Hi everyone,
I’ve just attached my picture to see if anyone here either being clients of electrolysis or any electrologists who could give me a rough estimate of how many hours of work would be needed on my chest and stomach area.
All the input would be a great help. Thanks in advance.
These kind of questions depend on how willing you are to actually rid yourself of the hair. If you keep up with scheduled appointments it will usually take about 1-1.5 years given your growth. It’s going to eat up a lot of your time and quite possibly your money.
Find a good electrologist and have him/her setup a schedule that works with you - and stick to it.
Actually, all the answers to your (excellent and appropriate) questions are already here on Hairtell … answered in excruciating (meaning excellent) detail. Take the time to “dig through” the past posts for your answers (check out male hair removal). I’m too lazy to find them for you … he he he.
You have a 100-hour job (±15 hours) that, depending on the strategy used, will take from 9 months to 1.5 years±, to complete. As my colleague stated here, a lot also depends on your determination (and funds) to “get her done!” The final cost will probably range between $6,000 to $10,000, again depending on the strategy and technique used. “Holy follicle, Batman!”
Hairtell is your best resource for finding the answers you request. None of us are “selling” anything … we believe in our profession! Searching back might take a bit of doing, but I’m endless impressed by the high caliber of the pros on this forum. They really are here to help the client. You will get straight unambiguous answers … you might not like the answers, but you can take what is recommended here “to the bank.” I’m glad you found “us.” (CD)
I know this is a back case, but I want to illustrate what an endeavor a large area can be like yours, Max in the UK.
This case was started August 1, 2012
And five months later (actually, four months because he basically skipped the month of December due to travel and holiday business) this is where we are now:
Another view:
He has invested 114 hours 28 minutes and 113,430 insertions via electrolysis at a cost of a little over $8,000 so far.
Hello D 
I was wondering how long do you think it will take you to complete your back case? How many passes so far?
I will hopefully have licence from my local health authority and council soon (fee paid, forms filled and currently waiting for a visit and all things being well, Approval!) Once all of the i’s are dotted and the t’s crossed I will be officially up and running. Once everything is official I would be happy to have Max swing by for a consultation and lets see what we can do. . .
Beautiful work Dee.
Also add to this (in my judgment), the back typically has 30% - 50% more hair (by actual hair count) than the combined chest and front. For Max, you can add this into your estimate, i.e., what Dee is showing you is probably about a 50% bigger case than yours.
Yes, get to Follizap ASAP!
I expect to finish the downward progression to strip the hair from the last area next week, the right lower quandrant. I was hoping to get it done this week, but he has to skip his Thursday appointment. Once this area is done, we will start at the top and begin the second pass down, which will go faster than the first pass and then the third pass down will obviously be even faster than the second. In the beginning, we went over the neck and shoulder area two times because he wanted to keep it clear since these are the areas he could see.
I am guessing that he will need between 130 - 150 hours to get the job done. I will let everyone know the final stats as we reach his one year anniversary . Most of my compliant male back cases are finished between 12 and 14 months because their behavior dictates this kind of success and because I am aggressive and move along with a quality probe choice (Laurier) and an exceptional epilator choice, the Apilus Platinum. Darren, I use no footswitch and my goal is to do 3,500 to 4,200 insertions per session, which averages out to about 200 minutes per session.
This is hard work on both parts. Some electrologists can’t physically do more than hour at a time, so that needs to be asked if you get consults. You will get frustrated if you don’t do more than hour for your sessions. It is intense work and that is what I am trying to get across to Max from the UK to answer his question with realistic honesty. Electrolysis does work and it makes all the effort one puts in to it for about a year a worthwhile project.
Now Max, my personal opinion is that your front side is a credit to your gender, oooolala sis boom bah!
You have dense, dark, coarse hair. Have you considered doing laser hair reduction first?
Sorry for the late reply ladies and gents, I was busy with work and couldn’t check the replies.
