I am a newly licensed electrologist. I was wondering what is best treatment outline to recommend to my clients that have a large amount of hair to be permanently removed. Would laser be more beneficial for speed and then electrolysis for permenancy? Also, is there only blonde hairs and grey hairs left after laser?
I think the best choice between the two probably depends on your clients’ individual situation…
If you’re treating a genetic woman or a trans-woman for testosterone induced hair (typically facial hair), then you might like to make sure that she’s got her hormone levels fixed first. (I’m told that the hair is much tougher and harder to kill with high testosterone levels).
The density of the hair is another factor, I think… Lasers zap all the hairs in a certain area, whereas with electrolysis you treat individual hairs. I’ve found that when the hair density is high, if you skip over hairs and keep the treatments about 1/8th inches apart, then you reduce the abount of swelling. You can’t do that with lasers! So for example, you might suggest that you thin the area first with e/l, then use laser, then tidy up any loose ends with electrolysis again.
And of course the client’s budget is likely to be a major factor!!
Lasers treat bigger areas, so any after effects will be more noticible, and potentially harder to hide. Again, that might be a consideration.
Your client might not like the idea of having to wait between laser treatments while next batch of hair grows through.
Skin color is probably important, as well. Some lasers won’t treat people with darker skin tones so well.
And, yes, laser leaves the blonde and grey hairs untreated, as they don’t have any pigmentation to absorb the laser energy. (At least, I’ve not heard of any lasers that treat them.)
Alley
I can speak for myself. I have been doing laser hair removal. It is not effective on the blond hairs that remain so I will finish the process with electrolysis.
I think if you have your clienmts best interest at heart you should consider the clients wishes. I believe large ereas can be treated more quickly with laser but most people should keep in mind that electrolysis is the finishing touch.
Thanks for the comments! I have been talking with different potential clients and what I have been suggesting is that if they have a large amount of hair to remove, they might want get a laser consultation first to help with the time factor.
I would want someone to recommend the safest, quickest, most cost effective, and of course permanent route for me.
The more I learn, the more helpful I can be for people I come in contact with. I have found this site to be the most honest, interesting, not to mention useful of all sites that I have searched. I also love the Hairfacts site!