depressed. pictures included

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

I’m planning on getting laser on my legs, lower arms, butt, stomache, lower back, and underarms. Even that doesn’t seem like enough, because my breasts are hideously covered in hair, my upperarms are terrible, even my shoulders, and for ****ing sakes I’m a woman. It’s just so depressing to me how much hair has taken away from me. To not being able to go on high school senior trips to not being able to date in college. I don’t think I’ll be able to afford to pay for electrolysis on top of how much I’ll be spending for laser. It’s sad to think that after putting almost my entire paycheck towards laser for like a year it may not work. I’m very scared, because I’m quite suicidal at the moment. I don’t have health insurance, so no chance of me being able to afford to go to the doctor to at least put me on spiro or something. I don’t think I have pcos, because I am armenian(general hairy) and my mother/sister are both very hairy but my mom’s sister barely has hair on her upper legs so I dunno. How many hours of electrolysis do you think just the amount I showed you will take, well at least for the first clearance. I’d rather put my money towards laser at the moment, but eventually will do electrolysis. I’ll upload more pictures later of my upper lips and upperarms and what not, but my cell service is bad at the moment and these arethe only ones that got sent online.

#2

hi there,

please don’t feel like this. this much hair is normal for many, many women.

i feel it is too fine for laser. i would forget about spending money on it but maybe other people will suggest differently.

first step, bleach it. you will look just like all those blonde haired women who have body hair that they don’t remove and isn’t really noticeable.

second step. find a good electrologist. i have started having thermolysis between my breasts and a lot can be cleared in just a 30min session. i’m only doing what is still noticeable after bleaching.

imo it makes a big difference and even if you want to remove all of it at some point, at least it will help for now whilst you can’t afford too much electrolysis.

i.e. for the tummy, once it’s bleached i think you will find only the middle 2-3" inches need doing to blend with the shorter finer hairs on the side.

#3

I’ll definitely consider the bleaching, because I’m not sure if I want to laser my stomache, because I know I can’t bleach if I am going to go ahead with it. Just want to get a few different opinions especially LAgirl’s because she seems to know a lot about laser. How often do you bleach anyways?

#4

I’m not sure laser will work for those abdominal hairs. If given even an hour, a good electrologist, using a speedy modality could knock off a lot of those thick hairs and the visible difference would be striking to say the least. I do a lot of abdominal hair and it is not a high hill to climb. It’s hard for me to look at your pictures and think of bleaching or laser for this simple problem. Same goes for your cleavage area. PicoFlash thermolysis would be a lovely choice - fast too.

#5

I like to keep on top of it, so I bleach every 2 weeks. I start getting darker hairs through by then.

I’m not sure where you are but in the UK Boots own brand bleach is easy to use with great results.

dee - I think bleaching is a great temporary option, especially if one does not have access to or cannot immediately afford the level of electrolysis required. One goes from trying to ensure that no one ever catches a glimpse of their hairy areas to not being as worried about it because unless you’re looking real carefully, the hairs aren’t so noticeable.

I would love to have access to an electrologist using picoflash - not an option here that I’ve found yet.

My method has been to continue bleaching as I have always done and then first tackle the hairs that are most obvious even after bleaching. It’s worked well for me and my electrologist.

#6

Oh and just to add. I have short and fine hair all over my body but it’s dark.

When my arms are hair free up to the top (from laser sessions on 3/4 and waxing the top bit), I feel the shoulder hairs are visible and make my skin look grey compared to the rest of my arm. I would never wax them, so I bleach them and voila, barely visible and my skin all looks the same shade.

#7

As Stoppit says, please don’t worry because this amount of hair is completely normal! I think that bleach coupled with electrolysis on the coarser hairs would really give a great reduction on your stomach and your breasts.

As for your arms, by all means get laser if your forearms have coarse, dark hair, but I would advise NOT getting it on your upper arms. Most women’s hair in that area is not coarse enough for laser. I had it treated and was left with patchy laser-induced hair growth particularly on shoulders and upper arms. This is far far worse than natural arm hair because you can’t bleach it, it is much coarser, and it looks very unnatural! So please be careful - post pictures here before you go ahead! The same goes for lower back and butt - it’s unlikely the hair is coarse enough for laser.

Good luck!

