Hello Christine.
I actually see her again today, I will take pictures of the same arm and give more details. She will be with me for three days, so we will have plenty of time to talk! I know she has been exfoliating.
Yo … Yes Dee Dee that’s the Oregon kid. Great kid too! (He cleaned my old broken-down kitchen! WOW!)
Lara,
Actually right now you are (or should be) at the “tipping point.” You have been consistent with treatments, and right now you should be seeing a dramatic reduction in hair on your face. I mean, so impressive that, well, “cartwheels” are in order. (The general “cartwheel period” is between 6 - 9 months after starting treatments.)
I did a graph that shows a “representative face case,” but I’ll let Jossie post it, if she wants to … because I’m TOO LAZY! It’s a common “bell curve” … my favorites. (Seems like everything ends up being a bell curve; except the economy!)
With that many hours, you must have had an extensive case … I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you (and my eyes too, which is getting easier these days as I get as old as dirt). Of course, men with an actual beard would not be at the “cartwheel stage” just yet. Talk about “draconian!”
Not only Jossie wants, but she is delighted…
I never tire of saying thanks for writing your wonderful books, Michael. They have the power to leave us wanting MORE, and MORE, and MORE.
Can you explain the graph in terms of frequency of visits per month to be expected? Would a person going in more often per month see results faster?
I absolutely apologise in advance for interrupting this thread, but if you could reply to my private message Jossie, that would be great, just so we can agree on the exact dates and I can book my flights. They are getting more expensive!
Thanks!
If the person got more total time up front, they would get to First Clearance faster. After that, more frequent visits would increase the amount of hair free time, as each Full Clearance would bring about new hair free time. Soon one would have achieved Final Clearance, and would not need more work to be done. In this way, for some people, more time, more visits may equal being done faster. Obviously, if the treatment area is one you can clear each and every time from the beginning, one would not find any large increase in finish time by having more frequent treatment, but one would have shorter treatments, and more hair free time.
(This is the type of question that SeanaTG was really good at answering so I did not have to until someone convinced her to stop answering questions in the “pro section”)
Ok what James says is true. I am one of those people, who early on decided to get into DIY and get as much of that hair as was humanly possible. I have a large area to work on and I’m not sure I quite "keep up " with it because of the slowness of the DIY process and also the number of hours I dedicate to others in the same boat, however I put in a LOT of hours early on to establish just that. It slowly got to the point I had cleared most areas on my neck and face at least once and was mostly getting regrowth.
I as I write this havent shaved my face at all, in 3-4 months. For a transwoman this means SERIOUS dysphoria, and a lot of hiding in my house and going out as little a possible. But slowly, I started to realize despite having to do additional clearances about every week or so on all areas, that most of the hair wasnt visible to those around me. It was thinner, less dense, and what might once have been a full beard look began to be more slight shadow, and then even less. I had to get into serious magnification to even see the hairs to remove them myself. This is the utopia when it comes to hair removal, when you can get to that point that others arent aware of it.( even if the feel of those tiny little regrowth hairs under your finger makes YOU hyper aware of them)
This is the process of electrolysis. You will never get all the hair at once. There will always be regrowth. But it becomes less and less over time until eventually, and I have over a year before I reach this point, there just isnt any left.
It’s not practical for someone paying an electrologist to do work with the frequency that I do. Even those I work on, I am lucky to get 4-5 hours with each a week. It just takes longer to establish that first clearance, then maintain after that. The fner hairs drive you batty! But stick with it, and they do go away.I dont know many electrologists that work to do that clearance in such a short period. People like Michael, or Jossie , that do a whole face in such periods just dont happen everday, there are peoples costs to consider, and just scheduling such a venture isnt all that practical. It’s not every electrologist that can work for 6-8 hours strait a day for for a week.Can you imagine the eye strain?Electrolysis is precise work. But the higher the frequency and number of hours you can put in, makes a huge difference. I dont know of anyone who can walk outside and still get “MISS or Maam” in just 3-4 months. It doesnt happen. But it slowly is for me.
Seana
Whenever the work allows you to choose the wait and clear strategy. The intervals between clearances can not be shortened for one simple reason , there is not enough hair to work with.
Thicker hairs , which grow longer , and are more pigmented are the first which will be treated in the first clearance . The rest will take longer to come to the surface so that they can be removed. We can not work on hairs that have not emerged to the surface, and the finer they are, the more time they will need to appear.
These hairs are collected in 3 and a half hours working on the chest and stomach of a man. After a couple of weeks we will see some new growth , but not really worth doing 2000 kilometers to treat this small percentage if after about 3 months , we will have the percentage needed to make the second clearance worthwhile.
Seana , for me there is no difference between working with a single client for 6 hours a day, or work with 6 different clients in one-hour sessions . Personally I prefer the first, because I did not accumulate delay with the appointment of the following clients . Less stress, more quality of life… if it exists.
As one of the people who does work at fast first clearances, my hat is completely off to you Josefa. You , and those few like you, are the exception. Many/most electrologists usually opt for a “so many hours a week” approach until it’s all gone. Not many will condense the work into such a short time frame. That you are able to pull that off, makes you exceptional and the reason you have a huge waiting list.
Seana
Bump,
Sorry for resurrecting an old thread.
I have one bump like the ones Dee posted. I’m also of Indian descent, which is why I’m curious as to whether the client recovered.
Did her bumps go away with time? This bump stands out because my skin is smooth. It looks like a tiny hypertrophic scar almost…
I’m currently @week 6 post-treatment.
Thanks for the memory lane LDLD!
One thing you will notice about Dee’s picture is that there is several such bumps, not just one. This is to be expected, if you repeat the same process on different parts of the skin, all things being equal, you can expect the same reaction, does that sound about right? So, why would you get just ONE bump, and all the other insertions dont show such a manifestation? What’s different about that PARTICULAR follicle that is not happening anywhere else?
I’m reminded of 3-4 years ago when I did laser for the very first time. I got several eruptions on the skin , red splotches that lasted for weeks, but ONE in particular became inflamed and resulted in such a small skin mark. It was exactly the same color as the surrounding skin, or was until I played with it because I was bothered by the ONE grey hair growing on that cheek right in the middle of it . I hadnt noticed it at all before laser.
Well it’s roughly 4 years later and I still have that small bump in exactly the same place. It’s darkened somewhat since that time but has not gone away. It also, has not changed in size,and has maintained exactly the same shape. This is a good thing. So, what is it?
It’s a mole. I hadnt noticed it prior because the colour was the same as the surrounding skin ( and there was all that hair in the way), but years later, I can definitively tell you that that is what it is. Not "scarring " of any kind, just a previously un-noticed skin abnormality.
I suspect your “one bump” might be the same thing, though, as always pictures could tell several of the wound experts here a whole lot more.
Seana
Hi Seana,
Thanks for the message.
I’m sure I’ve made the mistake of thinking electrolysis has created something that was - in reality - already present (but covered by hairs).
However, the bump I have is only surrounded by 2 hairs. I’m certain it was not there before treatment because I would have obsessed about it lol.
My electrologist has some pictures of this area I think. I think what has happened is that either it’s an ingrown hair or there’s been some ‘over-healing’ and that’s caused excess skin or something…
so its been 3 weeks. the bump blends in with the rest of my skin, but its still a bump.
it doesnt look like keloid tissue or anything. im guessing the electrolysis caused a tiny bit of overhealing though and its like a hypertrophic scar almost
its noticeably harder than the surrounding skin too which is so odd
Download my free piece called “the Wound Module” and look at the part about wound collagen. (My website, under “Books.”)
Thanks Michael, I’ll take a look.