Before/After Care Tips

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

I know there are many tips through out various threads, but I thought it would be nice for all the before/after care tips to be in one thread for easy access.

So if you have any tips for the before/after care of electrolisys please post. Anything to minimze pain, scarring, time, and maximize results, and faster healing.

I know I will be needing as many as I can, I drank a lot of water these past few days, and know I will need aloe-vera for after, but I don’t know much else! My first session is this morning - wish me luck!

#2

Hi:

Beforehand I take some tylenol 3’s and apply emla cream.

Afterwards, if there is swelling, I apply ice for a while.
Then at night you may want to apply a cream with tea tree oil, Vitamin E and Aloe Vera. Some people use witch hazel and lavender.

Tea tree oil and aloe vera are probably your best bets.

Alicia

#3

before getting treatment. (this is mostly for face stuff but it applies to any body area)

  1. wash face and remove any and all make up.

  2. drink lots of water couple days before and on the day

  3. tie head hair back and wear loose clothing with wide necks so electrologist can get a clear view of everything.

  4. dont shave for two + days before treatment (more if your hair grows slow). so hairs can be visible and long enough to pick out.

  5. relax. i dont take any drugs or numbing cream. but you would do that at this point as well.

after treatment

  1. do NOT touch the face.

  2. apply witch hazel or aleo vera gel. Not together. before applying the next thing. gently wash face dry then apply. preferbly wash with cool water.

  3. apply later on or at night or whatever polsyporin to help with healing and minimize scaring. can reply for several days after.

  4. drink lots of water, keep face clean. do not touch it or pick at scabs.

  5. do not wear wear clothing that will cover or rub against newly treated area. avoid this if possible.

  6. exercise and eat right for overall health at all times not just for electrolysis.

this is what i would do if i was really diligent in my care. i am not always tho. remember alot of skin treatments are available such as tend skin, tea tree oil, vitamin E etc.

good luck.

#4

I am 100% for this thread!

I’m only four treatments in, and so am still working out what’s best for me (have very sensitive, slow-to-heal skin, prone to irritation and ingrowns).

In my case, I had a not-so-great reaction to the first treatment (at very high setting). For that and the second treatment, used witch hazel and aloe. Didn’t help much in terms of soothing, nor of dealing with increasingly obnoxious ingrowns.

  1. Two days before treatment:

Electro advised using a mild exfoliating (glycolic) facial mask on ingrowns once a week, a couple of days before treatment. Haven’t tried this yet.

  1. Immediately after treatment:

Electro applies witch hazel. At night, I might wash with gentle soap (Dove), and put Polysporin on.

  1. Day after treatment, and the next two – evenings:

I adapted the home-grown tend skin recipe (well documented on this site).

Four tablets of effervescent aspirin**
One + 1/2 tablespoons water
Three tablespoons rubbing alcohol, stirred well.

I let the mixture (solution?) hang out for a bit before using it. I pour it in a water bottle and have enough for the two + 1/2 days after treatment that I’d think is the time you’d want to use it. (Areas covered: face, neck chest, treasure trail). Applied at night, with a cotton ball.

  1. Day after treatment, and the next two – mornings: if skin is very sensitive – raw, raised, sore – Polysporin. If skin’s all right – reddish pin pricks – I’ll use a 5% benzoyl peroxide cream because it’s actually a very good antibacterial agent. (Found that little nugget on the tsroadmap site, btw.)

**Many effervescent aspirin tablets contain sodium bicarbonate, which can help to soften, soothe and disinfect skin… No flavoured stuff, though, why mess around…

Good results with this so far – the skin over the ingrowns is starting to release a bit, and it looks like they’ll be primed for the electro to take care of them. I’d tried to gently scratch (and then, in frustration) squeeze them open on my own with, predictably, a worse situation than I’d started. Non-ingrown areas look better too. I think it’s the anti-inflammatory action of the aspirin that’s helping so much.

(That and the fact that my electro turned down the settings after the first treatment, when I was so eager to get the nasty things gone, I tolerated an (apparently) unusually high setting. No idea if or how this might affect results, but you’ve got to live decently during the time it will take, I think…)

NB: Tsroadmap advises that the benzoyl peroxide bit might be too irritating for some. I find I can handle it, just not the same day as the treatment.

