I am writing to explain my situation as I am deparate. I have had absolutely horrible experiences with electrolysis. I have fine, thin hair on my face (it is light to darker brown though). I followed everything everyone told me to do, get consultations, make sure they are not tweezing, etc… I have been given horrible scabs, tweezed (in a consultation—I left, hyperpigmented) and have yet to find even one competent electrologist. Now, I stopped going for fear of them making it worse and now the area treated is growing in darker and heavier. I have no hormone problems, just genetic. I do not believe for one minute that electrolysis works. I have been at this for 3 years and spent over $2,000. I am so depressed. I have asked every electrologist at each consult to give me the names of people they have treated who are done and happy so I could be ensured of good treatment—not one of them could provide that, not one!!! So that tells me that it does not work, if it did there would be hair free, happy people out there. There are none, I have yet to find anyone out there that had electrolysis without tons of skin damage and who are hair free and happy, I do not hear of it on this forum or anywhere else, so it seems as there is no hope. Can anyone out there tell me that they are done and happy??? Or is this just a way to take our money and leave us (clients) depressed and suicidal. I am so desparate for help. Some feed back would be appreciated, I do not know what to do and my life has become isolated. Thanks in advance. Oh, if there is a verifiable success story, with whom—with whom—with whom. I am so tired of feeling like a freak!!
I’m sorry you have had a very negative experience with electrolysis. You have a right to feel so desparate. I can truly tell you electrolysis works. When I was 16 years old, I had my upper lip done. It took about 12-13 treatments, and I have not had a problem since. I was so happy that I continued
with my forearms followed by my legs followed by my underarms. I am hairfree on all these areas and it has been 25 years! I think that is the definition of permanent hair removal( electrolysis). My legs took 18 months to complete, my arms about 12 months, my underarms 30-36 treatments. It wasn’t easy going every week and spending the money, but it was a short time spent to have the reward of not shaving ever again and wearing clothes I wouldn’t dream of waering before. Smooth skin is wonderful!
I knew it was a difficult goal to achieve, but so is going to college or any other endeaver that takes a long time.
I live in Ohio so I can’t help you with names in Michigan. I guess if I were you, I would keep searching for an electrologist in your area that can refer you to clients that are finished and happy. Make sure they are not using an old epilator. Computerized and digital ones are nice.
Make sure they have good eyewear (magnification).
Believe that you will find the right person to help you. Keep searching, I know it is hard, but don’t give up. Electrolysis does work for 93% of people who seek it. I am one whose skin is clear, smooth and unscarred. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend itto anyone.
Hi Deef,
Aren’t you an electrologist? Does anyone out there have a positive experience with electrolysis that isn’t an electrologist? Thanks!
Deef,
I actually travel to Ohio several times per month to see my boyfriend, could you pleeease give the name/names of good practitioners, perhaps the person that completed you and had such great results. I truly want to take care of this problem and have every desire to follow through wtih treatment, please help me, I can’t stand the depression. Thanks, you can private message me too.
Jenniecries@hotmail.com
Jenniecries,
I can totally relate to what you are saying, I am with you and BY THE LACK OF RESPONSES from clients of electrolysis, I find it hard to believe it actually works. I also have yet to find an electrologist that can give me the names of people that are done and happy or at least near done and are hair-free and care-free----why is that. If this works so well, why all of the horror stories, is there ANYONE, I MEAN ANYONE out there that has had electrolysis and is hair free and happy or are we forever wasting are hard earned money on this. For $60 and hour there should be results. I am a licensed professional and have many, many years of schooling and make 1/4 of this money. I have no problem spending the money, but wasting it on incompetence is disgusting, I would have lost my job a long time ago if I did not produce adequate outcomes. To me this field needs some regulation, so we stop losing thousand of our dollars with no results. So, I am begging ANYONE—have you had success—hair free and care free and if so WITH WHO??? Why is this question ignored and so hard for these professionals to answer??? Sorry I am ranting, but I wonder if electrologists understand our desparation, frustration, despair, and depression. It is horrible to go through years of treatment with horrible or no results at all. WE are just asking for help…Thanks for listening and ANY responses are appreciated…
Does it occur to you that a person who was done and happy would either not be reading this board, or not checking in on any regular basis? After all, a person who was done and happy would not be seeking any answers, and typically would not be looking to find places to volunteer their experience either. Even on the professional side, there are 15,000 known Electrologists and you don’t see the participation from any significant number of that population here either.
At any rate, a wealth of info on this subject is available if one looks in the right places. For one very well documented case of a person who is done and happy, click on this link and see a full chart from start to finish, as documented by the actual client who was skeptical, and wanted to keep good records.
Here is a quote from one such happy customer, and you may view the web site put up to document the progress report.
2002 update: As of the end of February, I have not had any facial hair removal of any kind (not even a little 15 minute session) in about six months. I have four or five medium-coarse hairs on my upper lip and a couple of wispy ones along the jawline.
Electrolysis Client Progress Chart To Completion
One more Electrolysis Client (who did not see me) and is done and happy.
Electrolysis story, look for link in the page that shows progress chart.
