Black bulbs

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

If there is not a black bulb on the end of the hair after it has been removed does that mean it was not affected? The left side of my area has been completely cleared and we are getting what is growing through right now. Every single hair should be an anagen hair, but yet not even half of the hairs that come out have a black bulb. On the other side, I rarely ever see any black hair bulbs with the electrolysis using microflash.

How many black bulbs should I be seeing if almost all of my hair is in the anagen stage? Does not seeing a black bulb mean the hair hasn’t been properly treated. With the clareblend electrolysist almost every single hair has some sort of root sheath on it, white or black bulbs but most of the hairs with microflash have no ends on them at all that I can see.

#2

Let’s get something straight right away: Microflash is not the problem. Yes, you should see an intact moist bulb when the hair is properly treated and slides out without traction or resisitance.

I removed close to 2,000 hairs today using microflash thermolysis on a man’s back. The anagen hairs, which most were in anagen stage, slide out beautifully in one piece, soft and moist. Same with a lady’s chin I did today, intact hair, sliding out after treatment.

When microflash is performed properly there should be clues as to if the hair received a proper and effective treatment. Those clues are as mentioned: proper accurate insertion, good treatment energy for the size of hair being treated, lifting out the hair with forceps and feeling no traction. If the insertions are not perfect, if the energy levels are too low, then the hair will be break off and that is what you are probably observing. That’s my guess and it is unfortuante.

Microflash thermolysis is awesome and deadly to a hair follicle, no matter what size hair , if the practitoner learns and demonstrates proper technique with this modality. Microflash is harder to do and learn for some. The electrologist has got to keep focused and make proper insertions every second or if she sets the timer below a 1 second, focusing is even more important. It goes quickley with an automatic timer, thus one can remove a lot of hair in a session. I like this modality for people like you Chuck, but if there is a practitioner problem, you’d be better off with the lady that uses the Clareblend, albeit will be slower.

Do you feel comfortable discussing this with your microflash person? Again, this is not the fault of the modality, it really sounds like the intensity is too low? or the insertions are too shallow? How does your skin look afterwards and a week beyond?

Dee

#3

When you mean they slide out moist and soft what does this mean? Does anybody have any pictures of hairs that have been treated correctly, and hairs that haven’t been treated correctly so I can know what to look for? I don’t really want to spend the money if I know it’s not working. I’m certainly not questioning if that microflash works, just trying to learn what a good hair should look like. As I said, I don’t see alot of “bulbs” from that electrolysis and almost every single hair at the other one has some sort of root sheat, black or white.

The microflash electrologist actually inserts the needle deeper tahn the one that uses the clareblend. I don’t ever bleed or anything like that, so I have no idea what a good insertion looks like, and I probably wouldn’t know it anyway.

I don’t really know how to discuss that with her, I can’t really be like, hey make better insertions. I don’t exactly know the intensity she is using, but I make a point to tell her that I may wince in pain every now and then but the pain does not bother me, just the fact that I want the hair gone. I wish I had another microflash person in my area so I could sample and know what a proper treatment was. ARGH

#4

It would be much easier if I had pictures or a video to show you, but I don’t. I think you already know what an intact growing hair looks like because you described hair with black bulbs coming out when you are treated with the person that uses the Clareblend. An anagen hair, in your case, has a black bulb that looks wet and is soft, in that it will bend easily if you play with it. A newly epilated hair will soon shrivel and get hard when it is exposed to air.

Just ask your microflash electrologist if she can show you a couple hairs after she treats them and explain about what a hair looks like in the different stages of growth and why you are not seeing more bulbs. ASK. She is responsible for the intensity selection, of course,and I understand that you can’t “teach” her how to do this better. That’s not your role and nor should it be. However, you can let her know that you have a basic understanding of electrolysis and you have some concerns about how many hairs are coming out without bulbs. This is all simple communication. She is in the unique position to know your particular hair case. I can only make guesses with the information that is given.

So don’t get too bummed by this. A little communication goes a long way. That’s what I would focus on for now or if you just can’t work this out to your satisfaction, seek out other electrologists and compare.

Dee

#5

but yet not even half of the hairs that come out have a black bulb. On the other side, I rarely ever see any black hair bulbs with the electrolysis using microflash.