#8

Thanks, for all the input, it’s great having a forum like this. Stoppit it says you did your thigh as well, from what I read it doesn’t seem to react well usually. How did yours do and may I ask what settings you used(if you happen to remember) and your skintype. Do you happen to have any before/after type photos that you don’t mind sharing. =] How did your arms do as well? Now, I’m not even sure what I want to laser. Wishing my dang phone was working, because it seems to not be able to connect(damn droid, great but glitchty, going to have to hit up the Sprint store). I wish my skin were light enough for an alexandrite type laser vs a yag, because I feel if there were any chance of killing the hair there would be way more than a Yag type laser.

Since I haven’t really looked into electrolysis much, due to how much I was looking into laser, I was wondering if you could help me out a bit before I venture in that type of research. So there’s blend, galvanic, and thermolysis right? So what’s the difference between them and more importantly what’s the best choice for certainity in killing the hair? When I was in the electrolysis section, can’t remember which type but some people were saying that one didn’t really worked but when they switched to the other type, that was more painful it was working a lot better. I personally don’t care how painful it is(i do, but willing to sacrafice myself for this)so which method would work best.

Dfahey you posted this electrologist in a post before(was searching through old electrolysis posts) and she seems to be about an hour from where I live, is there a reason you recomend her? Did you personally use her or something?

Electrolysis of Frederick
Sally K. McAleer, LEI, CPE
198 Thomas Johnson Dr.
Suite 9
Frederick, MD 21702
301-663-0062/ Fax: 301-663-3598

e-mail: SallyMcAleer_1@msn.com

So anyways, if I get the first clearance of the breasts, stomache, considering now lower back(will post pics later), how long before I should come back in. Will it be every week(twice a week) if I get a full clearance each time or will it be like every few weeks. I’m trying to plan this out financially, becfause I’d rather go by what you guys say than an necesaarilly outside people trying to make $$$$ off of me. Like the laser consult I had, with a place that got good reviews from a few peole from another hair removal forum, they wanted me to come in every 4 weeks, which from what I read many times is way too soon for places especially like legs. So, some thigs I’m going to have to go against the professional I’m paying to do their job. Wish I could work with one of the people off this forum like James, but my car could not handle severe snow(5 or 6 hour drive) and I don’t know how consistent I would stay if I had to go every month for a year, with my work schedule especially.

Dfahey would you say that Sally would maybe be on Jame’s level? (If you happen to know his level)

James, if you happen to read this, from what you see, and what you would imagine the rest of my stomach to look like(can’t post the rest of my pictures at the moment) and my breasts, how long would you say it would take to do the first clearance, breasts I’m looking for a full clearance, stomache doesn’t have to be, but a lot of it. Because I’m trying to decide whether to come or not, but peronsally I would rather someone closer, because I’m not sure because of work how consistent I would be.

#9

Thermolysis is fastest, so if you can find a good electrologist using that method (basically, no plucking feeling and no side effects from treatments), then go for that. After the first clearance, you come in as soon as new hair pops up to kill it. It’ll be around once every 2-3 weeks to start and then will slow down to once every 4 weeks or so. You should be done within around 12 months or so.

I agree with posters above. I had similar growth before I got electrolysis and bleaching was a great solution for me.

#10

I am wondering what could be achieved with just one clearance with electrolysis?

I am traveling to the capital next month and I could have a treatment then… But after that, I really don’t know when I will have a chance to do it again. Is it worth the money? (I would treat hair on upperback).

#11

One full clearance would tyically give you a +/-20% stable hair reduction in the area. Additionally, you would enjoy a 3 to 6 week hairless period in the treated area.

Does that sound good to you?

#12

Hairybegone - Please read my Laser thread (linked in my sig), many of your questions are answered there. To summarise, my front thighs had coarse hair (still do a little) and my arms were also coarse enough for Laser. There are pictures of both areas in my thread and also settings. As you can see, I was treated with a YAG.

In regards to electrolysis, if you can get clearances quickly, I think it is superior to Laser in terms of quick results (I hope people understand what I’m trying to say here). If you manage to get the 20% or so reduction from once clearance as James states, that is way better than what Laser can offer you, unless the hair is really thick (like the bikini area).

It’s always basically a weighing up the options exercise. If you read my thread you will see that I switched to electrolysis for my underarms once I felt I had achieved all that Laser could offer me

Thermolysis is the fastest but it also has a tendency to leave the most skin reaction. If you can find someone who is skilled an can give you great results with thermolysis (or even better, picoflash as Dee mentioned) you will make progress and quickly.