These are NOT hair removal professionals, just consumers who were mad as hell at the sorry state of the accessibility of information on this subject and actually did more than complain about it.
Elsewhere on this site is a link to one of my client’s web pages showing photographic proof of our progress, but I figured it best to leave this to someone who saw someone I don’t know, and still got results.
Another note, Electrologists are bound by confidentiality clauses, and codes of ethics that prohibit us from just giving out information on our clients. Some clients are quite public about their experience and results, and we have permission to talk about them and give out their web pages, but most like the idea that we can not say anything other than, I have/had a client in your same situation and we successfully treated the area to her/his satisfaction. In short, in order to give you what you want, and electrologist would either have to already have a vocal extroverted client, or would have to go asking past and present clients for permission to give out their information. I think that most won’t ask for fear of being told no.
In other news, one of my friends did work on someone who is done, happy, extroverted, and out there for the world to see. Her name is Kathy Lee Gifford, and you may have even seen her face once or twice. She recommends nothing but electrolysis to her friends. A lady named Brooke Shields had a very public problem with her bushy unibrow, and has not thought about it in the past 15 years. I am also sure that you have seen both her before, and after treatment.
[ September 23, 2003, 05:36 AM: Message edited by: James W. Walker VII, CPE ]
I appreciate that information James… I have done a lot of research on the subject, and I would think that the electrologists visiting this site should be able to give examples or contacts. I totally understand what Jennie is going through and I do not think that electrologist, overall, even understand the psychological impact of incompetent treatment. You have said it yourself—it is extremely difficult to find an electrologist that is competent. Perhaps the medical field should get more involved in regulating this area, it could only serve to help things. SO, I will ask again, no beg, ANYONE/Clients out there that has had or is having successful treatment drop me a line-----still waiting…
Many electrologists understand very well the effects of poor treatment. It is the reason many of us became electrologists. We had bad treatment, found out how much better it could be, and made the commitment to making sure that we gave future consumers a more viable option. Of course, many of those same electrologists see no reason to offer any/much of their valuable spare time posting on boards such as this. After all, we are quite booked up with our own clients and except in very rare cases, no one from a board like this will ever have the chance to patronize your practice. I wish we had more participation here. Then it would not look like I am trying to make myself out to be the last word on the field. I am just the electrologist who volunteers the most time to this charity we know as HairTell.com
Finally, if you would read the other posts strings on this site, you would have in fact seen the stories of other people who have in fact had good work and are happy. You would also find people like “OffBroadWay” who had work done, and decided to become an electrologist, and is now about to graduate from her electrology program.
All that stuff really is here already, even if no one has posted those type of stories to this post string as of yet.
I posted this on the laser side of this forum and I thought it might help you out a bit. This morning I am going in for another appointment and i’m sure it will be only like 45 minutes to get rid of the hairs that are left. Each time it is getting less and less. I know your looking for people that are completely done but this is the best I can do for you. When I am completely done I will post for all to see.
THE POST FROM THE LASER SIDE:
Hi I might be able to help you a bit on the laser/electrolysis part. I started out with electrolysis and was a bit frustrated because I wanted so much more done…so I did one treatment of laser with the lightsheer diode. Granted one treatment in not enough to see what will eventually happen(you should have about 5 or 6) I was not impressed with the results that I got. At first it looked like it had gotten rid of some hairs but eventually they all grew back. I had done alot of research on the laser hair removal and I couldn’t find enough people that said that they had permanent results from it. Most got results for a while and then the hair grew back finer and then eventually came in the same(coarser). Now from all my experience with electrolysis and research I think that I have come to the conclusion that when it grows back finer that is just natural whether it has been plucked, waxed, or elect. Why I say this is because at first after laser my hair came in fine and then felt coarse after a while. Same with electrolysis if I didnt’ get the same area done at each treatment. So basically I think that the hair is just naturally finer at first because it is a new hair. And once it is there for a while it becomes coarser because it is old. I hope some of this made sense. So in conclusion I decided to go back to electrolysis and am very happy that I did because it has been almost one year since the start and I am very close to being done. I had 10 full clearings (had a full clearing each month in 1 or 2 treatments just days apart) and almost quite a couple of months ago but decided to keep going and now see really good results. I’ve gone from 3 hour clearing to 1.5 hour clearing in the last couple of months and i’m sure this next time will even be shorter…Sorry it was so long. I hope it helped.
HI:
I am new to this site, but I just read that there isn’t anyone out there that can say that electrolysis works. Well, here I am! I have been undergoing electrolysis for about two years and have almost 300 hours under my belt. I am now almost done and extreamly happy with my results. My mask area is hairless except for a few each month. My neck is 95% done and the hairs that are left are blond and very fine. They will be gone shortly. Most of the treatments were nearly painless, except for the upper lip (Under my nose) and my chin. I slept thru a lot of my sessions. I have no pock marks and my skin is smooth. Electrolysis works and is painless if it is done right. 
