Electrolysis recommendation for Southern Ontario/Giving back to this community

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

After combing these forums for months I am finally ready to begin my own journey with electrolysis. An infinite thank you to all those who have shared their stories here. They have both informed and encouraged me. This is truly a special corner of the internet and has made me feel so supported even as I just watched on the sidelines. I hope I can give back.

I am looking for an electrolysis recommendation for the city of Barrie, Ontario, Canada.

I am female, in my mid twenties, and my problem area is roughly 60 or so coarse hairs on my chin/lower chin, and then a smattering of longer hairs on my neck/jawline. I plucked when there were only ~6 hairs for less than a year, and then stopped and since then have only shaved them.

From everything I have read here it sounds like it would be most appropriate for me to have a blend or chemical method since the hairs are few and quite dark/coarse. Although a good technician seems like a top priority over method. Any and all recommendations are welcome!

Bonus Qs: How long will an area like mine take (more or less)? If the hairs are very coarse and visible, does technician skill matter as much? Is the method used (chem vs. thermo) truly important for effectiveness other than speed of treatment?

If youā€™ve been where I am now please feel free to share here.

#2

Iā€™ll just chime in on one of your questions ā€¦ ā€œmethods!ā€ Itā€™s like this: you want a ride to the airport ā€¦ one person has a Chevy, and another has a Honda. As long as you get to your destination, what difference does it make? If you crash on the way, itā€™s probably not the fault of the car ā€¦ itā€™s probably the fault of the driver!

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#3

hello Ludovica,
Try our provincial associations listing located here:
https://fceaontario.org/directory/
I dont unfortunately have any recommendations I can personally convey for the Barrie Area. I can say I can recommend the girls at Cobourgā€™s Hillside Electrolysis they are reportedly quite good.

Seana

#4

I can almost guarantee to you Ludovica, that your case is not as simple as you make it out to be. To start with the pattern you describe, is what we often see in cases of PCOS when they start out.The patternof dense hair in two patches on each cide of the chin then spattered along the jawline is EXACTLY what we see. Thiese are without doubt, some of the most challenging cases we face as electrologists.
Michael is quite right on the ā€œmethodā€ comment too. Itā€™s not the journey or the route to how you get there. Any electrologist is going to recommend the method they can most efficiently attain your goal.For me, for 90% of my clients, thatā€™s thermolysis ( though I DO have some cases I go to blend for, example those with allergies to nickel in stainless steel probes). Why is this? I myself did my entire beard removal in blend so I should be doing blend right? Well the answer is that thermolysis is the method I can achieve your full removal in the most efficiently. Maybe Iā€™m not as good as Michael? It probably took me 500 hours working on my face before I had had enough. I could ( and have) done full beard removals in 1/5 the time than it took me to do my own face. In todays electrolysis practiseā€¦WE ARE BUSY. Right now I am not even taking on new clients for the month of december ( and most of nov too) because I dont have enough of me to go around to all of them. So if I can shortcut that process to make it easier or more efficient for you I guarantee you I will! A electrologitst will always recommend the method that is going to most efficiently, given their skill, attain you your goal as is humanly possible . . So dont worry at all about " I think this way is better or that" . Let your professional do their job.

Seana

1 Like
#5

Ok, roger all that. I will defer to whatever professional will take me! Another poster was kind enough to detail her experience in my area (ish) so Iā€™ll use that as a starting point. Thank you kindly for the directory.

With regards to my case being ā€˜complicatedā€™ I appreciate the frankness. I should have added, Iā€™m cis, caucasian with light brown hair. And with regards to PCOS, you are the the first person to tell me that about the ā€˜patternā€™ of hair (although I have no doubt whatsoever about your expertise, after seeing what must be countless cases like mine, I would consider you an expert in that area, moreso than a doc!). I visited a gynaecologist and had a full work up done (urine, bloodwork and ultrasound) and was told there were no signs pointing to PCOS, other than the facial hair. Full disclosure is that I had taken (a strong) oral birth control for 8 years and the hair appeared when I stopped abruptly. They assumed that was the culprit.

