One more thing – I came across some cautionary advice on a thread about using cortisone cream but her recommendation for aftercare is only immediately following the treatment, not a long term application.
Sounds good.
Except from my own experience, it’s better to pay for a decent length of treatment time for your own sampling.
I’ve learnt a lot from Michael’s post and as a client of Josefa and one of the important aspects of treatment is as close surgical levels of hygiene as possible and minimal interference afterwards (although in some cases, some medical products are useful).
In regards to aftercare, alcohol is completely unnecessary and dries out the skin. If the area is thoroughly cleaned before and after treatment, there is no use for it. It’s entirely up to you what you want to do but the best thing for your skin is to keep it clean and dry and perhaps apply an protective layer of aloe vera. I firmly believe from my own experience with different electrologists, combined with the experience of others I’ve helped, that if the electrologist cleans the area with surgical soap and water immediately before treatment and gently again after, whiteheads can be minimised more than by just using alcohol or the client using TTOil afterwards.
I personally like to spritz some with hazel water later on for cooling/soothing purposes but I use it daily as a toner anyway.
Aftercare choices depends on the area that was treated and the clients skin type. Sometimes soap and water is all that is needed and sometimes adding some Aquaphor or a combination of tea tree oil and aloe vera gel is helpful.
My opinion - TToil is just a substitute for the client not keeping their skin clean by touching it etc and in some cases I’ve physically witnessed, the electrologist not practicing good hygiene/sterile environment. If the skin is kept clean and everything is sterile, I don’t see how it can help. Other than being a antimicrobial, I don’t believe it has any advantages or positive affects on skin healing.
I tend to use one of : Teatree oil, Aloe Vera or coconut oil. Each has their advanatages and I dont tend to use the same thing twice in a row and dont really have an opinion on which works better. The only other thing I do is wash with soap and water as per Michael’s advice or use a hot washcloth compress for 5-10 minutes , which helps soften the tiny little bit of scabbing I do get.
I spent the better part of the last three days working on getting a clearance on my chin. It was a massive undertaking, and there are still several of the harder to see and finer hairs which nightfrost is so good at clearing out as he can see better and get better insertions than I can on myself… Even after such a massive amount of electrolysis, spread over most of 72 hours, my skin is sore, but there is none of the horror pictures you see here on occasion.The pustules are completely non-evident and the hot compresses help keep the folicles clear of the white blood cells that cause scabbing.If I had to be honest, I think the hot compresses do more than nay of the three things I’ve used.
Seana
I can definitely see how hot compresses would work more than anything (if the area was cleaned properly before and after treatment). I had more pustules at my last session than I ever have before and I think it has to do with the timing (driving 2 hours back home) and not showering that evening. After other treatments, I’ve used a warm wash cloth afterwards and did not experience nearly the same amount of pustules.
Just thought I’d update anyone following my process.
I’ve started treatments with the new electro, seeing her once a week. She is much more hygienic and my skin likes the insulated probe muuuuch better – I have very little swelling and little to no scabbing so my skin looks back to normal quickly. With my previous electro and the ballet probe, I could sometimes have swelling up to 3 days! And lots and lots of scabbing. She measured which areas were worked on by the presence of scabs or the PIH. I don’t think i have PIH with the new electro, so I’ve been very happy with a number of things. She’s EXTREMELY cautious because of the existing PIH so she’s constantly afraid of over treating, which I know is for my own good but it also feels like it’s slowing down my progress because she keeps telling me to take time off and let it go awy completely. I think it’ll be a while before that happens so I can’t lose that treatment time!
The downsides: she charges a higher rate than my previous electro but since she uses a newer machine I hoped that the price would work itself out since newer machines can often get through more hair in that hour. Unfortunately, I think she’s a bit slow…because our 1 hour sessions are clearing pretty small areas. My previous electro got through much more and based on that video, someone commented earlier that she was working a bit slow (I can only imagine how fast someone like James must be!!). The speed is starting to make me anxious because even though I’m going in once a week for an hour, she seems to keep working on the same area (chin) because new hair keeps popping up and there is a lot of hair that she doesn’t get to during our sessions. (My treatments are aimed at hair on the bottom half of my face and neck so chin is a tiny piece of the puzzle).