#5

the mild exfoliation before a treatment is a good idea iff you have ingrown hairs.

You are iritating your skin to death literally.

Fact alcohol is a great disinfectant and a harsh irritant.

Fact Alcohol kills regenerating cells. YOu are actually prohibiting the healing process interfering with it.

Everything you are using except the polysporin is harsh and irritating disrupting healing. STOP IT. Exfoliating a wound? No No NO. don’t you know what aspirin does? quit keep it dry and all your problems will go away.

#6

Hi learner,

I appreciate your desire to stop people from harming themselves unnecessarily. I do in fact have horrible ingrowns, which is why my electro suggested the exfoliation.

My kitchen-sink understanding of science (partly acquired, admittedly, here on this board) is what’s led me to try the home Tend-skin recipe – which, I thought, was a chemical exfoliator…

As for my “problems going away” without interference, I wish that were the case. If I don’t touch the irritated ingrowns, they make themselves ugly little homes in my skin for months at a time. My skin doesn’t ‘shed’ or heal easily. I’d love to hear any advice on speeding up healing…

Wondering, if anyone can provide an answer, why my electro is reluctant to get at the ingrowns… it seems she’s letting them alone. Often, a gentle scratch at home after the treatment will (sometimes) reveal the hair.

Another question: is putting polysporin over an ingrown wise? Doesn’t it lead to the skin healing over the distorted hair, making it even harder to get at?

Further: maybe some of these aren’t ingrowns, but “tombstones” – is there a difference, btw, and if so, how can I tell, and what should I do?

Thanks,

rain

ps - (What about hydrogen peroxide to clean these wounds?)

#7

If you can make it to Buffalo sometime between February 20 and 28, I can take care of all your ingrowns and send you on your way.

You really need an electrologist who is not afraid to treat you. You also need to have all problem hairs removed so you can allow your skin to heal.

My email address is on my profile.

#8

Just don’t over do it. give your skin a break after electrolysis then acouple of days later use your products, use a gentle mechanical exfoliation. and then stop a day or two before your next visit. These products can dry the skin and you need the moisture for the electrolysis. Run a humidifier if your climate is dry. Heating and cooling systems can dry the air out.

Some ingrown hairs are very easy to treat especially if they are near the surface.
If it is an area where the hairs all grow the same direction then the angle and depth of the hair is easy for your electrologist to estimate. If it requires digging then you get a scar.
Tombstones usually come out with the original hair or rise to the surface. If a tombstone is treated no harm but there usually isn’t an angle to insert. A gentle scratch will release a tombstone.
Tombstone is a hair that is forming below the treated hair. Unless you have a lot of testosterone you are unlikely to have these. I see them in men’s beards.

I think your electrologist is giving you good advice. Is she afraid to treat ingrowns as I saw no mention of this.
I just think your rubbing alcohol preparation might be a bit much as it dries the skin and prohibits cell regeneration. Ingrowns on your face? What is your gender? There may be another problem here.

Rachelle’s post is very good.

Tend skin is a lot of alchol and drying for a little exfoliation. Aspirin exfoliates by "eating away tissue I wonder if you aren’t agrivating a probelm. Try follique you will be amazed at how much more action you get with one application.

Hydrogen peroxide: again too harsh and unnecessary

#9

You really need an electrologist who is not afraid to treat you. You also need to have all problem hairs removed so you can allow your skin to heal.

James, where do you get indication that this person’s electrolgist is afraid to treat ingrowns? I don’t see it stated anywhere. she simply says she has a problem and her elctrologist has given her good advice. I think she may take it to far.

Why are you so quick to assume everyone with a question or who wants advice has a bad electrologist?

Maybe you better read more carefully as this thread was started to share pre/post treatment. dealing with ingrown hairs falls into that catigory.

Judging an electologist as afraid to treat ingrowns just because some one has them is not. There is no connection to the existence of ingrowns and fearful practioners.

Why do you and your cohort think every other electrologist is incompetent. Because it is strongly implied in many of your posts. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />
Drive from Toronto? Give me a break I am sure she has plenty of competent choices with excellent training nearby. A student has nothing better to do with time and money?

#10

I find that a healing cream or ointment works wonders for me when applied consistently for 3 days after treatment. I have used the Red Cross brand First Aid Cream, Eucirin Healing Ointment, and a few other first aid ointments.