I have recently stopped having electrology done on my bikini line after 7 years of monthly treatments. I believe I have as much if not more hair than when I started.
At the beginning, I remember at least being pleased with the results for a few weeks between treatments (after the red bumps subsided and before the hair started growing back). However, toward the end of my treatments, I had the red bumps, and the bruises, then the ingrown hairs and finally the fresh crop of thick course hair. It is relentless.
My electrologist has been in business for 25 years or so and said that she doesn’t understand my case - that my body just keeps growing hair. Pardon my ignorance but I have no idea what method she was using.
I’d appreciate some advice and some possible explanation for why electrology has not worked for me. I’m looking for a permanent hair removal option - shaving leaves horrible rash and ingrown hairs.
You would have to describe the treatments you have been getting, for us to comment on this.
It doesn’t sound like you were getting electrolysis, or if you were, you did not get good electrolysis, because unless you were getting very few hairs per hour, you should be long finished by now on the schedule you quoted.
I’m sure it must seem like I am a complete dimwit after having done this for so long and not be able to give you more specifics. My electrologist was certified as an electrologist. She and I discussed whether or not her technique was at fault. She said that she could tell when she pulled the hair out whether she had successfully found the follicle. True, I could tell that she was not pulling out my hair - it came out easily. For a while she tried a double insertion technique to blast the follicle twice or something. All that seemed to do was make the bruises worse.
At the time my treatments began, I did some investigation and trusted the information that electrology would be more effective than laser hair removal. And obviously, this was the same information that my electrologist gave me. I assumed that my patience would be rewarded.
I had my OB test me for hormonal abnormalities or hairsuitism (SP?) but everything was normal.
It would be helpful to me to understand which methods of electrology are more effective to which types of hair/skin, or if it even works like that. If someone could direct me to this information, I would be very grateful.
Published studies suggest 7-10% of electrolysis clients do not see improvement. Below are three key studies.
Verdich (1979): Of 56 women treated, 90% were satisfied, but most found it expensive and slow.
Richards (1986): Based on 35,000 hours of observation, this clinic found 93% of electrolysis patients improved. See also the 10-year follow-up Richards (1995).
Richards (1995): A follow-up to the Richards (1986) study cited above. Now with 140,000 hours of observations, the original observations were further confirmed.
It’s unknown why some people do not respond to treatment.
There’s something wrong here. It could be anything that relates to the electrologist skill and technique (regardless of 25 years of experience) to equipment issues. I’m left thinking about your comment describing bruising. You make it sound commonplace, which it should not be. The second consideration that is not discussed is whether you were on a poor schedule,where you got no clearances at all. That’s a sure bet that will set you up for big time failure.
Those studies posted leave me unconvinced. Hair can be permanently treated and it doesn’t take seven years. There is information missing here that we may never have the priviledge to understand.
Was there no improvement at all? Do you have any areas that are bald? btw a ‘normal’ hormone test result is often returned for women with significant facial hair growth, so a ‘normal’ reading does not rule out a hormonal cause. But before we get into all that, why not just describe a typical appointment and a bit more about the bruising.
With regard to never getting a full clearance, there were a few times during the 7 years that I took a few months off due to the birth of my two children so my electrologist would have had the opportunity to start fresh.
So, as indicated, I did have two pregnancies during that time which could explain hormonal changes but not 7 years worth.
My electrologist would usually start on the same side and finish that side before going to the other side. At first I was able to get completely cleaned up in 30 minutes but most recently, it was requiring 45 minutes which I did not always have so i wasn’t always getting all of it off. Ironically (or not), the side that she always started on and therefore treated more regularly has more hair than the other side.
Perhaps “bruising” is not the correct term. I started to say “scarring” but that doesn’t seem right either since the visible signs eventually went away. After the procedure, I always had tiny red bumps or scabs where she inserted the needle that went away after a few days. Additionally, toward the end, there were marks that looked like small round bruises that were still there after the tiny red bumps went away.
I’m a full-time working mother of two children under the age of 6 so I haven’t ruled out stress either.
Perhaps this gives you something more to work with. I appreciate your continued advice.
Even with having had two pregnancies and the increased hormones and stress that can go along with these events, you should not have taken anywhere near this long to be completely hairfree. There is definitely something wrong here. Under normal circumstances it takes approximately 6 months to see a difference and 1-2 years to complete an area with electrolysis. Body hairs tend to grow in more slowly than facial hairs.
I don’t want to sound rude, but why did you stay with this electrologist when you were not getting good results? I can understand that you can get to like the person, yet you are paying for a service and you were not getting what you paid for. Electrolysis works when done properly.
7-10% of people don’t see results from ELECTROLYSIS?!?! WHOA. That is a lot of non responders, what makes someone a non responder? Does anybody know? I don’t respond to laser, so I bet there is a good chance I won’t respond to electrolysis
I think this is a straightforward case of incorrect treatment too, and I really sympathise a great deal. When I was younger I went to two very experienced and highly recommended electrologists who both gave me absolutely terrible treatment. I realised when I became an electrologist that they were simply stuck in their ways and hadn’t even bothered to try other settings/methods.
