"down there"

Special Issues Transgender / Transsexual
#1

Hi all, it’s been quite a while since I’ve posted here, but a new delimma has come up…genital electrolysis. After two years and more money than I care to think about getting my facial hair nearly cleared, my electrologist reluctantly tells me that she just can’t work on me “down there”. I see another electrologist that works on Saturdays about an hours drive away that I haven’t asked yet, but I don’t really expect her to want to do this task either. I am looking at GRS within the next 5-6 months. I researched pretty extensively facial hair removal when I started a couple of years ago, but at the time the genital thing was off the radar. Can anyone who has researched and already been through this give me info on growth cycles? Also, can anyone recommend an electrologist in the Nashville, Tennessee area?

Thanks, Katie

#2

Can you explain to us why it is that no one ever seems to start looking into doing this until it is too late to finish before their SRS?

Like any other area, the best one could hope for is to finish 9 months from start to finish, and the realistic expectation would be 12 to 18 months.

#3

My explanation would be that I had so much money going out to clear my face that I couldn’t afford to be doing that too. Also, a lot of the surgeons don’t require genital hair removal because they can remove the folicles from the underside of your skin during surgery. The surgeon I’m considering using does that, but she also asks that you have electrolysis. I’m assuming that it’s a tedious task and very time consuming for a surgeon.

Katie

#4

What is the color of your skin and hair there? How coarse is the hair? Laser might be a better and cheaper option for you to start if it is dark and coarse. After that, you will only need to finish with electrolysis on the finer hair that remains.

#5

Hi:

First of all nobody has answered Katie’s request for a recommendation for an electrolygist in Nashville or thereabouts who would do this type of work.

Secondly, not all SRS surgeons request that genital electrolysis should be done prior to surgery. Some doctors such as Dr. Suporn insist that it not be done since he claims it damages the skin. Some doctors use either scraping or cautherizing techniques to remove hairs down there on skin which would be used internally. My doctor, Dr Brassard used this technique and I have not had any problems with hair regrowth.
Is there a possibility of some hair regrowth? Yes, but I haven’t heard of many people claiming they had any or a problem because of it.

Thirdly, even though some of the electrolygists here claim it is not a problem to find electrolygists willing to do the work, apparently it is very much of a problem for many electrolygists, most of whom happen to be female. I would guess that the percentage of those willing to do this work would be pretty miniscule.

I read that E-3000 will work in that area they call south of the pole for 150 dollars/hr which is time and a half, but not everyone has the finances or time to travel there for such work.

Alicia

#6

I agree that more electrologists should be professional enough to perform this service for those who request it. I wish I could toss out a name of someone near her who I am sure would do the work, but I can’t travel the world getting treatment and meeting every electrologist on the planet. I need help from the rest of you to answer the question of were the electrologists are, and what they are willing to do, and how good they are at doing what they do.

#7

I had a couple of sessions with Marian (sp?) who operates Marian’s Electrolysis in Knoxville, TN several years ago. I found him to be very professional, experienced and able to clear a large area in not too much time. Had to end treatments due to $ and distance (I live 300 miles away, so travel costs were significant) but he seemed to have no problem working the genital area. Also, he made me feel very comfortable during the entire process.
Havn’t been in contact w/ him in years, but he is still listed in the Knoxville Yellow Pages directory.
Good luck!

#8

Thank you for helping out on that one. It seems to be very difficult to get people to believe that their information is really wanted on the site.

We are trying to make it possible for as many people as possible to find someone good near them, without traveling 300 miles or more. We think that if someone had known of a good practitioner around the corner from you, they should have had that info up on here.

Thanks again for paying it forward.

#9

Thank you all for the replies. I go to two different electrologists, one during the week and the other on Saturdays. I was going to approach the Saturday electrologist about my predicament, but I just couldn’t bring myself to ask her. No, I’m not shy. I counted ten bruises on my face this morning, so I’m sure you can appreciate my not asking her. There are some people I wouldn’t want working “down there”.

I’d like to change the focus of this thread a bit. I’m not going to mention any names, but I’ve been in contact with three different SRS surgeons trying to decide who to go to. The hair removal is a big issue for me, as I don’t want it to be a problem later. One of the surgeons, ironically??, does just as Alicia said and recommends no electro and has good success at removing the hair by the “cauterization” technique. I’m not sure how this technique works. I’m also curious about how the American docs are doing it and why they are requesting you be clear when you get there for SRS. Why does whatever technique they’re using have regrowth while the other doesn’t?

Just for the record, I do understand growth cycles, the thermal, galvanic and blend methods and what hair you can use laser on. My question is how are the different surgeons actually doing the hair removal??? I know these are questions for the surgeons themselves, but the answers I’m getting are a little vague.

Katie

#10

Most simply scrape the back of the skin while they have the person cut open and the “flaps” pulled back. Others both scrape and singe the skin in hopes that no hair will grow back. It is assumed that by removing that layer of the skin where the germative cells reside, the body won’t regenerate them later.

Since I know a doctor making big bucks with an operation where they put people in stirrups and do internal electrolysis while holding the lady open with the “carjack”, as some of my lady friends call it, one can assume that the success rate of this process is not absolute.

#11

James;
Some doctors actually use skin graphs in the main area of concern. I understand that to be shaving skin layers so thin and then rejoining them. That way, hair follicles do not line up and it becomes impossible for hair to grow. The moisture and darkness of the area is also not really conducive to hair growths. As I tell my clients, it boils down a lot to which physician one goes to for surgery.

#12

I agree, one doesn’t really know what each doctor intends to do, nor what the track record of that method might be. One can only make sure to do as much research as possible.

#13

The moisture and darkness of the area is also not really conducive to hair growths

I don’t get this; my toughest hairs are planted in those moist and (typically) dark regions! If the folicular “holes” were misaligned, wouldn’t a crop of ingrowns be the result? I just cannot imagine this treatment is not significantly damaging to the skin if it were to really have an impact on the follicles.

#14

Tex, I only know what my Doctor told me. The layers are too thin to support hair growth when the skin has been grafted. I do know that I do not have any hairs in that region, and that I did not have to have electrolysis down there. Actually, that skin down there is so wonderful soft.
I do know that some doctors want the area cleared of hair, and others say that it does not matter.

#15

So, maybe I should get a grafting rather than hours of electrolysis? Really! Could I just have targeted surgical treatment (without the SRS) to have the skin grafted or scraped to remove the hair and skip over hours of treatments and a year of time?

#16

Hey Tex, that’s a very interesting idea! I would think if someone could do that six or so months ahead of their SRS date they would be way ahead of the game and the surgeon wouldn’t have to spend valuable operating room time on hair removal. From what I understand, a surgeon will spend an hour or more on that task during SRS. Instead of skin grafting, they could simply pull the skin back and scrape off the folicles where required, and this could probably be done in their office with local anesthesia on an outpatient basis. Hmmmm.

Katie

#17

I’m going to bring this up with my psychiatrist at my 3rd appointment on Feb 5th, as I’ve been advised to get it started asap. As this gives me time prior to my GRS to see if any regrowth takes place, so it can be dealt with in time before my main surgery.

Stephanie