Discouraged - 19 months into underarm electrolysis

[GreenTree3]

Hi everyone - I posted back in June 2023 (previous post here) asking for advice on if my underarm electrolysis journey was going at a normal or slow pace. I took some people’s advice and found a new electrologist that has been performing blend on me since June 2023, here are the overall stats (across both electrologists):

Total Months: 19 months (consistent monthly or bimonthly (twice a month) treatments since May 2022)
Total Spent: $ 5,487.60
TTT (left underarm): 22.16 hours
TTT (right underarm): 23.5 hours
Total Clearances (both underarms): 22 clearances

With this new electrologist (since June 2023) I’ve done a total of 12 hours of treatment and 10 clearances of both underarms.

My first electrologist did thermolysis and I went to her consistently between May 2022 and June 2023.

I’m posting again because I feel I have plateaued with my progress and I’m getting discouraged again. Here are pictures of my right underarm immediately prior to every treatment I’ve had with the new electrologist. I have written the number of days of growth in the bottom left corner of every photo. The first photo is right before my first treatment with the new electrologist (but I had already done 17.85 hrs of treatment on that underarm ).

I can only upload 5 photos to start, I’m going to try to post the remaining in a reply. Should I be satisfied with this progress? I have noticed more and more ingrown hairs, even in the same spots (I didn’t have ingrown hairs prior to electrolysis). Is there anything I can suggest to my electrologist to move things along?

[GreenTree3]

Here are the remaining photos, the last one was taken today.

[Thermo]

I went back to your previous post to remind myself what the area was like before. It’s very obvious you have made great progress with this new electrologist, especially if you compare a week of growth from June 2023 to a month of growth at present.

I find it’s normal to perceive a bit of a “plateau” at this point in the treatments. The hair becomes sparse and it’s more difficult to clearly notice any reduction month to month.

You should definitely be satisfied with this progress, no need to hurry the electrologist along, she’s done well. The ingrown hairs could be from the odd hair being broken off by the tweezers rather than epilated. It doesn’t look extensive enough to worry about, just use some salicylic acid and gently exfoliate (not after a treatment) to help bring them to the surface.

[GreenTree3]

Thank you for your perspective! I think I’ve spent too much time looking at pictures of my underarms I agree progress has been made, I’ll keep at it!

[Joyce]

I have to say this since I do both Electrolysis and Laser. You are a great candidate for Laser. The amount of money you have paid for your treatments is ridiculous. I am not saying you have not had results, I am just saying there is a place where the Laser modality is the better choice, and this is one area that the laser shines. Just like Electrolysis, you need to find a clinic that has experience, education, reputation and a high end laser.
It is considered permanent reduction, but I have treated thousands of clients over 33 years and laser is wonderful for underarms, bikini and lower legs for those with dark thick hair. Electrolysis is always the choice for faces, fine hair and for blonde, red, white and brown hair. From my personal experience, my underarms were treated by laser 23 years ago and I have no hair. Number of treatments was 7, done 8 to 10 weeks apart. Laser used was the Cynosure Apogee Elite Alexandrite. Cost $800.

[GreenTree3]

Yeah I regret not giving laser another try…I did 5 sessions of laser on my underarms back in college and didn’t see any reduction. At the time I thought I researched and went to a reputable place, but based on the amount of money and I time I’ve spent on electrolysis maybe it would have been worth the risk to try laser again.

[ExpertHairRemoval]

Looks like you have darker thinner hairs left. It can take a while as you get closer to being done, the hairs are coming in slower and fewer because they are weakening.

I did laser hair removal on a person with your similar size axilla (underarm).

Here is the data:
11 treatment sessions with GentleMax Pro Class IV Laser. These lasers are all over the world now.
Each treatment session was 15 minutes.

$60 per treatment=$660 total spent. At this point there maybe 1 or 2 hairs left. Keep lasering the few or go to electrolysis to finish them off. The person probably doesn’t notice the few or they shed off.

02/18/2023
07/29/2022
03/05/2022
11/07/2021
09/18/2021
05/29/2021
03/13/2021
12/26/2020
11/21/2020
02/18/2020
01/28/2020

[Deedra]

Too late now, but for anyone reading this thread with a similar underarm problem, laser would be a better choice. If electrolysis is preferred, GET CLEARED every visit and make sure the hairs are sliding out with no traction. Get cleared every 6-8 weeks and you should have wonderful outcome in about 14-18 months.

You are looking good, so don’t give up now. The price you paid was way too much for electrolysis. I don’t know what went wrong to take this long and be so expensive, but it is working for you anyway.