Electrolysis vs laser (underarms and bikini)

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

There is so much useful information on this site and I have learned so much! Thanks for all of that.

Short intro: I live in small town Wyoming and there are 2 places here that do permanent hair removal. Neither one has a website and I plan to contact them tomorrow for more info.

I am hoping to get my underarms and bikini area (full Brazilian) hair-free. Can anybody do a basic comparison or pro/con list of electrolysis vs laser for these areas. I am fair skinned and both of these areas have coarse, dark hair. Many of my follicles have 2 hairs coming out of them, too.

Some of the key things I’m wanting to compare are:

cost
time of each treatment
overall time of treatment
recovery between treatments
possible side effects or scarring
permanancy of hair removal
is shaving okay between treatments

Any advice or tips you have would be much appreciated. Also, if this info is somewhere else and I have missed it, please point me in the right direction.

Thanks!

#2

cost
time of each treatment
overall time of treatment
recovery between treatments
possible side effects or scarring
permanancy of hair removal
is shaving okay between treatments
Thanks!

I’m really kind of torn between laser and electro on the bikini area. I go back and forth.

I am somewhat biased towards electro for the underarms.

  1. Time of each treatment … 20 minutes for laser (very quick!). Eletro: as long as you can stand. Hourly is what a lot of people do.

  2. Overall time. Laser, you’ll need 8-10 treatments spaced 6 weeks apart (not including cleanups). Electro … bikini area could take 12+ months assuming hourly weekly visits. Electro for the underarms could take a few months of same weekly visits.

  3. Not sure what you mean by recovery … but laser will leave some red scabbing that clears up in 2 weeks or so (assuming you’re not burned). Electro scars/hyperpigmentation take longer to heal.

  4. Side effects: laser - you could get burned (happened to me). Electro - you will experience scabbing and hyperpigmentation that will take time to heal. Another side effect of electro is addiction to your sessions. lol.

With both modalities, you’ll get ingrown hairs.

  1. Laser works for some people but not for others. Electro, if done competently, is PERMANENT (= IT WORKS).

  2. Shaving ok, even encouraged = you want your hair removal pro to kill the hairs that are in the growing stage. With laser and electro you’ll need a few days (3-5) of regrowth prior to treatment so that the hair removal pro can zap them.

I’d say the risk/reward ratio is on the side of electrolysis. You risk laser not working for you after you plunk down all that money (laser works for some, but not all people, I don’t know why).

However, assuming you have a competent electrologist, the time and money you spend on treatment will result in permament hair removal.

But you need to have some patience and stick-to-itness and financial commitment to make those weekly visits work for you (remember you get best results when you are treating the hair when its actively growing).

Hope this helps, best of luck.

#3

Some math to help you gauge the financial commitment.

I’m guessing laser for underarms is about $150, and the same for the bikini (genitals and peri-anal). In many places I’ve gone to, each treatment included a “touchup” visit as well. I might be high on the figure, but you maybe talking $300 per laser treatment for both areas. 300 x ten treatments (which include touchups) = $3,000.

Electro: this is just stab, but let’s say you have hourly visits for a year using short wave. Say the average hourly cost is $70, and you go to 52 visits. 70 x 52 visits = $3,640.

Hope this helps.

#4

or…if you are truly hell-bent on killing all those hairs, you could do BOTH.

Start with laser, follow up with electro, etc.

Small point … but I think the butt hairs in the bikini area respond best to electrolysis, hands down.

#5

one more thing …

With electrolysis:

time to INITIAL clearance (the point where you don’t see hair for the first time) is about 3-4 hours for the underarms.

I’m guessing 9-12 hours for the full bikini area.

Again, it’s important to zap subsequent regrowth and dormant untreated hairs as they are growing.

The above assumes short wave/thermolysis.

With laser, initial clearance is moot since you’ll be shaving the areas before treatment.

#6

Wow! Thanks for all the info. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

About recovery after treatments, I’ve seen some of the pictures after laser in the bikini area and it looks so sore. Is it as sore after electro? And if I get this done in the summertime, how long after a laser or electro treatment could I wear a swimsuit without a skirt coverup?

And I hadn’t realized cost would be so close between the two. I do realize that it varies depending on how well my hair responds.