I am very happy to see some major contributors on here replying to my post as I know you all have a lot of knowledge of how things go about with electrolysis.
Michael Bono you said I’m looking at a 100 hour plus job here and that kind of shocked me as I was expecting it to be more of a 50 hour or less job to tackle. So I think i’ll need to rethink my goals. I am however planning on seeing Josefa as she is quite speedy and have seen some of her work. But my main priority is speed but with effectiveness.
Dee Fahey, the work you have done on that chaps back looks superb thank you for posting that. I haven’t tried laser hair removal, I have heard some bad things about it so it kind of put me off, I didn’t like the idea of getting induced hair growth and ingrown hairs etc… Plus it’s not permanent!! I rather save the money and put it towards electrolysis.
Follizap do you do marathon sessions? I am looking to put in atleast 6-7 hours each day for as long as needed.
Once again thank you for your input everyone 
Shock? YES, I can imagine!
I remember when I started my own hair removal, I thought my entire back and chest would be done in, say, 2 or 3 hours. Three years later (and 200+ hours) I wasn’t even 10% done … so I decided, "If I can’t beat 'em, I’d join 'em!” So, here I am!
Of course, I was considering that you want 100% “hair gone,” and my estimates, looking only at photos on Hairtell, are always “gross” estimates.
When you finally settle-in with an electrologist, he or she can give you a much more decent estimate after only a couple hours of actual work. Clearing a spot determines, with fairly good accuracy, the total time needed. You’ll see.
Estimates for smaller areas, say, underarms, are much easier. You are looking at the whole body … and most of us give estimates on the “high” side. Coming in under the estimate is the way to go.
“Estimate high, finish low = a happy customer.”
I can do long sessions but my speed isn’t close to josefas…
I only do electrolysis, so I am not a laser specialist expert, BUUUUUTTTTT I can tell you, based on the many cases I have seen, laser hair reduction is permanent. It doesn’t eliminate every hair color or structure on any color of skin like electrolysis does, but for some areas, it does a great job at reducing a certain percentage of the coarse, dense, dark hair as long as you are going to a laser specialist that knows what to do and uses a quality laser correctly.
On the chest area, with hair like you have, we see very good results. On a man’s back, shoulders and upper arms, we hear far too many stories about laser induced hair stimulation. So electrolysis for the back and laser for the front side is okay. Even if you get a 95% reduction with laser for your chest and abdomen, you may be left with patches of hair that laser will never be able to eliminate. That is when you seek the services of a professional electrologist. Whatever strategy that can speed this along, will get you to your goal faster. The two modalities are friends, not competitors and they both have their strengths and weaknesses.
Of course, this decision making is all within in your realm of comfort and instinct. You have to decide what is more cost effective and appropriate for your situation and that is why you are here seeking information.
Time wise and effort wise, it is always best to be honest about what it takes to remove hair from a given area. I can’t go any faster than I am on the case above or my work will be sloppy and ineffective. I’m flying fast when I am doing on average, 4,000 insertions per session (200 minutes) and any electrologist knows that is decent flow without being inaccurate.
So, your information about laser reduction is not correct and I just wanted to point that out so we don’t tick off our laser specialists here.
Thank you for the replies once again.
Not got time to write a long post but can say I am going to take in everything you all have said into consideration.
Follizap, I am still looking into my options and will keep you as one of them.
Dee Fahey, I guess I wasn’t all too right about laser hair removal but there was a time I did want to do it but couldn’t find a clinic that had the nd yag 1064 the one that is meant to be safe on all skin types. I did finally find a clinic but as soon as I came across this forum I changed my mind into going for electrolysis instead.
I have another question for you pros which is off topic, I am thinking of become an electrologist and offering hair removal but do not know how to go about it. Any ideas where I should start?
Check out this Hairtell thread, Max:
If you are wanting to become an electrologist in order to remove your own hair, there is limited amount you can do for yourself. It is a fun career to have as you meet a lot of interesting and great people.