Blend treatments don't seem to work.

I’ve had several Blend treatments above my collar bones and towards the side of my neck and the hairs just seems to grow back.

Three hairs that I know specifically (they are all alone in a area) have been treated three times and are now back. After the second treamtent they didn’t grow back for a long time (over two months) and then grew back really fine. But now after the third treatment they grew back again and one of them is actually thick again - strange.

This hair growth is IPL induced and I have been undergoing IPL treatments while doing the Blend, maybe that’s why it can’t kill of the hairs?
Or can it bee bad treatment? I don’t get much skin reaction from the Blend and the treatment really hurts sometimes and also the practitoner seems very knowledgable and she is a nurce and she has been doing hair removal for a long time. She always uses gloves, magnifying glass, good equipment etc.

The Blend (thermolysis + chemical) electrolysis is very effective for killing hair. Your practitioner sounds terrrific. Regrowth hair is getting finer, except for that one strange hair. By the way, 2 months is not a long time for a hair to reappear after treatment. It is very close to the norm for a partially treated hair to regrow for this area.

I can only take you at your personal observation that the one thick hair that returned is actually a hair that has been previously treated. That usually isn’t the case. So I’m thinking, maybe, just maybe, that is a new hair that was not treated but was very,very close to one that has been treated???

Are you saying that you are doing IPL on the same area and that this is triggering hair growth? I’m not clear on this.

I really think all sounds normal and on target. Appreciate your practitioner. She appears to be very good and always talk to her about concerns and questions because she can see you up close and personal.

Take care IBS,

Dee

Thankyou very much for the reply Dee.

I don’t realy know. The one strange hair might be a new hair, but it seems to grow from the same dot/follicle exit as the former hair.

I have had IPL treatments on adjacent areas and saw sudden triggered hair growth on this former completely hairless areas. And wile doing Blend I have had IPL treatments on the same adjacent areas and also sometimes the IPL practitioners zapped some of the IPL triggered hair growth (it’s hard to be very exact with the IPL’s big prism).

My practitioner is very good and I ask her about everything regarding the skin. She works in a plastic surgery clinic and there are many knowledgable professionals there.

But still, somtimes one wants to ask someone completely objective about the treatment.

Oh, I totally agree IBS. It seems that I can’t learn anything well unless I draw information from several, if not many, different sources. I’m just pleased by your situation as far as having a skilled practitioner with good equipment.

I am so curious about consumer posts that state they have more hair popping up in areas that were or were not treated with LASER or IPL. It is said to be a rare occurence in relationship to how many peopled actually have light-based treatments, but as I follow information on several different forums, there seems to be a more people joining the chorus. I can’t figure out why this happens to some people or what can be done to keep this from occuring at all. It has been said that one needs to aggressively treat an area in those first one or two treatments to prevent this??? I’m sure this phenomenon is being looked in to.

Well, anyway, have you seen this article anywhere? It shares information about darker skinned clients and laser-induced hair growth. It is from keratin.com which is a great website loaded with information just like hairfacts and hairtell.

http://www.keratin.com/hirsutism-hypertrichosis/hirsutism-hypertrichosis-laser-induced.shtml

Dee

In my case, the hair growth did end up spreading to areas that were not directly treated by the laser, but were adjacent to the area treated. Here’s the thing, though: When the laser fires, it lights up the entire room–it’s quite powerful. So, the adjacent areas are getting radiated by the laser as well, but getting a much lower amount of radiation. I have heard low treatment fluences implicated in laser triggered hair growth, so if the target area is hit with a high fluence, the adjacent areas are getting a lower fluence, which may be part of what triggers the hair growth…

Dee, so you think I should just continue with the Blend treatments?
IPL induced hair growth shouldn’t be different from ordinary hair growth regarding it’s removal with electrolysis, should it??

Also, could you please read the last post in my thread “Can electrolysis practitioners also take out ingrowns?”.