Here’s one more embarrassing question, but I’m curious. How long after a treatment in the bikini area can you have sex?

Thanks again.

#7

Wow! Thanks for all the info. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Is it as sore after electro? And if I get this done in the summertime, how long after a laser or electro treatment could I wear a swimsuit without a skirt coverup?

… How long after a treatment in the bikini area can you have sex?

i should really let someone else jump in, but here’s my $0.02:

typically, the soreness in any one area doesn’t last very long. once you’ve gotten accustomed to the treatment, the soreness should not be an issue the day after your treatment, unless some ingrown had to be dug out.

laser blemishes tend to clear up very quickly - say, 2-3 weeks after treatment. but you really should stay out of the sun, or at least wear sunscreen.

with electro, if you are doing the “happy trail” between the belly button and the genitals with electro, there will be several months required (in my case at least) to heal the scabs and pigmentation, so yes, you’ll need to cover up. also avoid sun and use sunscreen in the treated areas (tanning the scars will worsen the problem).

as far as sex after treatment … i’ve only had one electrologist tell me to avoid it for a few days after treatment, so that infection doesn’t set in.

on the other hand … i’ve had my peri-anal hairs removed with electrolysis, and i couldn’t refrain from pooping for a few days, and i figure that’s just about the dirtiest area you could treat. no infections.

so, i guess, use your judgement and try to keep the area cleaner than usual. baby wipes are great (very easy cleanup with no hair to get in the way). cleanup right after sex would be a good idea imo.

#8

I am a big beliver in electrolysis, but it just takes too long on large body areas. I am experimenting with laser hair removal. I paid 250 bucks for 5 treatments (plus one free) of laser hair removal on my under arms. Each treatment takes about 2 minutes (that’s right, two…not 20) and is more or less easy to deal with. It stings, but no big deal.

I’ve only had 2 treatments, so I don’t know if it’s going to work or not. Shaving is fine between treatments, and my skin looks ok.

I would buy a small area first, and test it out to see how you do (like I did.) After my next treatment, I think I will be able to tell if it’s working and if I should buy more areas.

#9

I’ve had both laser and electrolysis done on many areas. I’m an advocate for both, depending on what type of skin and hair you have. The areas I would DEFINITELY recommend laser for are bikini and underarms if you have light skin and dark coarse hair there. There is no contest for these specific areas given these specs and of course that you do your research to find a good tech and machine (as with anything including electrolysis).

some of the points stated above are actually incorrect. Price for underarms is $50-150 per treatment. I paid $100 per, without commitments. As you can see above, Werenotafraid only paid $50 per treatment with a 5 treatment package. I only needed 5 treatments there, so it cost me $500 for 95% removal. There is a picture attached here where you can see my results on this area and you can also read my story below at the link.

I had my bikini done as well with laser at $100 per treatment for area around a thong and then expanded to a larger area at $150 per treatment, no commitments. Only needed 6 treatments there. So around $700.

Also, as said above, it only takes 5-10 mins to treat each of these areas at most and you come in once every 2 months or so. There is just no comparison for these areas. I wouldn’t do electrolysis there to start.

If you are considering laser, please read the FAQs in detail so you can do what Werenotafraid did and find the best place to do it: www.hairremovalforum.com/faq.cfm

#10

cost

  1. time of each treatment
  2. overall time of treatment
  3. recovery between treatments
  4. possible side effects or scarring
  5. permanancy of hair removal
  6. is shaving okay between treatments

I’ll answer to each of these points since I’ve done both laser and electrolysis. I already answered the cost question above. Laser definitely wins there for THESE areas.

  1. Laser definitely wins here. 10-15 mins for BOTH of the areas you’re treating during the treatment. You’ll need 6-8 treatments 2 months apart. It’s harder to give you an estimate with electrolysis. Try to imagine removing each hair, hair by hair. Each hair takes 3-6 secs let’s say with the fastest method on avg, and some hairs need to be treated 2-3 times. Take into account that whatever hair you see at any point is about 30% of total hair you have. You’ll probably need weekly treatments of about 2-3 hours to clear the areas, and then maintenance to get every new hair that pops up after a few months lasting about 9-12 months. As you can see, that’s a lot more time than with laser. This is the main point where laser wins on THESE 2 areas because the hair is coarse. Add to that the fact that it takes longer and more zaps to kill the most coarse deep hair with electrolysis while that type of hair is actually better for laser.