(As an aside, a friend went off BC like me after many years and did develop a small cyst that threw her hormones completely out of whack, and her doc told her itā€™s quite common: the body underproduces hormones while receiving them artificially, and then cold turkey you have this massive deficiency, so the bodyā€™s response is to overcompensate for a while before levelling off) I can only speculate as to what happened in my caseā€¦ but I do hope it was a one time thing and not PCOS. We are not endocrinologists of course but maybe all this info will be helpful to someone.

Do you say that these cases are challenging because the hormonal fluctuations that come with PCOS mean youā€™re constantly battling back and forth for clearance?

Thanks to you both x1000, this has already been so reassuring. Iā€™m going to book ASAP given what you both have told me.

#6

Hi all,

Little update. I had my second appointment last week (first was just a consult).
Mostly it went as expected. The pain was very transient + tolerable. The technician was very patient and kind. They confirmed my/our suspicions, that the journey towards total clearance will probably be circa two years, with appointments later on for the occasional regrowth/hormone dose.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the area could be cleared in just 15 minutesā€¦ I might consider a little bit of tx to my upper lip later onā€¦

Iā€™m now scheduled to be booked once a week for the foreseeable future, which I think is tolerable for me to not touch the area at allā€¦ But weā€™ll see how much growth I get. This is really one of the few points I donā€™t understand, what is it about shaving that is contraindicated for electrolysis? In any event, I know my growth is not much compared to what some go through, Iā€™m committed to the process! No shaving for me.

Later on Iā€™ll try to add some pictures for reference.

#7

Hello Ludovica , good to hear from you again! It sounds like you are on your way to success! Sorry Iā€™ve not gotten to reply to much here lately, folks have kept me super busy! I never though working from home could be so exhausting!

In regards to my comments as to who these cases can be challenging, itā€™s a few things. The first is the general reluctance of some people to take hormonal correcting medications, for exactly I suppose the reason that you out lined. When you stop taking these drugs, it takes your body a while to catch up the balance. The thyroid which regulates much of the endocrine system is greatly complicated . So some womenn are reluctant to take some drugs which could actually help them, and this complicates and extends hair removal timeframes. I also find when significant hormonal influences are in play I get many more batches of growth ( not the same as cycles of growth) in the same time frame. With some the new hairs seem to come in as fast as I can remove them efficiently. It also tends to greatly affect the SCALE of the hair issue, and that has a generally negative effect on the clients mental health.

#8

Hi all,

I had my second apt with treatment yesterday.

Post-tx the area is very red and a bit inflamed/generally upset. There are tiny little red dots where (I guess) the probe was inserted. Definitely far from perfect, but nothing to complain about.

After treatment itā€™s taking almost two weeks to get new growth. 1.5 weeks post tx I had only a few dark but thin hairs (but still tons of redness). 2 weeks post tx I have almost the original quantity of little black dots, tiny hairs just waiting to sprout. I got maybe 2 small whitehead pimples in the treated area.

During treatment I there are times where I can feel the technician inserting the probe twice, and then I canā€™t feel anything at all for the removal of the hair. But there are several instances where I feel, after one insertion, the hair is slightly pulled/ā€˜pluckedā€™ to remove it. How can one tell the difference? Is it possible to have proper removal and still feel a bit of a ā€œpullingā€ sensation?

#9

Great to know. The mental health aspect of it is everything! Nice to have some insight on it so I donā€™t feel so alone.

#10

Third tx:

Surprisingly, it is taking +14 days for the growth to be significant enough for me to go in for treatment. My post-treatment redness was less this time, although I did get 2-3 small whiteheads. Can I pop these? Is there anything I can do to avoid them? If someone knows, advice would be appreciated.

A few days after treatment there are a couple thin darker/longer hairs but not coarse or very visible. Only at the beginning of the 3rd week post-tx do I get my regular crop of thick coarse hairs, on each side of the chin. My technician was pleasantly surprised at this. So now Iā€™m booked for 15 min every 2-3 weeks or so.

