A new electrolysis journey

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

Hi, I’m new here and thought I would also chart my electrolysis journey as I have found reading a few of these journals on this site very helpful. Basically, I am getting electrolysis on the sides of my face, neck area, chin and upper lip. I had my first consultation today and the electrologist went on to do a half hour session to see how I and my skin reacted.

This problem has been bothering me for a couple of years now, I first noticed the hairs in my late teens (I’m now 24) and of course have since made a mess of the area by using every method of depilation known to man. I had a course of laser hair removal but it was unsuccessful and produced more growth - I’d say this is partly becuase my hair has a red tinge to it and the laser was just inappropriate for my hair type, though I’m not a professiona so I can’t be sure! The electrologist who I saw today runs a beauty school and teaches electrology and I chose her mostly because she seemed the most knowledgeable of all the people I spoke to. I’m not totally au fait with all of the electrolgy terms but she used a mixture of blend and thermolysis today I think. She has booked me for another half hour session in one week’s time. Does anyone think it would be a good idea to get an hour or two to achieve clearance as quickly as possible? Anyway, before this becomes excessively long, thanks for reading and I’ll be sure to update you.

#2

Yes, the best way to tackle electrolysis is to have longer treatments up front to clear the entire area you want hairfree. Then you only have to come in to kill the new hairs that pop up and kill them while they’re weak. That’s the plan that will get you to finish treatments fastest.

#3

Thanks LA girl I’ll take that on board, it’s such a relief to have begun!

#4

You obviously had no healing issues, so that is great.

#5

Please ad a location, as people looking to find out who is good in one area or another will want to know that good treatments can be had in your area, as well.

#6

I have added the location, good idea. I just thought I’d say that after having had laser now and a bit of electrolysis I think the severity of the pain of laser is definitely worse than electrolysis, not that I found either of them particularly bad.

On a more random note, I saw a British TV documentary on channel 4 called hairy women and you would be absolutely appalled if you saw it. There was this woman on it who was crippingly depressed by her facial hair and spoke of how she hides in the house for days on end before she waxes her face and how she hates herself and all this stuff. What pissed me off so much was that they offered this woman no solution! They never told her about laser or electrolysis or anything and just half sympathised with her and the fact that she spends half her life sitting inside waiting for the hair to grow so she can wax it. Stupid programme. Even in medical fields, the level of knowledge about hair removal is minimal - and for something that can be so psychologically debilitating! Doctors in primary care should have better knowledge of hair removal for those with these kind of problems - especially as they can have such a huge effect on quality of life. Sorry, rant over.

#7

Rant On my lady.

Electrolysis has been the bastard child of the medical world from the beginning. Had it not been for the doctor’s secretaries, we might not have the industry today. Most doctor’s tossed Dr. Michelle’a peer review articles in the trash. The secretaries read them and started doing electrolysis work themselves, and an industry was born.

Even now, most doctors know little to nothing about electrolysis, and are uninterested in being educated, or even referring clients to any proven practitioners in their area. This seems to be true, even when those practitioners are regularly referring business to the doctor, and the doctor has the opportunity to see what great work that practitioner does.

I can even say that personally, I have clients who get complements on their skin at their SRS doctor’s office, and yet those same doctors don’t mention my name, even as they hand clients a check list of pre-requisites to their treatments that includes lots of electrolysis treatments. Of course, I still tell my clients who are still looking for an SRS physician the list of people who have the best feedback from my clients. In fact, the psychiatrist in my area who gets most of the Gender Disphoria referrals is another one who has verbally praised my work to the clients who have received it, but won’t hand my business card to a client who has not yet found a hair removal solution, or worse yet is getting lousy work done with some lesser service provider.

#8

Being in London I saw this program. It is kind of odd that electrolysis is left in the cold when women seem to be ready to spend £££££ on temporary hair removal for the rest of their lives.
Then again, people are quite scared of the procedure:
a friend of mine has her upper lip threaded every 2 weeks like clockwork but wouldn’t look at permanent hair removal, she’s too scared of the pain, etc.
Still I spend the same amount of time & money as her on my upper lip with electrolysis and will get permanent results at some point (ideally!).
I just don’t get it…

#9

Color me as puzzled as you.

One of the reasons it was so hard to convince me to become an electrolysis provider was the paradox that women shrink from the word electrolysis, while running into the arms of the waxers, tweezers, threaders, and anything else. I know my treatments are far less painful than waxing.

I used to have a poster in my office that even showed guys how they spend more on shaving than just removing the beard via electrolysis, but most guys take shaving to be some kind of macho ritual that they can’t let go of, least they be seen as “a girly-man”. Meanwhile, they spend $30 on replacement blade cartridges.

#10

I can’t speak for facial areas or anything, but on the numerous body areas I’ve experimented with, waxing hurts so much more than electrolysis. It’s not even a contest.

#11

Ohhhh Yes!

