between the two electrologists i see, they spend different amounts of time on each hair. they both have told me they are using blend. one of them i count around 7-8 seconds per hair which i read on here was normal. the other though basically inserts, the machine beeps, and she removes it. is it possible she is switching back and forth between blend and thermolysis? i didn’t think so bcs this is the way it is the entire time. i also wondered is it possible she uses a higher setting so that she doesn’t spend as long on each hair? i do not feel a tweezing and the areas she has treated are doing great as far as growth rate. any information is appreciated.
It sounds like the second operator is doing flash thermolysis. However, it could be she is simply doing a fast blend.
When your first operator is doing blend, you probably feel the currents start and stop. Do you feel a similar starting and stopping with the second operator? Or is it more like a snap? If the latter, it’s flash. Another clue: Do you have to hold a rod, or is there a wired patch stuck on your skin? If not, it’s not blend.
There’s a limit to how fast one can do proper blend. In blend, the operator tries to give each follicle a particular dose of electricity, along with heating it, and to make it faster the voltage has to go higher. There’s an upper limit to how high the voltage can go, for safety, so practically speaking true blend is limited to about four seconds.
Blend can be faster, but as the treatment becomes faster it becomes less like true blend and more like flash thermolysis.
DIY’r is totally correct!
if you are not holding a rod or touching a pad with the second person, then you are not getting a blend treatment and from the speed that you are describing it really sounds like it’s thermolysis. But I don’t see why she would lie to you like that. And again, you can be certain that if you are not in contact with a rod (with conductive gel) or a wet pad in either office, you are not getting anything else but thermolysis.
So if she is taking you for a fool, you should confront her about it and never go back there. Why are you seeing two people anyway?
i am holding a rod always and i could be exagerrating the quickness of the treatment. it might actually be more like 4 seconds, fast blend. and sometimes i do notice it being as long as 7-8 seconds on what i would assume are difficult hairs. she is a good electrologist and highly recommended, the areas she has worked on are coming along well so i definitely do trust her and i don’t think it’s a question of lying, i just have never asked her. a lot of times i don’t even notice the difference between the treatment and the hair sliding out so that is another reason i might be overestimating her speed. the reason i see two is because i have a lot of hair that needs to be removed. i started out with one and she can only get me in once a week. i can see the other one about twice a week. so that way i can get electrolysis done about 3 times a week. i need that bcs my unwanted hair problem is pretty extensive.
Now I’m confused. I thought my electrologist was using blend on my brows. I wasn’t holding a rod until after she was done with the treatment. While I was holding the rod, she would rub this metal device on the already treated area. Now she’s working on my lower back and I’m holding on to a patch the whole time. I’m assuming the lower back is blend, but what was she doing on my brows and what was that metal thing after the treatment was done?
She was probably doing thermolysis (aka. diathermy) on your brows. That’s the only method that works without you holding an electrode.
The metal thing she used on you afterwards, is probably a device that helps the pores to close up afterwards. My electrologist uses a little metal roller on me.
It feels a little bit prickly, but mainly it just feels ice cold. It’s a fantastic, relaxing feeling, and I’d happily pay for a session of after treatment!
Now I’m confused. I thought my electrologist was using blend on my brows. I wasn’t holding a rod until after she was done with the treatment. While I was holding the rod, she would rub this metal device on the already treated area. Now she’s working on my lower back and I’m holding on to a patch the whole time. I’m assuming the lower back is blend, but what was she doing on my brows and what was that metal thing after the treatment was done?
She was using Thermolysis on your brows and then giving you post-epilation cataphoresis treatment which is done to sooth the skin and re-balance its pH. It’s done by plugging the wet pad or metal rod in the negative electrode and the roller in the positive (if i remember from the books. someone who knows, correct me if I’m wrong).
In electrology, cataphoresis has a special meaning. When performing the blend or straight galvanic electrolysis, the ph levels of your skin changes from the normal slightly acidic nature to alkalinic due to the chemical change happening in the follicle. When we electrologists perform blend, we are making microscopic lye (like Drano), inside the follicle,to destroy the hair growing tissue. In order to reverse the alkaline effects of lye, cataphoresis is used to bring your skin’s ph balance back to the normal acidic level.
Thermolysis is heat destruction, nothing chemically happens
underneath, so there is nothing to neutralize by doing cataphoresis. Some electrologists believe cataphoresing is a vital after treatment and some think it only provides a nice psychological effect for the client. It seems to reduce the heat, swelling and redness by causing the little blood vessels to constrict or get smaller after a blend treatment. It does feels soothing after using straight thermolysis,too,but so does 100% pure aloe vera gel.
If and when I use it on my clients, I like to use witch hazel soaked gauze over the area. Witch hazel contains a little alcohol and some herbs that shrinks the swollen tissue and lessens post treatment inflammation. There are some nice gels that can be used instead. Just squirt on the skin and roll away.
Dee
Thanks for the info!!