I have recently decided to undergo electrolysis after the advice of some very helpful people on this forum. My problem area is the chin where I have about 15 coarse hairs that I need to pluck regularly. I’m thinking that blend would probably be the best method for me as I’ll only be needing treatment on a small area, also I’ve heard that blend is less painful. At the moment I’m feeling a little scared as I dont know how painful its going to be. Also because the treatment will be carried out on the face I’m worried about swelling, scarring and scabbing- I really dont want people to know about my problem.
I live in London so today I have been doing some research on electrologists in the London area, and so far the following seem good-
I understand that for the treatment to be successful it is vital to find a skilled electrologist. If anyone in London has visited any of the above places, or has any comments as to what place seems better or if anyone from London knows a good electrologist please let me know. Your help will be much appreciated.
Just to correct something really significant unhappy, If you are tweezing everyday, you have more than 15 hairs. Here’s the way I ESTIMATE how to size up your problem: 15 hairs x 7 days a week = 105 hairs per week. Let us say that the hair growth cycle for these hairs are 8 weeks long. So that would be 8 weeks x 105 hairs per week = 840 hairs that you can look forward to removing over 9-12 months, which is the best scenario, if you have a good practitioner and you show up for appointments on a good schedule. A good schedule means, first clearance is obtained and then treatment to catch any new hair that comes to the surface every two to three weeks. Keep doing that until there is nothing left to treat.
If you pluck 15 hairs once a week, then we are talking about 120 hairs and so on and so on with the same formula.
Don’t be fooled and think that those are the same pesky 15 hairs bothering every time you tweeze. If all 840 hairs were present and in the anagen stage at once, then this would progress much faster. We have to work with Mother Nature here and she says that the hairs shall grow in cycles and will not all be present for electrolysis at the same time.
I wouldn’t describe electrolysis as painful either. There are better epilators today that are just awesome and a skilled electrologist can make an appointment session feel like nothing more than a warming sensation under the skin. What you feel will be subjective. Some areas “hurt” more than others. Talk to the electrologist about your concerns ALWAYS. Remember, you guys are partners. Again, this is why you must sample and observe as many as you can. We electrologists are all different, but we share another trait - we’re deadly when it comes to permanent hair removal.
Now, I will butt out and hopefully, a hair consumer near you can answer your other questions.
You really do need to go and try a few places for yourself rather than go on recommendations. Kind of like finding a decent hairdresser. The trio of listings are the BIAE (www.electrolysis.co.uk) Yell.com and your local telephone directories (BT and Thompson) under both the electrolysis and beauty listings.
Yes I agree blend would be much better in order to keep skin reactions to a minimum. You will still have some redness and perhaps swelling for an hour afterwards, so you could perhaps either book on a non-work day or at the end of the day. Although the chin is a sensitive area you should still be able to tolerate treatment. If it more painful than plucking out the hair then your electrologist should turn down the setting and increase the time, considering it is only a few hairs. You can buy Emla cream from Boots for around £3.25 if you really want an almost painfree treatment, but you need to apply a thick layer and cover with plastic 1 hour prior to treatment. Even though there are only a few hairs showing you will need to return a few times over the rest of this year in order to get the ones that aren’t growing right now.
And frankly, only another electrologist will know you’ve had treatment straight after. It just looks like a typical skin rash for a short time.
Dee, I’m a little confused about your formula. I pluck around 1-3 hairs everyday at most and sometimes I can go 1-2 days without plucking any hairs. I’m the kinda person whose a little obsessed with plucking so as soon as I feel a hair I go straight for my tweezer. I know this sounds kinda crazy but sometimes I have nightmares about what might happen if I stopped plucking. Does your formula mean that if i stopped plucking I’d have 120 -840 noticeable hairs on my chin?
I’m thinking that can’t be right because last year I decided to go for a ‘fake’ treatment that claimed permanent hair reduction. The treatment was named ‘erayser’ and I chose it because there was no pain involved. I had 6 sessions for which I paid £450 and stopped because I started getting painful spots in the area and saw no results. I’m mentioning this because one of the requirements for the treatment was that i wasn’t allowed to pluck hairs- I was only allowed to shave. I didn’t pluck for around 2 months but then became obsessed with shaving which resulted in temporary scars on my face. During the shaving period I noticed around 15-20 areas (pores) maximum where I had coarse hairs-which is why I had mentioned that number. Does 15-20 imply that I have 120 hairs that are in different growth cycles? and does the number 120 mean that I will need electrolysis done 120 times (i.e. 120 zaps in total)to get rid of my problem? Suppose the electrologist treats 6 hairs at a time- that will mean 20 sessions over 9-12 months. Please correct me of I’m wrong.
Thanks pamd for your post. A major concern for me was regarding the visible side effects of the treatment, as I’ve never revealed my problem. I’m also anxious about the pain so will definately try something to block it. Is it as painful as having a blood test?