I know I nag about the ingrown issue - but I’ll try to become better! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

Oh, yeah, continue the blend if that is what your practitioner prefers for you. You still want those hairs removed and electrolysis is a great net to fall in to sweep up any hair that is awakened with IPL treatments.

Electrolysis always has the final word on stubborn hairs of any color, located on any color of skin.

As for checking out your last post on ingrowns, I will do that later today because I don’t have time right now.

Thanks,

Dee

Thanx dee!

Yes, my practitioner tells me that Blend will kill of hairs but she says that in some cases it’s maybe a little harder. She talked to the plastic surgeon at the clinic who has done electrolysis herself before for a long time and the surgeon said that in some cases the hairs must be treated several times even with Blend to become permanently removed. But she didn’t know why this occurs.

Also, could you please read the last post in my thread “Can electrolysis practitioners also take out ingrowns?”.

I know I nag about the ingrown issue - but I’ll try to become better! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

I will chime in, I experienced many more ingrown hairs on my neck and shoulders with blend and more aggravated follicles with blend than I do with thermolysis. I went with blend hoping for quicker results but I’ve found that straight thermolysis is working better for me.

dfahey, whey you say chemical in your description of blend, are you refering to lye?

“Chemical” is referring to the sodium hydroxide being produced in the follicle.

-----------------------------On addressing the other matter…
One theory on Laser and IPL causing those fine hairs to become thicker is that the area is not being treated aggressively enough and those fine hairs are stimulated into becoming coarse. I saw this back in 1997 and shared the information with my colleagues who were administering laser - IPL but the info. was poo-pooed. The information still goes ignored. Why? One of the reasons why undertreatment is so common is that the designation, “Permanent Hair Reduction” is so ambiguous. Essentially, if your hair returns after several treatments, you have little recourse other than negotiating for additional low cost or free treatments. However, if you are treated too aggressively and the result is tissue damage - scarring, you will most likely win a law suit. Hence, undertreating will not win a lawsuit but overtreatment damage will.

The term, “Permanent hair Reduction” is actually very clever, ambiguous and works in favor or all those who administer laser - IPL.

There was a question posed to a laser hair removal physician who was asked, “Which is the best laser for hair removal?”, the doc replied, “The one that the technician knows how to use!”

Some people are allergic to the sodium hydroxide being produced with the blend and perhaps that is what happened in your case.

Blend does work but can take a longer time for one to see results as fewer follicles are able to be treated in the given appt. time.

Yes, Pisces, when I say chemical, I am referring to lye, sodium hydroxide (2 H20 + 2 NaCl plus some hydrogen and chlorine gas = (NaOH)). It’s like making microscopic Drano in the hair follicle. Thanks for helping me clarify that.

Dee

Some people are allergic to the sodium hydroxide being produced with the blend and perhaps that is what happened in your case.

Blend does work but can take a longer time for one to see results as fewer follicles are able to be treated in the given appt. time.

How would the multi-needle galvanic compare to blend in terms of speed and effectiveness (percent of hairs killed on first try)?

RJC2001

Hi I had the same problems with my unibrow and ears where the hairs kept coming back after blend treatment. In both cases it was obvious that some of the same hair kept coming back. However, the eyebrow hair has now finally gone after hours and hours of treatment in that less than one square inch! Although some of this hair is still visible in miniature form if I stand very close to a mirror, I am not getting it treated and happy with the results (although very dissatisfied with the time it took).

The ear hair is still coming back, esepcially a few strands on my lobe that refuse to even minatiurize.

The success in the eyebrow makes me think that at some point the ear hair will finally give up and die:-)

Right now I am on Saw Palmetto and thinking of getting on Propecia (I am male) if I can find a dctor to prescribe it. I have heard some people getting incredible body hair reduction with these two drugs and scalp hair regrowth, although its rare.

Good luck!

Hi tembo.
Is seems strange that it took such long time for so little hair to be removed, because most say that Blend is very effective.