Your post seemed to asked for clients and not electrologists to answer. But I will share anyway. At age 52 after a teaching career, I became an electrologist. Had had wonderful success in multiple areas over the past 30 years. There is no question since 1875, it has been permanent. As James stated, few satisfied clients visit this site. Read the many posts on this site and you will find satisfied people. There are good and bad in every field. Why not ask people in your community who they would recommend for electrolysis? Salons and spas usually know who the good people are.
Thanks so much for sharing your experiences. Lookin 2B hairfree, Tina Marie, hairsgone, and deef, could you please share with me the name of your practitioner that you had such great success with. I really appreciate it, I am so eager to deal with this problem and feel encouraged that this can work, I want to be hair free and also protect my skin from damage (i.e. scarring). I have asked for referrals in my area, but NOBODY has indicated good results and have been going to the same electrologist, for the same duration, for many, many years. I would totally appreciate the names so that I can set up some consults and try to deal with this problems and feel less depressed. You email me here or send a private message to Jenniecries@hotmail.com Thanks and god bless.
Hi Jenniecries:
I will have to say that I got very lucky and found James Walker. I had been going to another electrolygist in the area for a year before I found him and I could only take an hour a week and the sessions were very painful and I left her house red, sore, swollen and with ice on my face. After a year with her , I had gotten no where. A year lost. The first time I went to see James, I went for three hours and I left feeling the same way I had walked in to see him.I’m not saying all the sessions were painless, because some were, but none as bad as what I had been doing
I have photos of my progress on my site if you care to look. http://www.geocities.com/tinamarie022/Hair.html I am almost done now and I didn’t think I would ever get here, but I did and I am a happpy girl. Good luck to you.
Tina Marie
Hello again Jenniecries.
I just returned to this site after a busy three days, and was very happy to find 12 replies to your question about electrolysis really working.My reply to your question on Sept 21 was wriiten to you as a consumer of electrolysis in the years past. I was not an electrologist 25 years ago when I had the work done. Achieving results is the reason I became an elctrologist four years ago. My life was definitely impacted by two wonderful women that educated and encouraged me through the long process. I will never forget them. They are still my role models. As ashalee noted above, the practice of electrolysis certainly needs more oversight and regulation. Unqualified people are performing electrolysis and they are hurting the profession, but more importantly, they hurt people like you.
Being that you are in Michigan and my practice is in the central Ohio area (New Albany), I will e-amil you the names of two electrologist’s that are geographically closer to you than I am. They would certainly take good care of you. However, I will include my address and phone number if you need to reach me at any time.
Proper electrolysis is something you deserve. You already have the understanding that many sessions are needed at the right time intervals, now you need someone that will do their part well so you get results for your money and effort.
I’ll e-mail you with more information.
Take care. Deef
Thank you so much for the reponses Tina Maire, Deef,and lookin 2b hairfree. I have a few good names I am going to look into right away, thanks for your experiences, I feel like there may be hope. I definitely want to have successful treatment and get on with my life, I would love to look in the mirror without crying…If anyone else has a good practitioner and/or feedback for me feel free to email me, thank you…God Bless!!
Don’t be disappointed. When electrology treatment is properly done it works 100% and I know this for sure after 46 years of professional service.
Please got to the site: ElectrolysisInformation.com and if you have further questions after that let us know.
Thanks so much for all of your posts. Deef, I have privated emailed you, I hope it worked and look forward to hearing from you. Feel free to email any other referrals or advise. I just want people to understand that the psychological impact of poor, incompetent treatment is tremendous and losing thousand of dollars to treatment that was clearly mere tweezing is devastating. I had been religious with treatments and sent up many consultations, going with the person I though was best. It is horrible that the practitioner had no guilt over taking my money, if you can’t do the job, just admit it and let the person find someone who can. God bless.
I have had my back done. It wasn’t a lot of hair, but it was long like 2 inches long and dark.
In 4 treatments it was pretty much gone. It has been 2 months since the shoulders were done, and only one hair has grown back, literally.
I only need about 6 more treatments to clean up the little nearly blonde hairs. They said they couldn’t use a laser on them, because they were to blonde.
I have actually had 2 electrolysis work on me. Both from the same office, the owner and a transexual who is really a nice person.
Both have done well with me.
I don’t think I am going to have electrolysis done on my chest. I think I will have a laser on that. I hope something more final comes along with the laser though.
Detail: After finishing with your chest, I hope you will consider removal of both your pubic and underarm hair; since that can give you the most satisfaction. I had my chest hair removed by electrolysis and I found removal from there was more painful than from any other part of my body. It may because it is more bony than other places. Let us know if you find that area more sensative than the back.
I will probably get my chest done, but it won’t be till spring. I have way to much money in my business and I am not making an income yet. I work a night job to stay afloat.
But if this build of the coffee roaster works as expected (I figured out how to take the bitterness out of coffee), I have a few big deals ready to get signed.
I also have a national talk show host interested in discussing a national advertising campaign too.
Enough Rambling, if the business goes well, I will have Electrolysis, because then I can go in 3 to 4 hours a week (one maybe two settings) and I can have it done by summer. I really want my chest hairless for summer. I am about to get a six pack and my pecks are getting really really nice. 
I just don’t know about the “bush next to the tree”. I think I will keep that, but I do want the hairs under my pits removed too.