Hello, how many times does a very light hair have to be treated by Blend or Galvanic to not grow back? The hairs have been worked on before and I am doing a touch up for hairs here and there that are very light and thin.
Only once. The reason you’ve going in for touch ups is either because it’s new growth or the electrologist didn’t quite treat it right the first time.
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At any one time only about 1/3 to 1/4 of our hair is in the Anagen or active growth stage. It is entirely possible that some of those hairs were not in the active stage at the time of initial service. This simply fact of human biology is the reason that no form of electrolysis will destroy 100% of the hair that grows on the human body in just one treatment.
There are also thousands of tiny vellus hairs that are not typically visible to the naked eye. When we are performing electrolysis either Galvanic, Blend or Thermolysis, we are causing inflammation in the surrounding tissues. It is entirely possible that this inflammation triggered a DNA response and existing micro vellus hairs became thicker longer vellus hair or even could be converted into terminal hairs.
This is why in school we are taught never to wax or tweeze hairs that are located in a mole for instance. The resulting inflammation can cause the benign cancerous lesions to become cancerous.
The same can happen with a hair follicle. The small vellus hairs when waxed or removed from the face, if not completely destroyed (a rarity after only one treatment) can be converted into terminal hair which is why we always advise clients who wish to remove the hair either by electrolysis or by other forms of hair removal that it will be a commitment.
How does this work? When inflammation is triggered in the skin as part of the skins natural healing response, adrenaline and hormones are released into that area. Hormones being the great communicators that they are as part of the healing response is to attempt to restore the body to it’s genetic predisposition. This is also why it can take anywhere from 8 to 18 months on average to fully clear the face of a human assigned male at birth with any kind of real density. Even though we will be lucky and some follicles will be damaged enough after one treatment it will not regrow, the vast majority are healed in part or in totality after the treatment. It is through repeated treatments that the dermal papilla are damaged to the extent over time that the body’s healing response cannot heal it enough to re grow or restore the hair meant to be in that follicle.
A great example of how Hormones affect the hair is to look at two individuals assigned male at birth.
Let us presume that both identify as MTF Trans. In this scenario one is on HRT including anti-androgens to reduce the amount of testosterone produced by the body and the other is not taking any anti androgens. Typically the individual who is on HRT with Anti- androgens will have a faster and more permanent result than the individual who is not taking Anti-androgens. Testosterone is the one hormone that most affects hair regrowth in both AFAB and AMAB humans.
This is but one of the many aspects that will affect hair regrowth. We also have to take into account the individual genetics, any health and lifestyle factors, the regular stress levels of the individual, such as their job, medications etc. People who stay in the high stress levels resulting in 80% or more of the day in the Sympathetic Nervous state will have a more difficult time with hair removal than an individual who spends more time in the Parasympathetic Nervous state. For this reason I include stress modulation in the beginning of all of my hair removal treatments including but not limited to, soothing music, aromatherapy, affirmations, etc.
I hope this information helps.