be a hormonally vulnerable woman. There are many healthy women out there who have hair where they shouldn’t, but nevertheless, you must get a medical profile to make sure it isn’t some more than genetics.

–Grace uses the magnifying light and not a microscope or anything like that for treatment. Can I still feel confident I�ll get good treatments? How would I know for sure? [color:#6666CC]You should not feel like the hair is being plucked and should not always feel the probe being inserted.[/color]

The anesthetic wipes that were used puzzle me, in the fact that I really don’t see how anything like that could send medication down deep enough to the bundle of nerves that surround each hair follicle. I think the Advil and water helped more.

You will love electrolysis and will be so happy with the results when it is done correctly. Grace sounds good, stay close to her and always communicate, as this is a partnership based on mutual trust.

Dee

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Thanks for your reply, Dee. As usual, you are always so helpful and re-assuring.

Dee you mentioned that I should not feel like the hair is being plucked and should not always feel the probe being inserted.

I don’t really feel the probe being inserted, but sometimes it feels like the hair is being pulled. Not plucked, exactly, but tugged. Does that make sense?

Well, today I went back for my second, one-hour treatment.

It’s been a week since my first treatment and I had some minor skin pigmentation on my chin and left cheek. Grace, the electrologist, said that that should go away in time and she reminded me to make sure to wear sunscreen when I’m out (I foolishly took a walk Saturday in 85 degree sunshine without it. About 20 minutes into my walk, I thought, wait a minute! I forgot my sunscreen. What an idiot! And I went back home.)

So far, I’ve been very pleased with how my skin looks in the treated areas. Right now, the difference between the treated areas and shaved areas is pretty noticable to my eyes. (Treated areas look better).

I looked a little closer on the walls today and I see that Grace is also a CPE and a member of the Electrology Association of Illinois, 2 other things that make me feel more confident in the treatments (I’m still a nervous nelly about this whole thing.)

Again, this weekend again I drank lots of water, and took 2 Advils before my treatment. Since she was clearing the sideburns this time, it hurt a bit more. Not unbearably. Just more than last time.

She didn’t use the numbing wipe hardly at all this time (and when I asked, she didn’t really say what it was, other than to say it was a topical something. Not EMLA).

She did tell me she’s doing thermolysis. She’s using a Fischer TS 1 Pro Therm.

I did ice a little longer after this treatment (about 15-20 minutes or so). It was a pretty extenstive treatment, but the sideburn area (3 hours later) is looking pretty good. Hardly any redness or swelling at this point.

We haven’t even started under the chin area yet, but the area that was cleared during the last treatment stayed almost completely hair free all week.

Well, that’s it for now. I’ll keep posting every so often on how things are going, especially once I know more from my new doctor about what is going on with the androgen excess.

Thanks again for all your encouragement and good advice!

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“I don’t really feel the probe being inserted, but sometimes it feels like the hair is being pulled. Not plucked, exactly, but tugged. Does that make sense?” [color:#3366FF]Since many hairs are in different stages of growth in these earlier treatments, some hairs will be more resistant than others. Good, moist growing hairs will slide out without a whimper and dry hard bulby hairs will resist with all their might. I’m thinking that this is what is happening in your case, but do ask your electrologist as well.[/color] All still sounds normal to me.

Glad to be of some help to you and continued success!

Dee

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Hi all,

Just wanted to come back and give an update on my treatments.

I’ve been going every week since my post in July (with the exception of one week) and the treatments are going well.

I had 2 hour treatment today (since I missed last week) and my electrologist said that very soon I’ll be able to go in every other week, instead of every week.

She also said that while we are doing thermolysis right now, we’ll probably switch to blend once we get down to fewer hairs.

I got my first full clearance on my 13th appointment (I was only going one hour a week at first and have since upped my appointments to 90 minutes.)

Like I said earlier, I have extensive, coarse, facial hair for a woman so I wasn’t concerned about how long that took, except that, naturally, I’m impatient to get to the day where I’m smooth and clear again.

On the medical front, my new physician and I are trying to get to the bottom of my hirsutism. I’ve had a battery of blood tests and ultrasounds to check for androgen excess, insulin resistance, thyroid problems, PCO, etc. The good news is that everything so far checks out completely normal. (That in itself was a surprise to my doctor who thinks I was actually mis-diagnosed as having PCO).

Next week, I’m going to an endrocrinologist to see if we can’t get some answers. More tests will probably be scheduled. My physician said my excessive facial hair could be “idiopathic (no known cause)”, but we’ll see.

As far as the electrolysis treatments are going, I am seeing a small, but noticable reduction in hair on my cheeks and neck. Nothing great, but small steps.

I only have two grievances at this point:

  1. My face is still bumpy and blotchy for up to 48 hours after treatment (it looks like I have bad acne), but then clears up quickly after that point. The problem it that it’s a killer on my social life and my self-perception when I’m out in public.

That’s because 2 days a week my face looks like hell because of the treatment, and then at least 1 day a week, I look like hell because I have to let my facial hair grow out and I’m horribly self-conscious about people seeing me in public (even though I slab on the makeup and try to avoid people).

Plus, my hyperpigmentation fades slowly, so I’m not too happy with how I look right now. I know I’ll look better later, when the treatments are done, but for right now, it’s tough.

  1. I sometimes get the “mid treatment doldrums.” And by that I mean I get discouraged at how long its going to take to get hair free. I’m 4 months into the treatments and have many, many more to go (my electrologist estimated up to 20 more months). I know at the end of all this I’ll be so happy and pleased with my results, but the getting there is sometimes a bummer.

Fortunately for me, so far <crossing fingers> I’m easily able to handle the expense of treatment and have budgeted well for what I’ll need.

I check back here often and am always appreciative of this board. Thanks for reading!

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I can tell that you are a student of this site. You are going to be successful and reach your hair removal goals because you “get it!” Many appreciate your posts and we will look forward to your next report, Chicago.

Dee