I have hair on the top of my feet and my toes. I am making a doctors appointment tomorrow to have my blood tested just to rule out hormones. I’m going tonight for my upper lip and I am going to talk to her about my feet. I’m curious as to how much it hurts.
Although I am not having this done, I have chatted with my electrologist about this and other areas just out of curiousity. I remember that she did say the feet take the longest to heal and for the marks to go away after treatment. This only makes sense to me because of circulation. The face heals better because there are so many blood vessels bringing blood to nourish and heal and the feet don’t have as many. Keep in mind I am not a professional, I just put 2 & 2 together from what I have read, so I could be wrong. Good luck.
I have hair on my feet too that I will have removed eventually. My electrologist told me that the feet are very painful (maybe because there is so little padding there) so I’m nervous already about it. My electrologist suggested when we do the feet that I have her freeze them. She also told me knees were painful and she was right about that. I too am interested to hear from someone who has had their feet done.
Treating the top of the foot shouldn’t “hurt” at all. But the toes and fingers can hurt badly unless you do the following: have your electrologist take each individual toe and bend it over the top of their finger before insertion of the filament. And you only want to work for a short period of time on each digit. i.e approx 10 minutes or perhaps less. That may be all you will be able to withstand. Just take it slow and easy, it will work. Likewise for each individual finger. This creates a forced tension in the digit which alleviates this so called pain.
Tangerine, Laserhater, you are both on the money with your educated guesses. I have worked on my own toes. There is less moisture, less padding and less blood circulation and your professionals are telling you like it is.
Hi Sexione,
While I do not have James years of experience, it was my experience while being trained that the tops of the toes are somewhat uncomfortable. The toes are also an area that you do not want to have too much done on at one time. Your electrologist should spend a small amount of time on each toe and move on to the next.
I have done 3 clearings on each of my toes by now and the remaining hairs are fewer and smaller. Overall it wasn’t that hard to take, but I found out the first time I worked the area as a student that you can get quite a bit of swelling if your electrologist (me in this case) does too much at once. It will come down fairly quickly and I would reccommend having the work done on a Friday. Wear some type of shoe that does not cover the areas worked over the weekend and you should be fine by the following Monday.
Also, to reply to the statement about the toes not healing as quickly as the face, you seem to have hit the nail on the head. Parts of the legs and feet do not have nearly the blood supply as the face and will heal more slowly in areas like the shin, top of the feet, and the toes.
Hope this helps.
Here’s another twist to add to this string.
AS an electrologist, the first thing that I think of if any client wants work done on their lower extremities, ESPECIALLY on the feet is, are they diabetic.
Whether one is a juvenile diabetic (Type I) or adult onset diabetic (Type II), any small injury/wound may turn into a full-blown event because of diminished circulation to these areas. It is not uncommon for a diabetic to have a small injury that does not heal, turn to gangrene and bit by bit, parts of toes or the foot need to be amputated. Many times,below the knee amputation is called for. For several years, before I was an electrologist, I was a nurse who worked on an endocrine unit in a hospital, mainly taking care of diabetic patients. It was a very routine part of my job to dress nasty, smelly foot wounds. When these wounds wouldn’t heal after much effort, I was then caring for these same patients when they became new amputees. All their problems started with one small wound on the foot.
Besides talking about if it hurts or not, keep in mind that if you are diabetic, you should have a discussion with your physician and the electrologist should receive written permission to perform electrolysis on your lower extremities, no matter what age you are. If one gets the go ahead for electrolysis, then meticulous care and observation of the treated site must be done to ensure healing is taking place.
Dee
Hi Dee,
A very important point for anyone with diabetes to consider. If you are not managing your blood glucose well, it is very unlikely that you will be a good candidate for any type of skin-related therapy. Running high numbers on your A1c will result in both impaired immunity to infection and very poor healing.
If you are in transition and diabetic, it is very important that you manage your diabetes first. Diabetes increases the risks for anything related to gender transition. As it weakens the immune system, you are more prone to post treatment infections. As your circulatory system becomes weakened, you are much more susceptable to deep thrombus from hormone treatments. As your healing times increase, you will become a less desireable candidate for things like FFS, breast enhancement and SRS.
Of all of the major illnesses that afflict mankind, diabetes is the most controllable. Take this advantage and run with it. Your efforts will be rewarded in better health, a longer, happier life, and the ability to do a lot more of the things that matter to you!
Joanie
I have had my toes cleared twice, it does hurt but it’s not unbearable for me. Mostly because it is just a few minutes I guess. As far as healing slower than the body or leaving marks, I have absolutely none of that. In fact it heals quicker than probably any area for me. It pretty much swells a little on the site, not unusual for me, and than that’s it. No scabs, no marks, nothing. I put neopsorin cream on the area though which I do with all of my treated areas. I have a couple hairs on the top of my feet and to me that area seems like it would hurt just as bad as the toes. I haven’t tried it bcs I just had surgery on both feet close to that area and I just don’t want to do it yet. But even just having had surgery and not being able to walk to much, my toes heal super fast.