Hi!
I’m new here – well, sort of. I’ve been lurking around a few months, but I finally wanted to make a post. I’m 29 years old, white female, who is undergoing electrolysis (thermolysis). I’ve read through the forums here and have received a lot of great information, but there are things I still don’t understand. I just want to make sure that I’m on the right path.
First, a little history about me. The biggest factor: I’ve been obese all of my life. I think a lot of my issues resulted from an eating disorder I’ve struggled with since I was a young girl. I am a compulsive eater and always have been. My highest weight was 350 on a 5’9 frame. Since late last year, through dieting alone, I have shed nearly 100 pounds. It has given me confidence that I’ve never had. I have PCOS and have dealt with facial hair since puberty and now I want that gone, too, to boost my confidence even more. Besides my face, I have no abnormal hair growth anywhere else on my body. I don’t have a full beard either. I have hairy sideburns and a hairy chin and neck. My cheeks, thankfully, look good. I’ve always shaved, but became addicted to tweezing within the last year or so. I’ve stopped altogether within the past month and went back to shaving. My skin was scarred. There’s basically enough hair on my face that I know people, including family, see and talk about it. I’ve been made fun of. I’ve considered suicide (it’s that depressing at times) and it has ruined relationships. I don’t let people into my life all because of the excess hair. It’s not fun when my own mother looked at my face once and looked shocked and said, “You have dark hairs all over your neck!” I was 15 years old and that day was the day I became obsessed with my condition – not in a healthy way. To this day, my mother has never said another word to me about it. She knows to tread lightly.
I began thermolysis in early September. The lady I’m seeing has a very nice, quiet office and works alone. She’s about 20 minutes from my home. I began with a 15 minute test and have had 45 minute treatments three times since I began. I’m just confused about the process. Why do I have full growth again in just a few days if she clears the hair? Shouldn’t it last longer? I’ve never understood the definition of a full clearance and what it actually means. I don’t see any differences yet and I still leave with a scratchy face each time, although I know she’s working her butt off. She’s working on the dark hairs and not the white hairs. I still FEEL the white hairs, though, so surely she can as well. My face stays red, irritated, and bumpy for up to a week after each session and then I get zapped again, so I know my skin can’t heal. I use tea tree oil, witch hazel, and pure aloe vera during the week to soothe the area.
I see other photos on here and they seem to have no new growth after they have an area cleared, so why am I? What exactly is full clearance? What expectations should I have for just the neck and chin area? Why do I form welts for 1-3 days after each treatment? Am I pushing the panic button too soon? She answers every question I present to her, but I’m still just scared and not confident that I’ll be free of hair.
Thank you for reading this and I appreciate any input!