Mind you, 7 years is pretty excessive. I really think she should have referred you elsewhere.
7-10% of people don’t see results from ELECTROLYSIS?!?! WHOA. That is a lot of non responders, what makes someone a non responder? Does anybody know? I don’t respond to laser, so I bet there is a good chance I won’t respond to electrolysis
That’s if you believe that all variables were in place to reach those percentages as stated in those particular studies. As I said, I am not convinced and never will be by those conclusions.
I would like to know the methodology used to come up with the 7 - 10% non-responder statistic. If this were true, it would mean that at least 5 out of every hundred people that any electrologist sees, CAN’T be well serviced, and I have not seen that in my practice at all. I have only seen people who don’t come in on schedule, who magically go from “non-responders” to bare as soon as I convince them to do what I tell them to do for a short time, so that I can show them what is truely possible, if they just give it the chance.
Perhaps sometime in the near future, I will be able to go forward with some of the projects I am hoping to do to push this to the next level.
As for 7years, you started saying you went every week for 7 years, then you said you had long absences. Could it also be that you were not every week outside of those absences? Could it also be that you may not have had appointments long enough during that time as well?
Response rates vary greatly. The most likely cause is practitioner skill, followed by regularity of treatments. If you are not treating hairs in anagen (growth) stage, it’s not going to help much. Some people have very dry skin, which can cause lower success rates, and some people have very low pain thresholds, which doesn’t allow for high enough settings. All of this is true for electrolysis or laser. However, laser has a much higher non-response rate than electrolysis, even on ideal candidates. The laser response rate worsens as hair color gets lighter.
Of course, most of us practitioners would call the conditions a little misleading when using the term “non-responders.” Lack of practitioner skill is no fault of the client, nor is it an accurate depiction of electrolysis and the rest are things that could be altered in order to bring about good treatment. Get a good practitioner, get on a good schedule, do enough work in a short enough period of time, and watch the hair decrease from there. If you are too dehydrated to get good work done, get drinking the water, and upping the electrolytes and both your body and your electrologist will thank you. Your unwanted hair won’t be too happy about it though <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
This is why I say there are no biologically non-responding people, just people who are either failed by their practitioner’s skill, or fail themselves by not getting the proper treatment, on the proper schedule, and in the correct amounts.
This kind of information cannot be stressed enough on this site. Simple truths always fall through the cracks. Thanks to both of you, James and Andrea, for re-emphasizing plans of action that set people up for success.
So this “7 years of electrolysis and still as hairy as ever” stuff is explained. Sevenyears, if you are still interested in pursuing an end to your unwanted hair problem, find a skilled practitioner who will get you results in a 9-12 month time frame. It can be achieved. There is no doubt about it… no doubt.
I stayed with the same electrologist because of the convenience of her location. I just got into a routine and didn’t think enough about what I was doing to question until I counted up the years and figured that something wasn’t right about the situation.
Thanks for all of your help. I’ve found a dermatologist office that offers all types of hair removal. I plan to make an appt there. However, if you have any recommendations in my area, I’d love to hear them.
Aaahhh, Alanta. Another poster here on hairtell, “laserhater”, may have gone to someone in the Atlanta area and was very pleased with her results. Even though she had facial hair removed, it makes no difference as many electrologists are very flexible and can zoom from one area to another. You could also, try to private message laserhater or read through her posts to see if she mentioned who she used.
If your hair is dark and coarse, you can start with laser, however, a skilled electrologist can make great time and get you to a first clearance in about three hours and then you need to show up for appointments every two to three weeks and then that spreads out to 4-6 weeks until there is nothing to get. You’ll be just fine and very, very happy in the end if you approach this hair removal thing with information and good practitioner skill.
I guess I can speak for all that contributed their thoughts about your concerns by saying you are very welcome and I hope you feel comfortable with asking any future questions that you may have.
This is why I say there are no biologically non-responding people, just people who are either failed by their practitioner’s skill, or fail themselves by not getting the proper treatment… - J7
Right, there are so many variables in electrolysis that it is near impossible to call anything a standard, and that’s just on the delivery end of the needle. The client is a whole other ball of wax. The process is failsafe, because nothing can survive being directly shocked into coagulation with a steel needle in close proximity. These studies, I just don’t know. Sure, they may be all we have at this point, but there hundreds of variables to track, and this would include machine types, hormone levels, and current levels. Near impossible. When I worked in research, everything from RPM of machines, to calibration of volume controls were standardized and tracked, this study seams more of an exit poll opinion. But I’ll say, even myself, in my earlier beginning times, monkeying around with a computer controlled machine was able to kill off hairs.
I can understand how you can get into a routine and it is more convenient to go to someone close to your home or work. I only wish that you would have questioned your success rate years ago.