Here is my electrolysis thread:
http://www.hairtell.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/74126/1.html
It is worth reading for the questions people ask. My electrologist uses old, unsophisticated tech so she prefers blend unless the skin can handle thermolysis well. Both on myself and my sister, blend as only every caused short, temporary redness and swelling of the treated area.

If you can find a good electrologist with the newer more sophisticated equipment that offers micro/pico flash, you can make great and quick progress.

I have suggested many times that people should not jump head first into long appointments unless they know for sure the electrologist is very good. Go to a few consults, choose who you like best and go for a few short appointments to make sure everything is in line with the recommendations on this forum and that your skin stays looking good. Far too many keep going back for treatments with electrologists that are damaging their skin.

I would also recommend reading through all the threads you can in the first few pages of the ‘professional electrolysis’ forum. You will pick up a lot of information in regards to the electrolysis process and what constitutes good treatment.

#13

Looking at your pictueres, it’s like somoene took a picture of my body parts. Your sister’s arm look’s exactly like my arm does. Well I’ve been shaving mine for the last two years, but that’s what it would look like… If I can get the reduction you got I would be estatic!

#14

The problem is that it’s not in the electrologists’ interests to get the client done as fast as possible. It’s in their interest to drag it out as long as possible so that you pay more money.

#15

I’d definitely go for electrolysis as well. Some of the hair definitely would work with laser but the issue is that you want that hair gone and you’re on a budget. Electrolysis will give you 100% results and will treat all the hair. The problem with laser is that a) some of the hair is too fine, so it’s not going to see or treat it b) you may be treated with incorrect settings and not get permanent results.

I think laser is generally better for people who definitely want the hair gone, but where a reduction is good enough for them. Such as a man with a hairy chest or back, even cutting the hair down by 50% can be satisfying for them. Or a woman who doesn’t like the look of stubble when shaving her legs, but doesn’t mind actually shaving and so on. Myself for example, I’m not overly hairy, but I’d rather be smooth. The hair doesn’t bug me enough though to sit through hours of electrolysis just to get rid of it, when I can pay a low price, do laser in 30 minutes every 2 months and get rid of tons of the hair and have visible results.

You just have to be careful with laser because guaranteed, almost every clinic you go to will tell you it’s going to work, or may say some hair is too fine but will tell you you’ll get great results and so on. Very few will actually say oh sorry not a candidate see you later. Unless their only laser is say an alexandrite, and you have black skin, they’re more than likely going to somehow talk you into trying it. If anything, I’d highly suggest finding a laser clinic that uses an alexandrite laser like GentleLase or Apogee Elite since you seem to be skin type 2 or so with dark hair, and then do a small area, like nipples etc since usually that will be inexpensive. You can then judge how well it works for you. Similar to what James said above as well, if you plan it right, you can do laser everywhere, all the hair will fall out (even if its too fine it will still shed), this will take around 2-3 weeks, but then you’ll be completely smooth for close to 2 months which would work for your trip. Just don’t bleach it if you plan on doing laser!

#16

I think I’m going to do laser on area like the stomache, even with finer hair just so when I do electrolysis there will be a lot less hair. I think it’s probably the easiest, well at least most affordable route. Because with my student discount/multipackage discount it’s about 950 a session for my full legs, butt, lower back, part of my stomache, lower arm, and underarms. So by adding places like the stomache seems more economic with my laser package then to start out with electrolysis. AT least I think…

#17

20% sounds ok, I might do it …
I don’t want to remove 100% of the hair, as I am hairy everywhere. There is a laser clinic in the city I am attending University, so I am wondering can few laser treatments on brown/black hairs that are, well, fine, provide any reduction? It would be a lot easier not having to travel so much to get electrolysis, and I would do electrolysis later. what do you think?

#18

Hi candela,

True but I feel that a good electrologist is synonymous with an electrologist who wants to help people.

If they want to help the client they will do everything from try to complete the treatment quicker to make sure they leave the skin looking good as one of their main priorities.

If anything, I find it’s a standard in Laser to undertreat to drag out treatments etc.

#19

Hairybegone, if you really want to try Laser on the stomach wait til your test patches are done and show something.

The hair should shed and if you can wait, wait 3 months to make sure it at least seems like there is some reduction. Pictures help a lot for this.

#20

Don’t spend a dime on laser when your hair is this fine. You risk stimulating more growth, and the $100s of dollars you spent could get you a long way on priority areas of your body. These little hairs will die to one pulse of the needle, maybe two.