#12

Regarding the medical arena, I’m in the health sector myself and when we studied PCOS and endocrine problems that can cause hirsutism a lot of my fellow students just laughed when talking about treatment as if to say there was no point in treating a symptom that won’t kill you. Which is totally ridiculous. The dermatologist I saw about the excess hair on my face was not that helpful either, saying she’d schedule me for laser (which I had already tried) but that there was a waiting list of about a year. And not an ounce of sympathy with regards to how embarrassed I was by the situation. She gave me Vaniqa to use in the meantime but I have to say I wasn’t a fan of the stuff at all. Putting it on twice a day isn’t feasible if you’re a makeup wearer. In summary, the medical field isn’t interested in hair removal because excess hair is seen as a trivial symptom but I’m absolutely positive that it can be psychologically more damaging than a lot of “more serious” diseases.

Speaking of the fact that many women are unwilling to try laser or electrolysis rather than use temporary hair removal methods for the rest of their lives - I wonder if this has something to do with the fact that you don’t really hear about others going out and doing this. Laser I think has become a lot more socially acceptable but I don’t know anyone personally who has had electrolysis. I wonder if people feel that they are abnormally hairy if their hair problem necessitates this treatment that none of their friends have had.

On a more personal note, I have now had two half hour sessions over two weeks. I tried to make the second one an hour long but they were booked up. I will be having an hour long session this week (my third session). The electrologist said they do not like to do more than an hour a week so that the skin has a chance to recover, do you think this is appropriate? The actual process has been great - I do not find the electrolysis painful and have had very minimal redness afterwards. She has been concentrating on the sides of my face and chin area to begin with and it looks a little better already! I can’t wai to get the whole thing cleared a couple of times!! Best wishes!

#13

Hi:

I used to go for two hours a session, every two weeks.

I think longer sessions are OK as long as they don’t spend
a lot of time on one area(i.e. Spread it around the face,
sideburns, cheek or even neck). A lot depends on your personal experience and how your skin reacts to the treatments.

It is best to get the area cleared out asap and then get regular shorter sessions to keep it cleared with each session.

Alicia

#14

freewheeling, people are not doing electrolysis as much because electrolysis is not advertised. It’s usually done by self-employed electrologists who don’t have the funds to do big marketing campaigns.

#15

One key point I have learned…I was in the closet about my hairyness for years…as I opened up to friends and co workers and the stranger at the grocery store…LOL…well not the stranger, but what I have seen is you can learn more about electrologists and those who do laser if you open up and talk. I have been amazed at the response and the ppl I know who have used my electro queen!

I also have spread word of mouth and am always sure to say, get a FREE consult…look around ask around and go to hairtell.com!

Best of luck on your journey!

#16

They do not have the funds, nor have the need. Tell me what it wanted the electrologist to a marketing campaign if they can not cope with demand? Who wants to make a tough job? Who wants to lose health to improve the quality of life of others?
Only a few crazies who have lost the head by an old technique, as centuries as necessary.

#17

I will share this: In my practice, short appointments are not the norm - I do long appointments (over an hour) every single day. In the beginning, it is best to get full clearances and that usually takes more than 15-30 minutes. Longer appointments are not dangerous to the skin if one has the better engineered epilators made today, but MOST IMPORTANTLY, [size:20pt]SKILL[/size] to use those better epilators with good vision aid and lighting is the key. Longer appointments can be done, but I strongly support any electrologist that feels it can’t be done. If they don’t know what they are doing, then they should not go beyond what is comfortable for them. When in doubt - DON’T! Your electrologist does things different from me. You will still get permanent hair removal, but my point is, her statement about length of appointments is what she believes and feels comfortable with, so go with it and you will be fine.

Dee

#18

depilacionelectr, I didn’t say they don’t advertise at all. They do. So they do have the need to spread the word about their services. I don’t know about Malaga, but there are dozens of electrologists in Los Angeles, for example. Lots of competition, and on average, the majority don’t seek out electrolysis because it is considered tedious.

#19

Málaga is the sixth Spanish city in population rate, with 600,000 inhabitants. 15.4 million less than Los Angeles. However, it is the Spanish city that has more people with the hair removed permanently per square kilometer, thanks the Electrolysis. The electrologists in this city can be counted on the fingers. There are two official schools to teach the subject of Electrolysis, but unfortunately, the time must be spent in this subject, is used to teach other techniques of hair removal. So the next generations of people in Malaga, will have to travel to Los Angeles if they want to eliminate their hair “not candidates for laser.”
Here you can not throw a dart at a phone book and try his luck with an electrologist, simply because in telephone directories are not just one or two. This is why the few electrologist that exist, are sought as rare diamonds.
If in addition they have acquired the most modern technology that allows them to work fast enough, the diamond takes on extraordinary dimensions.

It’s funny, my clients do not consider the Electrolysis tedious, they call it hypnotist. The adjective addictive (as you have wisely suggested) is also used.

#20

“Tedious” is in the eye of the beholder. To someone who has struggled with hair they’ve been removing and covering up for years, it’s a life-saver and not tedious at all. But to someone who doesn’t think twice about shaving because they don’t have that much hair and it’s easily controlled with temporary methods, it’s tedious.