electrolysis on areolas- still pain 6 weeks later

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

hi,

six weeks ago i had a horrible session with diathermy method on my breasts. the whole thing was dreadful- hardcore plucking after each insertion, long discussions over her technique, her taking new appointments while i am lay on the table, not cleaning the skin after treatment- this woman should not be operating and i will never go there again, but all that besides:

with each insertion which took probably 15 seconds or longer there was such heat generating in the WHOLE of my breast (i’m 34B so small-chested), as if somebody was putting my breasts into a FIRE- no exaggeration or drama. i yelped out each time with many expletives, and ‘i can’t take no more’ and ‘this is not normal!’ because it was that painful, the heat that was going into my breasts, that i couldn’t help but communicate it. often i almost fall asleep during sessions on my face and after 18 months of treatment through many electrolygists i kind of know what to expect.

that said, i have never had diathermy or blend on my breast area so i didn’t know if this was typical. she said before the treatment that this area doesn’t hurt nearly as much as the upper lip, so i thought, ok. additionally i had used a heavy layer of emla one hour prior to appointment and reapplied on my way to the salon.

as she was plucking, i said three times, “don’t do that, if i wanted that i would do it at home for free” but she said the hairs were too strong so she had to pluck them out after. the only way around this was turning up the settings 2 notches. and when she did oh boy soo hot. so she turned it back down and continued to pluck. disastrous!

the machine only SOMETIMES made the regular beeping sounds with insertions, mostly that took ages and a lot of heat before it would beep, and then with really high-pitched beeps which i have never heard before, around an octave or more above the usual beeps. i tried to google the machine but not much shows up.

it is a medi-blend. i ususally get treated with this machine elsewhere but for blend, which i would have thought she would have used on me in that area. when i realised i did not have the ‘thing’ that you hold, she said, ‘oh, i am not using blend, next time we can use it’. thought this was weird cos most people suggest blend for this area.

additionally the machine was broken prior to my appointment and i had to cancel the initial appointment as it was away for repairs. makes me wonder…

i come out, with such HEAT in my breasts that i go straight to my friends house and get some freezer blocks on them, but the heat stayed inside, i couldn’t lose it. this continued for weeks, with shooting pain deep inside, and this may sound unbelieveable, but my breasts seemed to lose their elasticity and shape, and kinda went flattened, my nipples inverted and lax.

that has changed a bit (they still look and feel different than they did before) but i am still having those shooting pains that are the same as when i was having the procedure (i have had typical breast pains before and believe me these are from that session and not just regular aches and pains), they have lessened at last, but are there, and sometimes the right one feels hot.

also i had deep scabbing that went away after a month, i checked the follicles last week, squeezed them, bad stuff came out and they were left as red holes once again which scabbed over. they are somewhat back to normal now with a little scarring.

i was worried that as the treatment was so hot, heating up that tissue, is there a greater medical risk at hand? i was told (albeit by an ipl practitioner) that with electrolysis tissue can die, and that can lead to disease. my breasts are very lumpy right now, have changed in consistency since the treatment and well, hurt.

i have searched on the internet for this and little has come up. due to this i have hesitated bringing it up to my doctor.

sorry, such a long story- it has been worrying me for weeks.

any thoughts?

#2

i think for what we typically have on offer here in the UK in terms of electrolysis, generally it’s best to stick with blend for deeply rooted hairs that may have curved/distorted follicles.

i find it hard to take in that a 15sec thermolysis current was used? that seems ridiculous.

i’m really sorry to read your story. i wish i could offer something other than sympathy. i had some horrible thermolysis on my chest (between the breasts). i felt what you describe and the area was hot for days. after being red and angry, it became brown and the skin hardened. i applied rosehip oil daily for 3 months. it’s finally all healed up. i hope yours will heal too, it just takes some time.

#3

What have you been using for aftercare? The body has a great ability to resolve most things, but it may take a few months if severe damage like this was inflicted.

I would use tea tree oil daily, at night and reasses 2-3 months later.

#4

Do you have a temperature? It is not normal for your breast to invert, sag, lax and be lumpy after electrolysis. Do you think you have or had an infection?

Please give the electrologist a followup call and then call your primary care physician if you think you have infection brewing. Calling a licensing board is an option worth considering to report your story.

FYI, once a zone has been disinfected, one should not break that zone to answer telephones or touch anything. Gloves should be removed, hands washed and new gloves should be put on once one breaks the zone and touches anything not disinfected.

Are you sure this person is a trained professional? For sure, NEVER GO BACK TO THIS PERSON. This is sub-standard care that should not be supported, in fact, it should be reported. Let us know how you feel in a couple of days. Sorry for your plight.

#5

Ditto to what everyone else said.

I had two treatments in that area in the past months and it was nothing like this. I’m so sorry you had to experience it.

#6

in response,

lagirl- i used the antibiotical cream i got given from the good electrolysis center, and interchanged that with aloe gel, for three weeks. i tried to keep the area moist as much as possible. i will get back to using the stinky tea tree oil!

and thanks stoppit, i will try rosehip oil too.

dfahey- no i do not believe i had an infection. although, maybe i could have had a localised one from the treatment. but, no temperature, nothing.

i am still getting pretty bad pains inside the breast at times, almost feels as if they are precisely where the current was applied, and running down and into my body, so am going to call my gp on monday.

i do tend to have pretty lumpy breasts which change depending on what month it is, but the lax-ness and inverted-ness? never experienced that. thankfully they have perked up since (still not 100%) i was mostly worried that the tissue had died due to such heat energy being inflicted on it. i still feel this is feasible, though hopefully not the case.