Didn’t you get problems with ingrowns while your hairs became thinner and weaker with every treatment? I get that where I do Blend (and also on the rest of my body where I do IPL treatments). The weak hairs can’t get out of the skin properly. It’s a mess and if I cant get the hairs out I get hyperpigmented dots that remain for ever I think (and some form hard bumps). I thought for I while that the dots could be misstaken for uneven pigmentation which many brown people like me have so it wouldn’t be too abnormal. But these darker dots around the pore openings of the ingrown hairs are a little “shiny”. They have a different texture so they reflect light different than normal skin - more like glass.
So one can notice that it’s inflammations. It’s rather unpleasent to know that I have hundreds of chronic inflammations going on in my skin and that I will have them for ever and that the more IPL and Blend tretmanets I undergo the more of these I will get.
I hate the thought of it and also the look of it…

tembo, how many electrologists did you try before committing to this one?

Also,tembo, what was your electrolysis treatment schedule for these areas. Were you real consistent over 9-12 months for those ears?

The middle brow, as well as the ears are loaded with hair follicles. Being that they are such small surface areas, it is amazing to see under quality magnification so many, many, many hair follicles in one tiny area. The time factor makes sense under these conditions.

Dee

Hi:

Blend like thermolysis will work if you have patience and
stick with it.I have had mostly thermolysis but lately I am getting a bit of blend done also. Thermolysis is much quicker per hair and you can clear a larger area with it in a given time period.

As for ingrowns. Most times your electrolygist can get these out. They can be nasty though.

Tembo: A lot of doctors will prescribe propecia for hairloss in men. If they prescribe it as its other name “finasteride” it can be covered by drug plans and is usually cheaper. There is a chance of sexual side effects however. Both propecia and saw palmetto will probably be helpful in preventing prostate enlargement.

Alicia

I had thermolysis and blend done in my eyebrow by two different electrologists initially for 6-8 hours. I got scarring in the eyebrow that lasted for many months from the thermolysis.

Then I found my current electrologist who I have had around 60 hours of work done with (all blend). She has mostly worked on the back of my neck, lower back, ears and eyebrows. However, we haven’t needed to touch the eyebrows for over a year for sure so I think that area is permanently done. This electrologist charges me only $45 an hour, never accepts tips and always gives me overtime!! She even admits that this process is very time consuming and never tries to trick me into thinking it can get done fast. She also uses all kinds of lotions for aftercare and pain relief creams such as lidocaine and so on when required.

You could say I got lucky…but over the past year I have also been getting newer body hair growth (sides of stomach, upper back, NOSE (ugghhh) and am now balding so I feel quite unlucky overall. I want to try laser, but don’t have the money to waste on it if its not permanent. Maybe I will just go into some jungle and live with a tribe and never worry about all this bullshit:-)

FYI – I am a man and still hate this so I really feel for all the women who have a ton of body hair and scalp hair loss at the same time due to PCOS.

Iranianbuy, I get no ingrowns from electrolysis. I got some darkening of skin in my upper cheeks when my current electrologist tried that area one time, followed by on and off inflammation/boils/pimples in both upper cheeks in the treated areas. Dunno if it was ingrowns or just some weird reaction, although I never got it other areas I had treated.

Anyway, I am not going to even try electrolysis on my beard as it takes too much time and I have dark skin so I don’t want to risk more bumps. I do have very very fast beard growth that makes me feel tired for some reason and many of my pics show blackish cheeks despite daily shaving (plus I got dark circles under the eye due to genetics).

<b>My conclusion is that the best thing to do is try Saw Palmetto, Propecia and maybe Spiro if this hair thing bothers you a lot</p>. I have read messages from people who have seen major body hair reduction with each of these drugs.

None of these drugs seem to cause any life thereatening side effects either, although other bothersome side effects are possible. My electrologist has taken Spiro for most of her life since she is a transsexual!

I have given this a lot of thought and really do believe that the above route is better than laser or electolysis for a very hairy person – especially since it might also save your scalp hair.