Back in the saddle again....

After a less than positive experience with laser a few years back, I’ve decided to try electrolysis for hair removal on my shoulders and back. I interviewed my first electrologist this afternoon and it was a somewhat mixed experience. She was a very nice woman (I’ll leave off her name for now) who said she’d been working as a electrologist for 20 years. However, she was only an LE and not a CPE. We actually talked about that and her response was she just didn’t want to spend the time getting the cert given her long experience in the field. I work in a technical area myself and know about “paper certs” so I bought the story to some degree. She told me she used thermolysis though not “flash”, and the machine she used (I think as I didn’t write it down) was a clareblend (which looked a bit dated but given this is the first machine I’ve seen I’ve got nothing to compare it too.) The office was clean and she seemed professional. I told her about my negative experience with laser, and I wanted to focus on the upper arms/shoulder area to start to see how it went. Everything seemed positive until I tried to pin her down about how long it would take to clear my shoulder areas. She said it would take “hundreds of hours”… hundreds??? I didn’t want to jump on her about it but I got her to admit that she considered herself “slow”, but she tried to spin this as a positive as in “slow but effective”. So here’s my questions. Most of the time estimates I’ve read on this forum were quite a bit less…(particularly as this was not even my full back but just my shoulder area). Is there anything to the argument that “slow but accurate” gives a better result in the long run, (or was she just trying to put a positive spin on her less than speedy technique). I also don’t know how important the CPE cert is. Any comments would be appreciated, and finally I’m looking in San Mateo CA. so if anyone has a recommendation for someone it’d be appreciated.

Jim

Wow, its theme day here. Check out what I just wrote here:
http://www.hairtell.com/ubbthreads/showf…=true#Post34036

What you are up against is the difference between the statistical limit of galvanic, vs blend, vs thermolysis. Galvainic is the easiest form of electrolysis to get proficient at, but has a statistical limit of about 1 hair per hour. Anyone removing 100 hairs per hour in galvanic is probably using a multi-probe/needle unit, and is fast with the fingers. Blend is almost as forgiving of misplacement of the probe as galvanic and has a statistical limit of around 5 or 6 hairs per minute, and anyone delivering more than 200 hairs per minute in blend is working fast indeed. If any part of a thermolysis treatment is off (setting, positioning, depth) permanent hair removal doesn’t take place, or worse yet skin damage. The statistical limit of thermolysis is around 40 hairs per minute, but most people never approach that warp factor, consider a thermolysis operator fast at around 10 hairs per minute and above, which works out to 600 hairs per hour.

Add to this the fact that no one but this forum has told you about how you should bet as much done as clost together in the early going, and you could spend forever doing one hour a month for the rest of your life.

Hi JimP,

Glad to hear that you are back in the saddle again.

Slow, but effective will get you permanent hair removal, true. But, there really are faster and more effective ways to get your hair removed on a large area, too. Modern computerized equipment (epilator) in the hands of someone skilled who uses quality magnification and lighting enables the practitioner to work faster. Client comfort and skin condition is enhanced. Resolving the hair problem as quickley (and deadly) as possible equals client satisfaction.

Be sure to check out as many electrologists in your area so YOU can decide what suits your situation best.

Read this forum for posts that have already been submitted.

This is a subject that can set off a wide range of disagreement between electrologists. You, the consumer, will just have to read what is here and on other forums so you can decide how you want this “dished up on your plate”. Just keep in mind, that all three methods of electrolysis WILL DELIVER PERMANENT HAIR REMOVAL, but practitioner skill is #1. A close #2, in my opinion, is having great tools to enhance that great skill.

Dee

i think the best way to find the best electrologist in your area is by doing 15 min sessions with 3-4 and compare. if you haven’t had electrolysis done at all before, it’s really hard to judge just from what they say. and even having an hour by each one would help, without losing much money. it’s the best way to see the speed with which they remove the hair and then estimate how long it would take for all of it to be gone.