i strongly doubt it that electrolysis even performed by the most skillful electrologist leaves no scars whatsoever. if i have to chose between being scarred and being hairy, i dont know which of the two is worst. i am doing blend for a month now, and although my electrologist told me that redness , bumps etc. will fade, i see no improvement.my skin looks horrible. i have never had any skin problems not even as teenager and now it is unbearable to see my face look like i have been through a severe acne.
i dont know why electrologists here do not admit that electrolysis has a bad effect on skin. how do you want us to believe that inserting probes into a person’s skin and particularly cheeks where flesh is so sensitive would leave no marks, no pits? no matter how skillful one is?
it is like when i followed the advice of a laser practitionner in the forums here, who told me that lasers work fine on vellus light coloured hair and there is no way they grow back coarser and darker. i relied on that piece of advise and here i am, with a beard where i once had no visible hair.
it is disappointing that no one is honest. of course you could not expect a professional to admit that there are always severe side-effects.they hide the truth, otherwise they wouldnt make any money.
People on this forum have seen examples of my work. There are also people on this forum who have actually had work done by me on their faces, and other places and can testify that in the case of me working on them, they in fact had no long term reactions. In fact, you can find posts on here from more than one client who said that in 30 minutes after leaving my office they looked the same as they did before they came to my office.
Skill and good equipment does make all the difference.
Sorry that your experience so far has been negative, but keep in mind, the insertion does not cause any damage. We are inserting into an open space.
Hi Vanessa,
I can speak from the customer’s perspective. I have always had fine black hairs on my upper lip, and, in the past few years, have grown coarser hairs on my chin, neck, and sideburns. I also have fine black hairs on virtually every party of my body.
I started electrolysis back in January 2004. I am now extremely close to full clearance on my upper lip and neck, and have seen marked reduction in hair on my cheeck, sideburns, and chin. I’m also now branching out into other problem areas on my body, and have seen reductions on my lower abdomen, arms, chest, and bikini line. Not full clearance yet–that will probably take another half year.
It’s true that electrolysis can be an unpleasant thing for your skin. I’ve been overtreated once or twice (once right before a two week holiday…it was so embarassing!) but it’s been worth it. The last time I had my upper lip treated was a month ago! I am so comfortable with my process that I no longer have to obsessively pluck or trim the hair, and I know that no one can tell I’ve had any work done. It’s a really fantastic thing for me, as a person, as a woman. I wouldn’t have gone a week without plucking or waxing my upper lip a year ago!
Anyway, just wanted to throw in my two cents. Yes, electrolysis takes waaaay longer than you think it will, and it’s more expensive and irritating than maybe this forum suggests. But maybe it’s worth it to find another pracitioner and give it another chance.
Palyms, I have a personal question to ask you. Can I send it to your email?
as someone who has had bad electrolysis done, i cantell you that it IS your prectitioner and their equipment that are causeing your scars. No matter what that person says about hteir qualifications, you are a living proff that THEY and not the people here on the this forum, are lying.
Change electrologists, but make sure that you are not chasing the cheapest one. Pay for an expenssive and good practitioner and i’m sure you will see the value in their treatment.
a month?? could it just be that your skin is taking time to heal? i mean as soon as it starts to heal (few days after treatment) you find yourself at another appointment which gives you more scabs…so couldnt it just be new reaction to more recent treatments and not permanant scars??? well… i know i have been doing electrolysis for a month as well ( so far) and i do have scabs and the skin is a bit rough (from the scabs)… a little bit of scaring is there, but i know that it will disappear in few weeks, months even and i will wait for that. i know burn marks from cooking take a longgggggggg time to heal and disappear… think of it that way… (of course that is worse comes to worse)…also try some polysporin, it is good in healing and scaring.
good luck and i am sorry about your experience. stay positive! it will change your healing process and make things better!
rachel
I had very little time to reply to this post string earlier. At this point, I will restate the obvious. One must look far and wide to make sure that the best available practitioner is the one doing their work. There is no greater important thing when it comes to Electrolysis. This is why people are willing to travel long distances, and pay what ever is asked when they do find the best electrologist they can find. The are paying for the final result.
I would sooner have good treatment in someone’s basement, than have lousy treatment in a Marble Walled Luxury Office Suite. In electrolysis, it sometimes happens that the better skilled practitioners are not the one’s with the Billboard advertising, and the million dollar offices. They have enough business just from word of mouth and they don’t feel the need to try to impress anyone with their decorator skills or their zip code.