This brings me to another q: prior to my first treatment, I shaved for about 2 weeks (instead of plucking) so when parts of my face had a clearance, it lasted for about 2-3wks before it grew in again. I know hair grows in cycles but areas she is clearing dont stay clear longer than a week – sometimes just a few days. Is that normal? I guess I was expecting that once an area was cleared it would stay clear until 2-3 weeks but are these just a bunch of cycles catching up?
And finally, I wish I could get in for an hour twice a week to speed things up a bit but my electro is too busy. Sigh. Sometimes getting my 1/wk is a challenge so it’s just been disheartening because I feel like I’ll be doing this forever.
I know, I’ve recently started and it’s a long process, I’m just hoping to see light at the end of the tunnel soon.
Just an update: I’ve had a slight break in my treatments because I was out of town for about 2 weeks or so around the holidays and my electrologist has been just way too busy to get me in. I like her a lot but the inconsistency with my treatments is becoming very challenging because the hair has returned with a vengeance and even shaving it is unmanageable (every day!!)
I contacted another electrologist in the area and set up a consultation with her today because as much as I like the electro I’m currently seeing, her availability is very limited. The new electro I met with today uses an Apilus SX-500 and a variety of probes (gold, silver, etc). She does NOT use an insulated probe (my current electro uses a Silhouette machine and insulated probe on me and my skin has reacted to her methods really well. Very little swelling, no scabbing, no PIH).
Could the use of a different probe make that big of a difference? The first electro (before my current one) I went to used an older machine and gold ballet probes – but my skin swelled up, scabbed and I had massive PIH, so i’m afraid to go back that route again.
I wish there were more electros in this area, I think this new electro is my last option for changing electrologists :-/
Any input would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you for the update!
If the hair is unmanageable, consider booking weekly appointments for a few weeks. When you get cleared, consider going every 3-4 weeks.
It is possible that your skin reacts differently to different probes, but it it could also be that reaction is related to skill and energy level choices or even modality choice. COMMMUNICATE and work with the Electrologist that decide you want to stick with. Just keep in mind, that we are destroying tissue that makes hair grow and you are bound to have some temporary skin side effects. It gets better as the hair density decreases. The first 4-6 months is the hardest. If you can live through that, you will be so much for the better. This is not easy for some people, BUT IT WORKS and may be your only hope.
What is your aftercare regime like?
The process of doing electrolysis takes excellent fine motor skill and great eyesight. That is why there are not many people that train and stick with it. Be happy that you have at least three practitioners in your local. Don’t be a pain in the neck, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t compare and ask questions. There is a fine line where we address client concerns, but if it becomes excessive and burdensome, well, many practitioners that I know will just tell you that they don’t have any openings.
Thank you for the response Dee, your expertise and input are always appreciated 
My schedule since I started has been 1hr/wk, the first 2 weeks i did 2-3 hrs/wk. Since I was out of town and we had some scheduling issues, my face hasn’t been treated for about a month and the hair is definitely back and a lot of it. I’m hoping to get back in to my 1x/wk schedule now. My current electro usually gets me in about 1 hr/wk but sometimes has to cancel for personal reasons and she only works about 2.5 days a week, so it can be difficult to reschedule or get longer sessions to complete a clearance.
I try not to ask her too many questions and let her do her thing because I do trust her – I think i’m just getting a bit desperate with the hair and want to treat it as quickly and efficiently as possible.
For aftercare I’ve been using neosporin and cortisone cream and my skin has reacted really well to that thusfar.
I scheduled a session with the new electro for tomorrow – let’s see how it goes!
New electro did not work out, unfortunately.
I was excited because she has a lot of years of experience and a newer machine…but unfortunately when we started the treatment, she had the current too low (I could barely feel it) and I could feel her completely plucking every single hair. It wasn’t like half the root was destroyed and she was tugging at what was left, it was more like she destroyed 2% and tugged at a 98% attached follicle. Every time.
I politely mentioned that I could feel a lot of plucking and resistance so she upped the current a bit but it didn’t help much, still pluck pluck pluck. We ultimately decided that she was uncomfortable putting the current higher so if we continued, every hair at the current setting would still experience resistance – and my stomach was in knots thinking that the hair I’ve been so careful not to tweeze in between would just be plucked during a treatment.
So, we both mutually agreed to cut our session short and that was that.
I’m back to my current electro (who I adore), but just struggling again to make our schedules match up. C’est la vie!
Okay, well, good to know.
That is why we always say that skill is very important and pluck, pluck, pluck is not a desirable thing. Maybe she is getting use to a new epilator?