#11

tx 4-8:

7th and 8th treatment were pretty discouraging. There was tons of hair and it feels as if areas where I didnā€™t previously have hair are now growing more hair (!) but I guess thatā€™s just where Iā€™m at in my cycle. I am staying the course, still getting treatment consistently every two weeks. My numbers are similar to the beginning, i havenā€™t seen any reduction yet, so still 60 or so hairs. I havenā€™t reached the fabled 6 month mark yet so no results are to be expected anyways. Following tx Iā€™m a pretty strong zero-therapy believer so I typically do absolutely nothing and the redness/bumps fade in 2-3 dayā€™s time.

My technician for removals does feel as if sheā€™s pullingā€¦ not a full plucking sensation. There are times where she double zaps a follicle and I feel nothing whatsoever in the removal so I think the difference is perceptible to me. I just hope the ā€œpullingā€ removals are true follicle kills so to speak. I also think she is using blend bc I hold a probe, I thought it was thermo but Iā€™m definitely gripping that probe pretty tightly for my 15 minutes!

cheers

#12

tx 9-11:

I havenā€™t seen any reduction yet. When I get close to the two-week treatment date my skin begins to redden and i have a lot of semi-ingrowns as the hair tries to surface. Sometimes I pick at them slightly to bring them out or moisturize to keep the skin from drying and having true in-growns. With each cycle the hair appears in slightly different places. This week I had a lot closer to the jawline surprisingly.

#13

tx 12-17:

Wow I canā€™t believe itā€™s been months since Iā€™ve posted here. I feel that lately there has been a reduction in that itā€™s taking the hair over 3 weeks to come back fully. Iā€™m still receiving treatment every two weeks though. The hair is still enough that it it takes 15 mins to treat but sometimes we do a little of other areas as well.

#14

Thanks for the updates! Iā€™m on my 8th session and have similar hair growth to yours. My electrolysis takes about three times longer to clear the area although itā€™s also around 60 hairs. I was starting to feel discouraged but your posts are helpful.

#15

tx 17-19

Itā€™s hard to say but Iā€™m beginning to feel that the reduction is noticeable. The hairs are less clustered together, and generally shorter and less thick. There must be 20 or so per side. There are more around my jawline but the two biggest patches have thinned. Iā€™m trimming them less when Iā€™m maskless and between apts.

Sometimes my tech misses a couple darker hairs which I think is just the positioning of the light on my face being so strong and sometimes lit from above. Forest for the trees?

This is no small thing and yesterday I was really feeling grateful at the small miracle this process is!

#16

Iā€™m so glad! The whole process PRE-electrolysis of just getting yourself in the chair is so arduous and confusing. But now that Iā€™ve started Iā€™m really glad. I donā€™t know you but I have so much sympathy for what youā€™re going through! It was so challenging just even identifying what was going on much less solving it. Plus I found it hard to find other cases like mine with minimal facial hair but no identified culprit. But oh well, onwards and upwards!

#17

Thank you so much! Yes, it is a struggle but so grateful to be on this hair removal journey. Iā€™m starting to see slower growth on my chin and a bit less hair but your posts give me a lot of hope. Thanks again for posting!

#18

tx 20-25

Iā€™m starting to close in on a year of treatment! Looking forward to crossing that mark.
Now itā€™s noticeable that there is not enough hair on my chin to fill a 15 min appointment so itā€™s 50% of the appointment on my chin, and the other 50% on my upper lip. When I begin to doubt my progress I think of that obvious, objective metric and I feel confident. To anyone else reading this: I do feel that my tech ā€œplucksā€ the hair out sometimes, in the sense that after the zap, I donā€™t feel nothing, I feel a pulling and a bit of pain. But what is happening is working well nonetheless. At this point I trust her with my life! Haha.

Little bonus is that Iā€™m hair free for pretty much 1.5 weeks leading up to my next appointment. When I near that mark I trim chin + lip with very sharp little scissors and stand an armā€™s distance from myself in the mirror (how close 99% of people are when they interact with you). I always leave enough that the tech can grab the hair easily, but it keeps my anxiety and vanity in check. This also keeps my skin from getting irritated, the hairs are just shorter and less visible, the skin is left untouched.

Eventually I hope to move on to treatment on my stomach.

#19

Yes! Iā€™m so happy for you. This forum has been a godsend for me.

#20

I agree! Thank you for sharing your journey.