I have a genetic problem with my hair growth. The only solution is to remove all the hair from my face and neck for both comfort and appearance sake. I am still not finished clearing my face because of the lack of the availability of an electrologist who will perform the treatments reasonably close to how I would, if I had the good fortune to be able to clone myself and have me work on me! Most prospective students give up on learning The Walker Method, saying, “I did not think this would be all this work!” (scarry enough, I have heard that from practicing electrologists) Whenever I want treatment, I have to travel to another city, because I don’t want my face looking like a dart board, or worse, like someone has gone over it with a cheese grater. I am also so busy with making other people look great, and caring for my family, that I just don’t have the time for regular treatment.
I really do feel your pain (literally, I have on more than one occasion). The best I can tell you is to go back to our standard advise, audition as many electrologists as you can in your area until you find the one(s) who could provide you with the level of treatment you desire. Most people still just stick with the first electrologist they see because they figure, “Can there really be all that much of a difference?” Well, I can only guess by my experience traveling around the country that it is the same or worse than Buffalo, but I know for sure that in the Buffalo area, one could see plenty of electrologists before one found one that had good speed, and maybe quite a few more still before one found one who had both speed, and skill enough to give the kind of treatment that doesn’t leave one needing 30 days to heal.
I wish you luck in finding good treatment.
As a practicing electrologist, it angers me when a consumer describes results that prove to be as bad as the hair problem. Can you please share your disappointment with your practioner? I would still look for other practioners and take a sample of their skill, but the person treating you now should get feedback from you. Hopefully,you live in an area where there are choices.
This will anger some practioners out there, but I say this again with true conviction and experience: a fabulously engineered epilator in the hands of an electrologist who pays meticulous attention to proper timing and intensity,who wears quality magnification with a great light source equals a wonderful treatment that destroys the hair without destroying the skin. This is an honest statement and it pans out day after day, client after client in my office. I will never accept an outcome that leaves my client marred,but I need to know if someone is displeased with any part of a treatment and it’s outcome so I can change strategy. And you the client,need to follow proper aftercare instructions. Please discuss your situation with your electrologist. If she says it’s no big deal and the marks will go away, instead of showing concern and verbalizing what she will do differently to prevent such a skin reaction,get searching for another practioner. It is true that your skin will heal fine overtime,but I understand why you are dissapointed and fearful of scarring. Who wants to look like an ongoing acne pit for a year? It doesn’t have to be like this for you. I’m telling it to you clear and true because this is what I do for a living and it is infrequent that a client complains of a skin reaction that lasts longer than a couple days.
This forum has made me a better practioner. Listening to consumers like yourself has helped me refine techniques and understand consumer expectations much better. Thank you for contributing by telling us about your disappointment. Of course, I have learned so much from James over time,much more than I ever learned at my electrolysis school. I even bought the same epilator James uses and upgraded my magnification a while back. I can’t get excited enough about having great equipment that assists me to give better care with better results. Thanks,James.
You deserve better. I’m only sorry so many of you have to expend a lot of energy and worry to find a really, really good electrologist. It is not unreasonable to expect high standards of care from a competent, caring electrologist. You are wrong to say that the electrologist proceedure destroys the skin. You are depressed about what has happened to you, so I understand your blanket negativity. Just get on with it and turn things around by taking action to either work with your present practioner or go on a hunt for a new one.
It’s disappointing, not to mention embarrassing, that we (James,myself and others) always have to explain to consumers what any electrologist should already know.
Dee
i would like to say just the opposite, i am so glad that i found this forum and that i have started electrolysis. i had been looking into laser bcs i have had excess hair on my face and body for many years and have always been so very self-conscious about it. if i hadn’t found this forum i wouldn’t have started electrolysis or known what to look for in an electrologist or what to expect after treatment. i have a feeling my face will take almost two years to clear and other parts of my body possibly longer but i think it’s worth it. i hope you can find an electrologist who is better bcs i honestly think the scarring is a result of that. after electrologis my face is slightly red and is healed usually in about two days. i have a little bit of scabbing usually bcs she is treating a lot of ingrown hairs but as long as i follow the post-treatment advice everything heals up fine. i know how it feels to have a scarred face, acne, and facial hair so i know where you’re coming from. by having electrolysis and not plucking my face anymore i have actually STOPPED having acne. my face is scarred in places from severe acne but over time it has gotten much better. electrolyis has actually improved the appearance of my skin. like i said, i love this forum and i am so glad i found it.
Just something to try - it helps with ingrown hairs and scarring and acne … I found it a year ago and it continues to make a big difference in my skin.
Go to www.greatnewskin.com and get the microdermabrasion cream - they have a forum, too - Amy, the lady that sells the stuff is also very good about answerign questons, etc. You can also get a small pot of it on ebay for $3 to try out. The stuff is expensive, but worth every penny. A jar lasts for a month or more with every day use.
