Ok, so far I have done 2 one-hour sessions on the back of my neck, one 45 minute session. From what I learned on this forum you have to avoid being dehydrated if you want your electrologist to keep it to low intensity level. My last session as I described was terrible. Too much pain because she increased the intensity level. I don’t get to talk to her much. She runs tight schedule so it’s basically we start and when I’m done I say what time I can come back for next session.
I am disappointed. I have been dehydrated all my life (24 years old) no matter how much water I drink. I don’t drink anything other than natural spring water but it’s because I was malnourished as a child. Nothing can be done to fix it. I learned about electrolysis online and nowhere did I see that you have to be healthy or else you will have to face more pain.
Is there anything else I should know? Will the intensity level keep being increased every session from now on? It seems that each time it’s more difficult to get hair out, and this forum was the first place I learned being dehydrated puts you to disadvantage. Sigh.
This isn’t all about dehydration. Skill is the biggie. Equipment used is very close to skill. The latest generation of epilators offer SO MUCH in regard to decreased sensation. If your electrologist has the skill to insert the correct size of probe properly and set her/his epilator to the proper levels with one of the better epilators, you are into something very good.
Electrolysis with a 27 Mhz epilator is an exceedingly better experience, however, some? many? electrologists can still offer an uneventful, tolerable experience as well with an “older” epilator.
How many electrologists have you sampled? What modality? Blend? Thermolysis? What is her vision wear like? Maybe you need to shop around and compare.
So the “catch” is: better tools with high skill = compliance and satisfaction
I’d sample some other electrologists as Dee said. It is amazing how much more comfortable electrolysis can be with the right practitioner, and I know speaking as someone who has tough 80 unit hairs removed in the upper lip; with micro or picoflash it is bearable, even without an anesthetic.
If you are totally stuck and can’t find another practitioner that can offer you more comfortable treatment, you could try a topical anesthetic (if you haven’t already.)
I would add that drinking more water without balancing the electrolytes would not be all that helpful.
You can mix up your own natural rehydration potion by combining half a gallon of water, a tablespoon of organic molasses with sea salt, and or baking powder (not baking soda, although it can be used in a pinch) and maybe an ounce of limon and/or lime juice.
James how do u know all this stuff?! I love it. I’m always trying to find a healthy type of gatorade and its tough b/c either they are full of sugar, corn syrup, or nutrasweet or splenda. I’m def gonna try this mixture. Do you think splenda is bad as well? It hasnt been proven harmful but anything made out of chemicals cant be good. I’m mostly worried about induced hair growth vs. any other harmful effects. I cut out nutrasweet completely for that reason.
Ok I have only gone to one electrologist. I’m sorry I don’t know what modality she is using. I didn’t know there were different ones until my second session and by that time I was shy to ask. Shop around? Ok, so hold on. I have been going to her once every 2 weeks for past 6 weeks, and this friday will be the fourth time I see her. Am I supposed to tell her at the end of the session that I want to try other places? I’m a shy guy :). But is that it? Just tell her I’m no longer coming until I try other places?
VickieCNY, maybe I did it wrong but the topical anesthetic she gave me to put made no difference whatsoever. I will try again this week. I am not happy because there is no other way out to getting rid of the hair permanently, but maybe I will live with the hair if I see that every 14 days I will go through 45 mins. of unforgettable pain.
So, three sessions has made you too shy to check out and compare other electrologists in your area that might have better equipment that offers less sensation. There’s nothing wrong with being up front and telling her that it’s too painful and you want to see if you there is a difference with other machines, modlaities and pratitioners. You say you have no other choice but to get electrolysis for your hair issues, so you have to do what you have to do to get from point A to point Z. Maybe you’ll be back to her after your search? Maybe there is no other that is better than she? I’m sure that she is a nice lady and has perfect skill, but maybe there is someone else who is very nice and very skilled using an epilator that enhances that skill so you can get through treatments quickley and with less sensation. Yes, you can decide to live with the hair and not make any effort beyond what you have done up to now. I just don’t think 6 weeks and three treatments qualify for an oath of loyalty.
What is the name of the lidocaine she gave you? Most people don’t get relief because they don’t apply it correctly and they don’t leave it on long enough.
Low intensity doesn’t mean less discomfort. Higher intensities can be quite comfortable with the right timing and/or pulses.
Regarding Splenda - I just read an article that talked about how this fake sugar messes with the bacteria in your digestive system. I’m not a fan of the fake stuff.
Hmmm, is spenda bad for you?
Well, for starters, it is technically an insecticide. Do we need to go further? (Actually, whereas nutra-sweet is an unintended insecticide, splenda was actually designed to BE an insecticide, but it was found to be sooooo tasty when accidentally ingested by a research assistant, that it is now being sold as sweetener, while they try to hide the fact that it was DESIGNED to be an insecticide. YUCK!)
Oh, and another thing – Sweet-N-Low, Nutra-Sweet, and Splenda all are many hundreds of times sweeter than sugar, so making a serving size that is usable to most people requires adding the chemicals to a filler product so that it is a powder, or granular product. Guess what filler they use? SUGAR! Splenda is 4 calories of real sugar with insecticide, I mean organochlorine, added so that it qualifies for being labled as Zero Calories (because the FDA says you have a plus or minus five calorie fudge factor) per serving and “made from real sugar”. This is like saying “Take apple juice and chemically bond it with bleach, and amonia and you have an all natural food product that is made from apples.”
