Ok, I ordered a One Touch and THEN found this forum, I’m not totally regretting the purchase but then I haven’t recieved it yet so time will tell i guess. Anyway, before i get locked into one of my normal lengthy meaningless rambles, i had a couple of questions. If i’m understanding this anagen/telagen growth cycle thing correctly, wouldn’t it make sense for me to wax the area like a week before beginning treatment to insure that any visible hairs would be newly growing and therefore anagen? Or have i entirely misunderstood growth cycles? It seems to me like this would be a good “that’s where they getcha” issue if a proffesional charges by the hour and is knowingly spending time removing hairs that couldn’t possibly be anagen… but i don’t know so ill cut my conspiracy theory short. Also, are there any necessary post-treatment steps i might be unaware of(currently not aware of any aside from wipe off/sterilize and evidently avoid physical activity for 3 days which is a serious disappointment)? First time poster with no background so if I need to be berated for saying something stupid please cite relevant information so i can catch up on my homework.
muppet, I’m not a professionally trained pro, I’m just obsessed with electrolysis. I’ll answer from what I know, and maybe a pro will come along and point out anything important.
If you want to pursue electrolysis, either DIY or pro sessions, don’t wax, epilate, or pluck anymore. If anything, shave. You are correct about anagen hairs popping up first, but they could take a whole lot longer than a week to appear, sometimes several months depending on the area. Shaving will give you that same effect done a week or so before the electrolysis. Much better so. That’s if you want to go that route.
Don’t feel bad about buying the One Touch. See, despite them not being the sturdiest units, and designed for the mass market with not much knowledge about actual electrolysis, they actually can serve as an inexpensive introduction to electrolysis. If you can effectively use the unit to remove hairs, and you show a progressive improvement, then other doors may open. You may start sessions with a pro (recommended), or you buying your own better machine that will allow faster, more effective powers. The $19 or $30 you spent on it is absolutely nothing compared to what some here spend on hair removal and real electrolysis machines. And it’s not much of a risk to see what it’s all about. Some people buy them over and over as they break, getting their money’s worth out of them. They’re said to be an effective way to treat a couple of unwanted hairs.
Note this, without getting into too much theory, you can treat all growth stages. True, anagen hairs are more effectively treated, but electrologists know that if you go to Anagen depth on a catagen or telogen hair, and treat with the same amount of units of lye/time/voltage, you’re gonna have a good chance of wiping out that hair too. Why? because at anagen depth on a telogen hair, you’re gonna still hit the papilla, bulge, and sebaceous gland with destructive lye. Muppet, a good electrologist won’t rip you off. They want to see you happy, they want to see your goals realized, they want you to refer other patients to them, they want to see you come back after a month or two for a second clearing. Conspiracy theory is best left to ‘X-Files’ reruns and ‘The DaVinci Code’.
Good luck!
Mantaray
I am going to throw my 2 cents in here.
It does make sense to wax one last time before beginning to treat the area, however once you have begun treating the hair - do stop waxing or tweezing. When waxing an area, all the hairs are pulled out, so anything you see after that will be in the anagen stage, excluding ingrown hairs and those hairs that are just too tough to wax out. Of course, you will recognize THOSE immediately after the wax.
Regarding the “conspiracy theory” - which I am not taking offense to. When a well trained electrologist gives you a consultation, they should also give you a suggested treatment plan. This plan is designed so that you are having treatment at the optimum time. This enables the electrologist to treat growing hairs. During that first treatment, the experienced electrologist will recognize some catagen and most hairs sitting the the telogen follicle and will skip treating those hairs. Of course, we are then asked why we did not remove those hairs.
Your subject was pre and post treatment, so I would like to address that, too. Before treating yourself, do have clean skin. Using a water diluted liquid soap, such as J&J baby shampoo, followed by an antiseptic should give you a clean surface. After the treatment, use another application of antiseptic to soothe the skin.
Keep your tools clean and store them where they will not be exposed to dirt and germs.
Consider getting a consultation with a trained electrologist. We can reach all the areas (I’m picturing all you DIY’ers with no hair on front and covered on back!) and we work as fast as we can. We want you to get done and be happy. Then, send your friends!