Is that something like Tend Skin then? Can you tell us what the main ingredients are?
I’ve never tried tend skin … they list the main ingredients on their site and go into more detail about it their. Basically the cream is made with some of the same stuff that they use for microdermabrasion treatments, only this stuff you rub on your face with your hands and rinse off … there are different ways to use it … you have to figure out what’s best for you … for acne and stuff, I suggest using it at least once a day … people with nice skin that just want it to be firmer/look better could probably do this only on occasion … it is a very good exfoliator and it seems to help firm up the skin … helps with all sorts of problems … it was originally designed to help with rosacea I think, but it helps with so many more things … you notice it’s different than normal products the first time you use it … if you use it right … no harsh scrubbing … there is really NO irritation … it isn’t made to be scrubbed in like some products … just gently massage it for a while … but your skin gradually starts to look better and better … it takes time, but after a while you notice color problems and scarring starting to fade … and I really love it.
Again DO NOT SCRUB!!! It’s ok to be firm, but no scrubbing. If you do, you will exfoliate it so much that you’ll have red scabby patches like if you scrubbed too hard and too long with a wash cloth or something. I did this the first time I used it and although it healed quickly and the skin looked better than before I scrubbed, I would not recommend it. Be gentle … skin likes gentle.
I also recommend some Philosophy products - they can also be helpful. The good thing about the microdermabrasion cream is that you can use it safely with other products you like IF you pay attention to how your skin reacts. Try not to use any product that makes it hurt/burn. Skin will only break out more if you do.
Also, what you eat can make a difference. Try to eat lots of fruits and veggies. Lay off the overly-refined sugars (aka doughnuts) and things as much as you can.
I’ve been having electrolysis for half a year and get red marks every time I go. The ones that are starting to fade are the marks I had during the first few month. It does tends to take an awful lot longer with paler skinned individuals.
The best advice I can give is to use what nature intended, plenty of cold water on the area. That or a little witch-hazel to prevent any infection. Massage the area gently(once cleansed) in order to stimulate new cell growth and after 48 hours you can start to use a good, non-greasy moisturiser (I use Neutrogena products).
I have my sessions monthly, giving the skin time to heal. A week before you’re next session, use an exfoliating wash once or twice, (watered down) and massage gently to the area to prevent ingrowns. Try to do as little as possible to the treated area soon after treatment though, as the skin needs to heal itself naturally without chemical interference.
Drink plenty of water and eat plenty of fibre to help your body dispose of toxins (in particular, yeast) which contributes to pore blockage. Apples or red grapes absorb toxins most efficiently, and garlic (natural or pill form) will help break the yeast down.
The active ingredient in Tend Skin, acetylsatlicylic acid, dries the skin. With this exfoliant, the ingrown hairs get closer to the surface of the skin.
I spoke with the product creator years ago, a dentist from Florida, who developed the product with a chemist, to provide help to one of his patient’s suffering from ingrown hairs.
Follow the directions. I saw one person who used the product improperly and that resulted in a chemical burn.
Do not use the product if you are allergic to aspirin.
In response to the comment about, “red marks” after electrolysis. One reason for too much red spotting could be that the insertions are too shallow but there are other possibilities. What do you think? What does your electrologist say?
i believe that the problem is caused because the hair i am treating are fine and follicles are not deep. james said that it could be caused by shallow insertions. but if hair is fine and follicle is not deep, doesnt that require a shallow insertion? i think that no matter how skillful the electrologist is, i will still have skin damage due to shallow follicles of my fine hair. i dont know if it is even worth to try another electrologist. what do you professional electrologists think?
Hi:
I have been having my face treated with electrolysis at the rate of 2 hours every two weeks. Before that I had 9 laser sessions.
I have found that recently my skin is mostly healed within 2-3 days. The red marks sometimes stay 2 weeks or longer in some areas of the face such as the cheeks and sideburn area. If I have had any scarring or pitting it is minor, and possibly due to ingrowns and that I had a very tough beard to begin with. I find aftercare is very, ver important in the healing process.
I have a friend who had 4 hours per week for a full year
for a total of 200 hours. Her face looks fine now, and that is without makeup. She very occasionally will go for a touch up appointment, sort of once in a blue moon.
Alicia
i think that no matter how skillful the electrologist is, i will still have skin damage due to shallow follicles of my fine hair. i dont know if it is even worth to try another electrologist. what do you professional electrologists think?
A modern machine with a skilled practitioner and good vision equipment could work on shallow hair without what you are describing. Unfortunately, many people don’t have this level of equipment, and in some cases, this level of skill.