I have already looked at the BIAE website and will now look on yell.com for more electrologists. Is it advised to choose BIAE members only?
You really don’t know how many offending hairs you have, especially if you pluck. Hair growth cycles, for the human species, make it so that hairs do not grow at the same time. So, let’s say that if you pluck one coarse hair from your chin on March 10, 2007, that same hair will not reveal itself again for about another 8 weeks.
If you pluck 3 hairs, 3 times a week from your chin, that means you have been bothered by 9 hairs for just that week alone. If you pluck the same amount of hairs every week for an 8 week hair growth cycle, you can estimate that you probably have about 72 hairs in total that need treatment over 9-12 months.
My point being, you have more hair than you think you have in an area because hair is not meant to grow in syncronation on human beings. They have their own time schedule when they will appear. That’s why you can not hope to finish permanent hair removal in less than 9-12 months when you do electrolysis or laser.
Thanks Dee, I think I kinda get it now. However, would it be possible that my hair growth cycles are quicker because i have been plucking since the age of 16? which might mean less hairs in total.
You say that I probably have 72 hairs that need treatment. Could you tell me how many treatments does each individual hair would need? I’ve heard that 20% of hairs are killed during each treatment so does that mean each hair needs to be treated 5 times?
It is impossible for me to answer your first question, but I guess anything is possible.
I’m only giving examples, estimates, in order to help you understand that you have more hair than you think, so be patient. If a hair is in the anagen stage (growing), if your electrologist uses the proper amount of energy for the hair size and the proper amount of time for the energy to work on that GROWING hair, then that hair will probably need just one treatment. Some hairs are so big that they need to be broken down and if the first attempt to “kill” it is not 100% successful, most likely the second attempt will be when it emerges as a samller, weaker hair several weeks later.
I hear percentages all the time about how many hairs are successfuly treated. I can’t say 20% is correct; it could be 50% or 30%. There are SO MANY VARIABLES to this business of removing hair. All I can say to you for sure is, given the proper circumstances with a skilled electrologist and good equipment and a properly timed schedule that you are responsible for, you will be the happy recipient of a hair-free chin within a years time. If you skip appointments or have a hormonal condition or pluck between treatments, you may be back on hairtell saying electrolysis doesn’t work. It will work for you and, no, each hair does not have to be treated 5 times, IF everybody is doing their job properly. I hear this statistic all the time and it just ain’t so if you follow the plan.
If they aren’t a BIAE member it’s still worth trying them out, because they may just not have got around to joining yet. I didn’t join until only last year because I found it really difficult to make time for the exam.
No it’s nothing like a blood test (I had one last year and fainted at the pain). It’s feels pretty much the same as plucking the hair. Your electrologist should start on a very low setting first then slowly increase to find whatever you can stand. The higher you can take it the quicker it will be to treat the hair. However, if you are very anxious about pain then that itself will make you feel it more, so the best thing to do is not have any stimulants and try to relax.
I’m so relieved to find that its not as painful as having a blood test! I don’t understand why electrolysis is associated with pain if its only the same as plucking.
I have my consultation next week. I am a little scared but I think I will try it out without anaesthetic to begin with. If I find the procedure too painful the this will tell me that the electrologist is doing something wrong and I will have to go elsewhere.
It’s definitely not too painful. I handle an hour without anything. Just some water and sometimes an ibuprofen. Waxing is MUCH worse Since the needle is so tiny, you don’t really feel the prick. You only feel the current being delivered to the follicle, which is very quick and only very slightly painful.
Please tell the electrologist your concerns about the proceedure being painful. There are many, many paths to glory when administering electrolysis,meaning the intensity, timing and modality can be changed to make a treatment very tolerable if not down right comfortable. It’s easier to do this with an up to date epilator, but real pro’s can also make good levels with an older epilator as well.
Keep your journal going here. It will not only help others like you, but it will be a neat thing to look back upon when you are all finished, and you’ll have to change your screen name to “very happy”. The biggest task ahead of you now is to find a SKILLED electrologist. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you, unhappy.
Just to add to electrologist search list, I found this name as I was skimming through my American Electrology Association roster. She is the only person listed from the UK in the AEA membership roster.
Thanks Dee. I have a consultation on saturday with an electrologist whose a member of the British Institue and Association of Electrolysis. She seems to have the latest equipment and her salon looks very professional.If all goes well then I’ll start my treatment with her, and will recommend her to others once I start seeing results.
it’s really in your best interest to check out a few. it doesn’t cost anything usually and you’ll have a better idea of differences in speed, pain, price, etc. if you only go to one, you won’t have anything to compare against. doing thourough research upfront really pays off in the end.
Since the needle is so tiny, you don’t really feel the prick. You only feel the current being delivered to the follicle, which is very quick and only very slightly painful.