I started getting electrolysis on my back 2 weeks ago but I’ve been too lazy to post the pics of my progress. Hopefully I’ll post soon. Anyway, I’ve had 2 sessions and it was looking good. Now I have some re-growth. I’m going in again tomorrow and we’ll see what happens.
Congratulations on your decision to start electrolysis Gob. You indicated that you had treatment just a couple of weeks ago and you noted that you are seeing some regrowth.
In order to appreciate your progress and not get frustrated when you see hair growing in a previously treated area, remember the following:
All of the hair that is growing on your back is not showing at one time. If you only had a total of 2 treatments and those were just a couple of weeks ago, you are not seeing regrowth. These are new hairs that are cycling in.
Ask your electrologist to talk about the growth cycle, the possibilities of regrowth, and how shaving the area a few days prior to electrolysis can impact treatment.
shaving 2 to 3 days prior to treatment will allow the practitioner to be able to tell the difference between growing and shedding hairs. It would also make sure that all hairs are short enough that no time is wasted moving hairs out of the way in order to gain access to the hair one has selected to treat.
For those who choose to treat only growing hairs, the shedders can be simply plucked to save time, while still gaining the correct appearance. In that case, the practitioner would, say, treat one, and pluck three shedders near by. One would feel like one were being plucked on every epilation, but that would be because one is not feeling the treated hairs being removed, but one would feel the shedders being removed.
It is a treatment choice some utilize. It is just good when they share this information with the client/patient, as one who thinks they are getting plucked on every treatment might get the wrong idea and take the wrong action because of it.
shaving 2 to 3 days prior to treatment will allow the practitioner to be able to tell the difference between growing and shedding hairs. It would also make sure that all hairs are short enough that no time is wasted moving hairs out of the way in order to gain access to the hair one has selected to treat.
For those who choose to treat only growing hairs, the shedders can be simply plucked to save time, while still gaining the correct appearance. In that case, the practitioner would, say, treat one, and pluck three shedders near by. One would feel like one were being plucked on every epilation, but that would be because one is not feeling the treated hairs being removed, but one would feel the shedders being removed.
It is a treatment choice some utilize. It is just good when they share this information with the client/patient, as one who thinks they are getting plucked on every treatment might get the wrong idea and take the wrong action because of it.
Thanks James. This is something I always wondered about. So by shedding hairs, do you mean ones that aren’t in the anagen (growth stage)? I always thought that if a hair was not in the anagen stage, it would fall out more easily or with little resistance when plucked.
So do the shedders show less above the skin than the growing hairs if they were both shaved a few days ago?
You are welcome. You are also right. Anything that is NOT Anagen will be exiting the skin at a slower rate than the growing anagens, and therefore be at a different (lower) height than the growing hairs.
Plucking out shedding hairs causes more sensation than removing properly treated electrolysis hairs, but less sensation than plucking untreated hairs.