As for hair interactions due to Splenda use, those would be the same as Nutra-Sweet as the main problem is tricking your body into releasing enough insulin to react with a cup of sugar being poured down your throat, while you don’t actually have that amount of sugar in your body. This leads to insulin resistance, which can become diabetes, but at the very least causes weight GAIN. Neat huh?
(in answer to the question how do I know all this stuff… when I am not removing one million hairs per year, traveling the US & the world, I am reading books most people don’t read unless they are part of a research assignment)
An update guys. Your opinion will be highly appreciated.
Today I had my 4th session, and it turned that the lady who did the first 3 sessions for me was not there. So, I had the experience with another lady. The lady that did the 3 sessions with me looks to be in her mid to high twenties. This lady of today told me she has a 24 year old son.
Ok, keeping things short. For the past 48 hours I have been drinking lots and lots of water. i also put on the topical anesthetic an hour before the session and covered my neck with plastic wrapper.
I was amazed today. It barely hurt!! I was almost going to cry during the session out of joy. I loved the feeling today. The 45 minutes went almost painless, less painful than tweezing, except for a few hairs. With the first lady the “dark hairs” would hurt a lot more. With this lady there seemed to be no differene. The pain was equal everywhere and was very very low. If electrolysis was as painless as today I wouldn’t mind doing it one hour a day!! I’m not joking. The lady from today seemed to be faster at doing it.
The previous lady would do some hairs and my neck would I guess turn red so she would apply some cream or whatever to it. The lady from today didn’t need to apply cream or whatever half way through.
Overall, the pain was reduced by I would say 80%!!! I’m not kidding. The so-called dark hairs were almost painlees
I’m wondering, how much of the reduction in pain do you think is due to me drinking water? I know it’s hard to guess, but you know do you think most of the reduction in pain was because I was not dehydrated or was it because the lady knew what she was doing?
And finally, the pain I had today was VERY VERY VERY LOW during the session. Is that normal or is it too good to be true in the sense that usually I should expect more pain?
As we said before, skill is a major part, but no amount of skill, or equipment upgrade will totally make up for poor hydration and a person who is stressed out, and flying on caffeine.
I would say that you got a “perfect storm” of good talent, decent equipment, and a well hydrated body with all its electrolytes firing on all cylindars.
Now you know what I wish everyone could experience when they go to the electrolysis office.
You know James no words can tell how grateful I am for all the help you and Dee have provided me. It suffices to say I am fortunate to have met such great people.
One thing I forgot to mention. During the session I was talking to her and I asked her if the hairs were coming out easily and she said oh yeah they come out very easily. Oh God, I can still remember how good the session was. At the end I told her that I actually enjoyed it, and I really did!!
An update on my situation. (first why are there 5 stars?? cool!)
So, I have unwanted hair at the back of my neck. I wanted to create a line that looks natural. Right now it’s a mess.
So today I had another session with that new lady that I said didn’t hurt last time. I drank lots of water the past 48 hours and today it hurt a bit more than last time. (I also put on some topical anesthetic Gel an hour before my session). The pain was still really low though, I could bear it and no complaints from me. I have been through so much stress lately (university life is hard) so maybe that’s why the pain increased a little bit.
She has a 24 year old son (and I’m 24 as well), she treats me like her son!! Honestly, she is the sweetest lady I have ever met. She is such a mom.
There’s a lot of hairs to remove from back of my neck so we still haven’t reached the level where I could get a clear square at the back of my scalp.
I could tell from the way she handles the equipment that she’s been doing this for a long time (it’s so easy for her). Today she told me that next time we will get to remove all hairs that will leave a clear square natural shape at the back.
So far the back of my neck is left with a “V” shape after electrolysis sessions (at beginning the hair had a sort of “M” shape). Next time we will remove enough hairs to make it into a straight horizontal line. Clarrification: so far we have been removing hair to make it into a “v” shape. Next session we will move on to make it a horizontal line shape, which we haven’t done so far because too much hair to do.
I’m patiently going through my journey. Session #6 is coming on Dec.3rd. I am happy that the low pain I felt last time was not an accident and that it will keep happening. Loving electrolysis!!
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I live in spain and here has taught me not to work with these machines that are not programmed the inserts are done, but just ask a little help with the parameters and nothing more, everything that I could learn in spain and I have done, not here learn more
Ok, today was session #6. The back of my neck is “almost” no longer “v” shaped. There is lots of hair so I am taking it slow. We are almost to the point of having a natural u-shaped hair line as opposed to a v-shape.
I am a univesity student so I had to drink coffee the last few days (that’s the only way I can study), but I also drank lots of water. Yet again, with this new lady there I did not feel that much pain. Today she had to get rid of the bottom of the “v” (which has dark hairs) to make it closer to a “u” shape. To my surprise it did not hurt much. She did that in addition to removing hairs on the sides of the vertex of the “v” shaped hairline . It hurts but it is not to the point where I want to say the “F” word you know.
Costs so far: Session 1 & 2(1 hour each, each $66)
Sessions 3,4,5,6 (45 mins each, each $54)
total cost so far: $448 …location Ottawa, Ontario, canada. I go once every 2 weeks.