To clarify the title: I am not disappointed with electrolysis in general. The DIY results on my arm have been amazing! I am very disappointed with the results on my stomach from my professional treatments though.
I have had about 7 pro hours total on my stomach, from about 2 inches below my belly button to about 2 inches above, with a handful of hairs to either side as well. It’s not a large area and I have had 3-4 full clearances at least with picoflash. But 7 months later there is no difference. The follicles that were treated are still producing hair. How can I prove that? Well, most of the follicles that were treated are still red. I still have red dots from way back in JANUARY (and no, I was not over-treated, I just retained the marks because my skin heals slowly). Every one of these tiny red dots is still growing hair. Under magnification and in close up photos, it is clear that the hair is coming from treated follicles, not neighboring ones.
I know some of you will remind me that it takes 9-12 months, and 7 months is too early, but I think a reduction should be noticeable at least. I saw almost instant results on my arms, and I feel it’s reasonable to have at least SOME reduction on my stomach by now.
To be honest, I started treating my own stomach and already had better results with slow thermolysis. NO red dots ever anymore, and the area I’ve been treating (to the side of the pro treatments) already is reduced.
My electrologist was very skilled. I am not complaining about her, she is well known in the industry and I plan to use her for my face in the future! I need to be clear that I don’t blame her for this. I never felt the insertions, and the hairs always slid out perfectly.
Sometimes it would take two or three hits of the picoflash to make the hairs release. Is that a bad thing? Does it indicate the settings were too low? Curved follicles? Perhaps picoflash was just not the right modality for this area? My hairs were not super coarse or super dense, so I don’t think this should be taking this long.
As an aside: One student used multiplex on my stomach in one small area, and that is the only area that seems a little reduced (after only the one clearance). Could be my imagination, but it makes me think the picoflash wasn’t ideal in that area on me…