  2. See above: 6-8 ten-minute treatments spaced 2 months apart vs weekly to monthly three-hour to 30-min treatments for 9-12 months.

  3. There is no recovery from laser really. You’ll be red for a few hours or so. These areas respond very well with no side effects really. Redness with electrolysis should also be gone within a few hours. Depending on how sensitive your skin is you might have some red dots for a few days and maybe some small scabs after that for up to a week, when then fall off.

  4. Finding a knowledgeable practitioner who knows what they’re doing and is not just looking for your money is most important here for both. Given that, you will not get any scarring or side effects AT ALL. If they’re not that good, laser tech can set the settings too high and produce some superficial burns. These are almost never permanent. Think sun burn. Plus, on light skin, this is very rare. It’s more of a concern for darker skin types. With electrolysis, there is possibility of some scarring if the electrologist doesn’t know what they’re doing. You should be able to tell after a treatment or 2 though. This is also relatively rare and you should eliminate any bad electrologists or laser techs by checking out at least 3-4 before you pick one.

  5. Both are permanent in the right hands. Laser has some limitations when it comes to fine hair, light-colored hair, and dark skin. Also, when it comes to certain areas like facial hair, men’s upper arms and shoulders. This doesn’t really apply in your case. In fact, those 2 areas get the BEST results with laser given light skin and dark coarse hair. You will rarely see posts about laser not working on these areas even on these forums which people who are not happy with something usually post at. Electrolysis takes longer (more zaps) for deep-rooted coarse hairs and hairs that have been previously removed by waxing etc a lot.

  6. Yes, shaving is fine with both methods. With laser, the advantage is that hair falls out 3 week post-treatment and you have a hairfree period for a few weeks where you dont even need to shave. With electrolysis, once you reach your first clearance, you will be coming in to get all new growth, so you will look hairfree as well.

Hope this helps.

#11

Also, as said above, it only takes 5-10 mins to treat each of these areas at most and you come in once every 2 months or so. There is just no comparison for these areas. I wouldn’t do electrolysis there to start.

I guess I didn’t realize that you could go 2 months in between laser treatments. Maybe this will be a better option for me because of my apparently remote location, too. I could easily schedule a trip around my treatments.

And the info about the cost is quite promising. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Lagirl, I read your response to my other thread first and was feeling like I had no options, but after reading this, I feel hopeful again. Thanks for your help.

#12

Wow! Thanks for all the info. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

About recovery after treatments, I’ve seen some of the pictures after laser in the bikini area and it looks so sore. Is it as sore after electro? And if I get this done in the summertime, how long after a laser or electro treatment could I wear a swimsuit without a skirt coverup?

And I hadn’t realized cost would be so close between the two. I do realize that it varies depending on how well my hair responds.

Here’s one more embarrassing question, but I’m curious. How long after a treatment in the bikini area can you have sex?

Thanks again.

Didn’t see this, so I’ll answer these points.

You are NOT sore after laser. Also, to answer previous post, you do NOT get any scabbing with normal treatment. Scabbing is a sign of a burn which it looks like realsore had. With a good tech, this will NOT happen. You can have sex the same night. You will not have ANY after-effects with laser lasting more than a few hours at most. And that’s just redness, i.e. follicles are red and raised, kind of like after waxing, but without any soreness or pain.

Another thing you should understand is that it’s in your best interests to keep the areas treated as light as possible. So avoid any tanning. Hair will fall out 3 weeks after treatment, so you will be ready for a bathing suit, but I would use lots of sunscreen etc or not expose the area to the sun. The lighter the skin, the higher the settings that can be used, the more effective the treatment. So it’s in your best interests if you want to kill the most hair fastest.

I also found that it helps to wax the areas about 2 months prior to treatments. I think it helped me have less treatments overall because it targeted the hair in the growing phase right away. Wax, then let it grow out and then shave before the treatment (you’re supposed to). Shave 1-2 days ahead so they can see where the hair was.

And as mentioned previously, the cost for these area is NOT similar. You will not be spending over $2k with laser, most likely under depending on how much of the bikini hair you’re removing.

#13

Thanks again, lagirl.

I’m off to the laser area now to read more. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />