7yo daughter

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

My 7yo daughter is quite a hairy child - arms, legs, and a small amount on her back and face. I have been on here before asking for suggestions for how to deal with the areas that concern her the most.

She has been asking all summer to help her do something about the long dense hairs on her arms. They are very noticeable and go from her shoulder to her wrist. A mix of dark and blonde hairs. She hates them. She and I are wanting to try electrolysis on them to thin them out and make them look less obvious. Unfortunately it looks like a major job to me as there are so many of them.

Because of her age, most electrologists are reluctant to even attempt it. I know the hair is still growing in but surely if we battle against it for a while we will win in the end and it will look a bit more natural. Her arms are hairier then most mens arms.

I dont want to subject her to veeting or waxing every week knowing that we are doing nothing to help the situation in the long run. Also unless we did the entire arm she will have a “tide mark” where the waxing stopped and started and that would look ridiculous.

Could the experts on here please let me know what you think. Would this take forever to thin out a bit?

Shes a sensitive little soul and I hate seeing her struggle with her hairiness on a daily basis. I can talk until im blue in the face about differences and accepting things but at the end of the day shes doesnt like them, she hates being teased about them and I know myself if they were my arms I would do something about it as well.

I have explained the electrolysis method to her and she is keen to try. The problem is finding someone who is excellent and willing to attempt it on her.

I have attached a photo. It hasnt photographed well and it looks much more obvious in real life. Its very light fluffy hair and “puffs” up off her arms a lot. Most of the hairs are about an inch long.

There is nothing wrong with her hormones apparently. But i did wonder if they would naturally thin at puberty when estrogen or something kicks in??? Can this happen?

Any advice would be appreciated
Thanks

qwerty Attachments

arms2.jpg

#2

My first thought is bleaching, bearing in mind that if it stings,it needs to be washed off immediately, and continued the next day,until a perfect result is achieved. Have you tried this? The change in appearance is spectacular and could keep your daughter happy for years. (with regular applications).

#3

Hi Christine,

We have tried bleaching. The sun has lightened it up a bit over summer (she is a bit wet in the photo) but theres just so much of it and even when its lighter its so obvious as theres just so much of it :frowning:

The lovely endocrinologist that we saw about it said “it reminded him of a sheepskin rug”! I dont think she has forgotten that comment.

#4

That comment appalls me, how insensitive.

#5

I would love Dees’ opinion here, as a nurse and a Mom, what would you do? I have treated some children in the past,but only for facial hair, and only if they themselves wished to undergo the treatment. Peer opinions please, this child is clearly very distressed and local treatment is not an option. Would you consider waxing?

#6

Technically it should be not problem, and an experienced electrologist might achieve a surprisingly good reduction even after the first clearance.

My main concerns regard the pain. Your daughter must be absolutely willing to have long and painful treatments - otherwise she will not be able to keep up with the pain. In my eyes that experience even might traumatize Your daughter; we must at least be very careful about it. Which means that the desire to get rid of that hair must come exclusevily from Your daughter. I write that mainly because of an earlier discussion where that motivation appeared a bit unclear to me - and remember: this will be readable by others in the future.

Applying numbing, even EMLA, is more difficult because that small girl may by far not be treated with the amount of cream (i.e. area to be numbed) as grown ups. IMO this should be done only upon request of a physician.

#7

My grandaughter demanded her unibrow be done and she is about the same age. She did not flinch, or whine. Of course, she didn’t show any reaction to getting her ears pierced either. She wanted that as well. Her mom has a real handful of a princess there.

#8

If you haven’t yet found someone willing to do electrolysis, try using electric hair clippers with the 1/4" guards and shave her arms. Optional: You could then try to soften the clipped hairs with the fine sandpaper hair removal pads. It looks more natural than complete bald arms and it takes down the length if the hairs are bleached. That’s what I used to do.

#9

Thanks CareBearhair.

We still havent done anything at all. Im so scared of stimulating the area somehow and making the problem worse for her. At this stage Im still just assuring her of how wonderful she is and trying to keep her busy with other stuff so she doesnt dwell on it too much :slight_smile: Its okay for the moment and where we are we are heading into the colder weather so we have a couple of months give or take of hiding under winter layers before the problem will arise again.

Appreciate the advice, thank you :slight_smile:

#10

Fairygirl, I am electrologist but I am writing you about my personal experience with arm hair. There was a professional photo taken of me at about age 5. I was positioned in the photo with my arms leaning over a pillow so they were front and center. The amount of hair on my arms was unbelievable - long and black. I assume that it fell off in the few years following, as I can not recall being upset by it or having anyone say something about it. Honestly it was much worse than what I saw on your daughter. My thought is that this hair may very well fall off. Did the endocronologist suggest that this may be the case? You may want to ask him if it were to fall off is there an age where this tends to happen. Your estrogen thought is a good one but I can tell you that mine did not take that long. Best wishes!

#11

Thanks Deanna. I LOVE hearing stories like that :slight_smile:

#12

My brain has been tickled with a thought reading this today.

I went to a school that ran from grade 5 to 12 all in the same building. If you got there early, you grew up with the same people, with few new bodies over the years. One bad day could be immortalized into your identity for the next seven years.

In this mix was a girl named Brenda Hasaan. On paper, one would think that she was a train wreck of bullying misery waiting to happen. She was from another country, spoke another language at home, did not dress like the other girls due to her religion, had a genetic condition that caused her nose to grow slower than the rest of her face, Bushy Eyebrows - Brooke Sheilds Class with unibrow connection, and thick long black hairs on her arms.

On paper, this girl should be in for a nightmare of a time in Jr. High School and spend dateless weekends in High School.

Brenda was, in fact one of the “Winnie Coopers” of my school (don’t get the reference, go watch some re-runs of The Wonder Years) and her popularity with both girls and boys was phenomenal, and unwavering. The only negative comment I ever heard tossed in her direction was when a new boy observed that her nose made her look like a little bird. Even as Brenda laughed, guys close by were giving him the sign, “You are on thin ice. A beat down awaits you should you fall below the surface.”

Her charisma was such that she even landed a modeling gig for a magazine cover that posed a girl, her back to the camera, writing on a blackboard. I wish I had a copy of the picture, or the magazine to this day. You might say that it was for her beautiful hair, but there were other girls in our school who had longer hair, more ornately fashioned. I can tell you, the photographer picked her out of a room full of people. She did not even audition.

Yes, the only reason Brenda was dateless during those years was the gun toting family who guarded her on weekends until she was delivered to her arranged marriage clean as the driven snow. She did, however, attend many weekend cinema Saturdays where a group of girls and boys descended on the mall food court and went to watch the same film together. You could always see guys jockeying to score the position that would land them either next to, or across from Brenda.

Yes, she once complained to me in 10th grade about how she wished she could do something about her hair problems, (yet another factor dragging me kicking and screaming towards this profession) but I told her right there that I did not see any problem. As much as people try to make a model for what we are supposed to aspire to look like, variation is the norm, and I personally did not know anyone who would not date her if such an opportunity existed.

#13

That’s a nice story James.

#14

Thank You Gretchen. I imagine it won’t help too many ladies with their struggle to feel ok with themselves, but I add that artist Frida Kahlo is reported to have never had trouble with getting dates.

frida-kahlo-frida-kahlo-172270_845_1181.jpg845×1181