This site has given me hope that I can one day be rid of all this hair. I am African American and originally started getting laser on my chin and neck Sept 2005, after 2.5 years of going and only seeing an increased amount of hair I quit. After finding this site I decided electrolysis should have been my first choice.
I found a cpe who is experienced treating black skin/hair, wears gloves, magnified lighting, and disposable needles. I forget what model she has but I believe its an Apilus, she uses thermolysis. I started June 25 and have completed 25 hours, my main concern was my chin since the hair is very dense, we’ve managed to reduce some of the hair along my jaw line and side of my face but its still very noticeable. I am pleased with the progress of my chin most of the hair that grows in is fine and a lot more scarce than before. We’ve barely started on my neck.
So my question is what is an adequate schedule? My concern is that I can’t afford to continue at this pace. I originally thought an hour a week would get me the results I was looking for, but that hasn’t been the case. My cpe charges 100/hr, but I have been buying blocks of 12 hrs for 1000. So far I’m out 2500, at this pace I’ll be out 10k at the end of the year. I know I can’t do that, so I need to drop down to an hour a week moving forward. Do you think I will get the results I am looking for only going an hour a week?
Also I am 26, not on any meds but I believe I have pcos. My test results come in about a week. I don’t have a problem starting birth control pills, but I am weary of starting spiro because I am afraid of what will happen when I get off. I don’t look overweight but according to my bmi I am I have lost 10lbs since July and want to lose 20 more. Sorry for the long post just wanted to provide enough info. Oh yeah I live in Chicago.
It sounds like you did your homework before choosing your electrologist, and it sounds like you made a wise choice. That can be half the battle.
The hours per session and total hours required depend on how much hair you have to remove, it is hard to judge without seeing. You can achieve permanent results without being on a tight schedule, or just working on one area on your face at a time (as money allows.) Not being on schedule may mean it will take longer (since the hair may be out of phase) and take much more time and cost more. But, each zap is progress in the right direction. I know this, because I have had to do the same thing (one area only, then as that took less time, move to another, eventually completely reclear the first two areas and start on a third etc.)
In other words, if you can, stick to your treatment schedule. If you absolutely cannot, just do what you can understanding it will take longer and cost more. Most importantly, explain your situation to your electrologist and ask her what she recommends is the best course of action.
Although it can be scary in the beginning, during the times when it looks like one could spend every free hour doing electrolysis and not get all the hair you want done and removed. Understand that later, it will take less, and less time to get full clearance. At that time, one will start to reduce the amount of time one spends getting worked on, and the amount of time in between appointments increases.
You start out shoveling time and money at this hair problem, and later it falls off to a dribble of time and money put towards the cause.
The best way to tackle your hair is to get to your first clearance asap, so that you’re only coming in afterwards to get the new hair that pops up, i.e. you always LOOK hairfree since you get new hairs as they come in. It sounds like you need to increase the number of hours per week you do right now. It will be more expensive up front, but it will be cheaper in the long run since you won’t be paying to remove hairs that are already in the wrong phase of growth and can’t be killed.
Many people with a lot of growth do 4 hours a week or so to start to get to that precious clearance. How long do you think that will take? Does your electrologist use microflash? That’s the fastest type of electrolysis on this machine and they can remove the most hair in the beginning to get you to your clearance using it (that is clearance including your neck).
$100/hr is on the high end, even in Chicago. Unless you’re completely happy and comfortable with this electrologist, you can look into a few others you may want to try who are cheaper. This machine is very good though so I would only switch it up for someone else who also has microflash and a computerized machine.
Another thing that can help if you’re not doing it already is to shave the hair, so that the electrologist only treats the hair that is obviously in the active growing phase.
Thanks for the suggestions, I think I will see if we can do a long session this week and hopefully get a full clearance on my neck and jawline. I think that will help me feel better about all the money I’m putting towards it. Hopefully I can get the rest of my face to look as clear as my chin in the next 3 months and then hopefully shorten my hours. I have considered trying a cheaper CPE, but I am comfortable with the one I have found and I know she cares about getting me hair-free. I will try and provide updates as I progress…
I decided I should post an update. I hardly come on here anymore, which I guess is a sign that I am less consumed with my hair problem. I received confirmation from my doctor that I have PCOS and my hormone levels were extremely high even for someone with PCOS. That devasted me but also forced me to understand that my hair problem was more extreme than I wanted to believe.
I have about 7 months of treatment completed, I have lost track but that’s probably close to 70 hours of treatment. I am happy with my results so far, not as happy as I will be when we are completely done but I know it is working. The chin is where we started and clear each session. The hair there is no longer thick, course or dense. I used to always have a shadow at the end of the day but now I don’t notice the hair on my chin unless I am looking up close in the mirror.
We have been working on my upper lip, jawline and cheeks the last couple of months and they have responded well too. When hair grows there it is much finer.
Due to time and money constraints we are just now making progress on my neck. I am worried about ingrowns in this area, I am hoping they don’t slow us down too much.
I started off doing 2-3hour sessions each week, now I am down to 1.5-2 hrs.
Unfortunately, the money is getting tight since I am probably 6-7k into it at this point. I feel like I really need to drop down to an hour week so that my next block purchase will last me another 3 months I am just not sure if that will be enough to keep things under control.
Oh yeah I started taking Yasmin, working out regularly, and have lost 25 lbs…and want to lose 15 more.
Yeah financing this has made for some difficult decisions. If I ever tried to tell my family or friends what I have spent on this they wouldn’t understand. So far I have been able to find the money, but I don’t want to give up too much of my savings for this. I am keeping faith that I will be able to finish what I started.
I believe she uses thermolysis, she has an Apilus Platinum. I think its microflash, given the timing but I never asked.
Well, you must have had a quite a beard. I’m happy that you have come this far and are getting better. I love to hear hopeful stories like yours. Thanks for coming back, b girl.