Electrolysis RUINED my skin!

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1
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I’m not even going to post before pictures because I’m trying to accept the new me for all the mistakes I’ve made but trust me when I say, all of these blemishes, dents, redness and bumps have been caused by electrolyis, (and probably a bit of sun damage) I’m not sure which method exactly but too much heat was used and has caused horrendous acne scarring, quite a lot I believe I’m going to have to live with now.

I’m still in hopes that a lot of this will heal as it is still quite red, but im really concerned that the bigger scars are permanent and I’m going to have dots all over my face, its hard for me to say what parts of it are actually scars or just indents where skin is swollen.

I have been having electrolysis treatments for around a year and up until recently, I never realised there was a problem with my treatment. I was being lied to by my electrolygist who told me everything that was going on was normal and I suppose to her and her treatment standards, it was. She told me everyone needs a little microneedling after electrolysis and I remained ignorant to how bad my treatment was until I started doing some research after my last session (around a month ago) and realised how permanent my completely new skin issues were. This drove me to an absolute spiral of pain and blaming myself for my ignorance and I’ve started a whole new phase of grief for the person I was in the backlog of my camera roll, wishing I could tell her about laser and what it can do to get rid of the darkness in her face and her perfect untouched skin.

This has been very difficult for me to come to terms with since before all this scarring, the fact that I was dealing with facial hair wasn’t nearly as noticeable and mostly could’ve been solved with a little bit of laser. I’ve cried and cried about it and talked about it with my partner before coming to the conclusion:

My worth is not defined by how well I “pass”, I am beautful right now. acne scarring can be covered up with makeup if I need it for safety reasons however ultimately, I need to be put into environments where my transness is not an issue for those around me.

Moving forward, I’m taking a step back from all treatments, keeping my skin as hydrated and moisturised as I possibly can and I’m going to try and love and accept the new reality I’ve created for myself, anyone reading this going through something similar, please understand: you are beautiful, you always were, theres nothing we can do to change the past and the fact that others treat us differently based on us not hitting their mark will always be and always has been a them problem, the best we can do for happy lives is to find love and happiness and purpose in our lives, whether that means, moving country or finding a new career path, there are people out there who will love you regardless of your so called flaws.

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#2
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heres scarring from where she would pluck the hairs out after zapping them with the needle

#3

I do see what is likely some orange peel effect on the chin, and some texture issues around the corners of the upper lip. It’s not possible to tell what is electrolysis and what is acne damage however, there is evidence of acne and this will also cause this kind of effect. Usually the effects of what you are seeing are temporary. Although it’s possible there may be some value to something like a fractional laser treatment or microneedling, you are about a year away from being able determine this.

My advice would be to not panic, let the skin heal. Also pay good attention to your testosterone levels, I often find that excess testosterone will be accompanied by acne, and over time this dwindles… In abut a year from now ( assuming you have ceased electrolysis, have another look, and only then, should this be a concern. As for the orange peel effect, this generally resolves toward the end of treatment. Have a look at this video, it will help you to understand .

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#4

I agree with all of what Seana has said above and encourage you to take that advice. If you do choose to continue electrolysis at some point in the future, please know that it is very possible for an electrologist to avoid or minimise this sort of skin reaction.

#5

Just wanted to say I have had something similar happen to me too and voice my support. I read in another thread that they might not be applying energy to the bulb, so it’s just cooking the skin around the shaft until there is enough damage to hit the bulb. I’m hopeful I can find another electrologist who knows to go deeper and I’m going to a dermatologist in the meantime for advice.

#6

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Here is a picture of one side of my face today, this is how my face looks on both sides and I have no doubts now after reading enough about it that I have been massively over-treated. All of the red flags such as use of excessive heat, yellow fluid, open scabs, hard tugging on the hairs have caused me to look like this and that’s just how it is now I suppose.

I’ve taken your advice to give it time to heal however I’m wondering if there is any value in returning to laser hair removal now since the person I’m working with now is claiming it would help with the healing process as it is not very invasive and I have little doubt that it would also help with the hyperpigmentation and of course removing a lot of the shadow in my face caused by dark hairs.

I’ve looked into treatments such as laser resurfacing, microneedling and TCA cross and what I have to say is that they all seem a little too good to be true. Not only are they all very expensive and require maintenance but there’s actually a good chance that even worse side effects will occur such as widening of scars, hypopigmentation, further hyperpigmentation and even making the scars deeper.

My question is basically: what now?? I’m hoping once I start laser hair removal, the laser will stimulate more collagen, remove dark hairs, hyperpigmentation, redness and help resurface some of these pits or atleast smooth out my face atleast a bit. Is this person just trying to sell me something or is there a chance I can receive some non invasive treatment??

#7

The type of laser treatment to correct skin damage is not the same as that used in hair removal. I also dont recommend that you visit an esthetician at all for this service. The type of resurfacing laser is known as a fractional laser treatment and is specifically designed to stimulate colllogen production. It is best provided by a qualified dermatologist. So no, please dont take advice from any esthetician for this.

#10

At least first go get your phenol peel and show us before and after photos here before you start giving opinions on dermatology solutions. Don’t attack professionals on this forum just because you’re disgruntled and frustrated with your situation.

#12

I’m of the opinion this is probably Eudes posting. I left it, because it’s such obvious misinformation that they’re making an ass of themselves. I’ll get around to investigating the IP shortly, at which point if that is who it is, as they are already permanently banned, I’ll just ban this new account.

#13

I was going to get microneedling but I heard that it pushes the hyperpigmented cells (of which I have a lot due to taking estrogen), all these treatments essentially gave me deep acne which has lead to these deep scars, I’ve thought about getting tca or TCA cross peels but I’ve also seen that those cause pigmentation issues too, I’m at a bit of a loss for what to do currently, I want to go back to laser and get rid of these hairs but I don’t know if that’s a good idea either, my face is so red and brown in one centralised area and covered with atrophic scars, mostly big dots missing from my face this is not how my transition was meant to go :frowning:

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#14

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Here’s another picture of my sunken scars, I hate the ones that look like dots the most and I keep getting infected in the more red areas.

#15

What type of electrolysis they did with your face…
Thermolysis, blend or galvanic???

#16

Thermolysis with lots of aggressive plucking, it was malpractice, I don’t have an opinion on methods I was just mistreated, think the consensus is finding someone who is experienced in blend method

#17

I think galvanic method is the best.

#18

What happened to the client in this case has nothing to do with the modality. It is the skill (or lack thereof) that is the issue. No modality will protect a client from overtreatment.