You know Chuck, I don’t want to post something that will make things look negative, or instigate some fall-out with your electrologist, but having read your posts I need to comment as well.

First understand Chuck that a blend treated hair, and a flash (micro or otherwise) treated hair, don’t look all that different to the viewer when holding the extracted hair in the tweezers. They both should appear the same, bulb and sheath, or maybe part of a sheath. The only real difference is that the blend hair will appear more wet, because of the lye (NaOH, Sodium Hydroxide) created in the follical that helps destroy the papilla. The lye can partially or fully breakdown the sheath, but even in this case you’re still expecting to see a bulb come out attached to the hair at the base. Now, sometimes, with flash, the operator can zap too low. This destroys and free’s up the bulb and very lowest part of the sheath, but leaves the upper sheath intact -fused to the hair and skin. In this case the sheath kind of involutes and scrunches up just below the epidermis, causing a mound or bump of sorts. In this case, it can pack-up and pinch off the follical’s upper opening, yanking off the bulb. So the hair that comes out looks bulb free. But in this case you can still look at the follical with magnification and still see the little black ball (hair bulb) sitting there stuck in the follical. -But this really can’t happen all the time, and it shouldn’t with a good operator. I don’t think this is what’s going on.

Just from this line quoted, I’m kind of asking what’s going on? Does she have some sort of hair killing approach that gets, and keeps things below the surface? I really don’t think so. I mean, we’d know about it if it involved anagen hairs.

I don’t feel comfortable with your post. Mainly becuase you are one that is ticking away your needed treatments, and from what you are observing, this could lead to some wasted sessions if hair isn’t being removed proper. To me, it sounds like a depth problem. Or she’s using single hits where she should be hitting two or three times at the least. Either way, missing out on that many bulbs is going to give you a false sense of hair clearing, and will extend out the timeline of how long it takes to clear the area. Do either of your electrologists remark that you are highly susceptible to pain? Like Dee says, maybe they need to pay some bills, don’t want to lose your business, and are underpowering all the hairs just to keep you coming back. Lets face it, if it hurts unbearably at effective levels, you’re just not going to go back anymore. You need to do somethings here.

If you go back:

  1. Have an open talk with her. Not accusatory, not suspicious, but on where are the bulbs to these anagen hairs? What is her strategy, and how she thinks it will succeed over another approach that you have seen in the past? Asking her shouldn’t offend her. Only decievers get upset and can’t explain themselves. With the electrologists I have gone to, they would never, ever hesitate to explain themselves, offer to show me hairs without me even asking, and can link the commonly accepted theory to what is being held in the tweezers.

  2. Learn more about what amount and time of power she is using. Look at the machine, how long is the interval? The power setting? It may just be a trade specific number pertainent only to that machine, but still could let you know if that is the appropriate level for the bodypart, ie. legs getting a leg setting, instead of a face setting. Count the blips she’s giving per hair. If you can watch her, is she moving the needle deeper or shallower after each blip? Is it painless (Too deep)? Or, is it too painful and burning (Too shallow)? Truth is though, maybe I’m asking too much here. It’s almost like someone needs a good, working knowledge of electrolysis to seriously understand what could be going wrong.

  3. From what you say, I’d stick with the Clareblend operator for now, and keep looking for a flash operator that’s gonna get some bulbs rooted out. That’s the tried and true way. If this microflash operator is testing some new way of doing things on you, that’s not what you want to pay for at this point.

Good Luck, Keep Us Posted

Mantaray

#6

Yeah, I really think I’m going to have to switch. The only reason I haven’t yet is because I actually have less hair where the microflash gal treated my neck below my adams apple, but I really don’t see very good results on my shoulders compared to the otherside from the clareblend operator.

She does single hits sometimes, and multiple hits other times. When you say hits, I assume you mean zaps. I also notice I get ingrowns more on this side, and the areas that are cleared have hair grow in much quicker than from the clareblend side. That area remains relatively hairfree for a little while.

Thanks for all the help guys

#7

All I can say is, you have to hit the hair you are talking about hard. If you are being under treated, you will have conditions like you are describing.

#8

i think ingrowns are also an indication that the hair is breaking off.