Female facial hair, previous laser tx . ., plan?

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

Sorry, this is a long post. It’s my first one, and hopefully once I get an answer to these questions about my history, I’ll be less long-winded. :slight_smile:

I always had a bit of a mustache, but I started developing a male pattern beard in my early twenties. I was never over weight, always had regular cycles, no female family members with similar problems . . . Over the next few years, it spread more and more. Mostly, I tweezed in order to be able to function without debilitating self consciousness. I got the money to do laser treatment when I was around 24. I went to American Laser Center. I was a client there for a full 3 years, where I went to 3 different centers, was treated with several different types of machines, at different levels, and different treatment intervals (anywhere between 4 and 10 weeks). In that time, the hair would fall out in between treatments, seemed to diminish in overall percentage, but at the end of the 3 years, it was nowhere near gone.
Over the next year, the hair all came back. And in the few years after that, it came back darker, and thicker than before. Pregnancy was the only thing that seemed to improve things, but everything went back to awful a few months after giving birth. I have never been to a doctor to see what my hormone levels are, as I have heard too many stories of people being to a bunch of doctors and getting lots of tests done only to be told their hormone levels are “normal,” tough luck.

Anyway, my primary method of hair removal now is shaving, and about once every month or two, I pluck/wax/epilate it all off, usually when my face gets so irritated from shaving and the hair getting thick again after growing in again. It gives me a little bit of time, a sort of lull where I can look good for a little bit before I have to go back to looking awful again. Then the cycle starts over.

After reading a bit here, I’m getting the idea that I’ve experienced some laser rebound, and my plucking/epilating/waxing isn’t making the possibility of permanent removal easier for that time in the future when I can pursue electrolysis. Because from what I’m reading electrolysis seems like my last hope at this point. I look like crap all time time, whether from razor burn, epilating/plucking bumps, or stubble.

So my question is, do I need to stop all hair removal methods beside shaving pronto because it is possibly prolonging how the length of time it will take for electrolysis to work for me? I don’t think I have the funds to start for another 6-12 months.

Also, what should I expect the process of electrolysis to look for me, especially number of treatments/length of time in treatment, considering the laser rebound, etc?

Thanks in advance to anyone who reads this epistle and can help a newbie out. Once I know which direction to go, I can read and learn a lot on my own.

#2

Also, I am pretty fair skinned with darker hairs. They told me I was an ideal candidate for laser. You can see how that turned out . . .

#3

Also, for reference, while I don’t have any pictures of my own facial hair, I have at least triple the amount but similar thickness hair as can be found on the pictures of the woman who posted in this thread at 1:43pm.

Also, oddly enough, my upper lip DID respond to laser. The hair there is decidedly reduced in amount and much thinner and lighter.

#4

  • Laser only works on COARSE DENSE dark growth. It’s not just about having dark hair. It has to be COARSE AND DENSE. Most women don’t have that on their faces. Bikini, underarms and lower legs do.

  • You went to the worst clinic out there. Run a search here if you want to read some horrible experiences. They don’t have any good lasers or techs, so it’s rare to get any results even on the best type of skin and hair.

  • You can continue waxing until you save enough money for electrolysis. You only need to start to only shave after you start treatments.

  • It takes 12-18 months of treatments to finish electrolysis. You’ll need to get clearances of all hair with electrolysis about once a month. How long each clearance takes depends on how many hairs you have to remove. You can count and estimate. Electrolysis can remove 5-10 hairs per minute on average.

  • If you feel you have serious male pattern growth, it may make sense to get some tests done. The problem is that if there is something in your body causing you to develop new growth, that will keep happening even if you remove the current hair permanently, so you’d need touchups later on. Just something to think about.

#5

Just to add to what LAgirl said above:

Had you started out with good electrolysis, you would have been finished many years ago.

If you literally have triple the amount of hair of the photo you linked, it may take about 3 hours for the first clearance. Maybe, less. You don’t need to amass any serious amount of money to start working on this now. Can you afford an hour to get the thickest hairs out, while you keep shaving the rest? You can probably work something out with your electrologist. Electrologists LOVE helping people, and they LOVE success stories! Where are you located? Perhaps, someone can recommend someone.

Good luck!

#6

I live north of Chicago. Going down to the city would be quite difficult, so if there is someone good in the northern suburbs, even south/eastern WI would be work, that would be fantastic.

Oh. It would be so good to be able to get started now! I kinda thought I had to commit and start once I had the funds to do so, but if doing a smaller percentage at a time would work for me, I would LOVE to do that. Any recs would be tremendously helpful!!!

#7

Kelly Morrissy-Stump

#8

She’s still a too far south for me to travel frequently for the 12-24 mo. I’m doing some more research on my own and calling some places closer to see if I get lucky. But if you know of anyone farther north, I’d be happy to hear it. :slight_smile:

#9

Call Kelly. I’m sure she can point you in the right direction to somebody close :wink:

#10

I didn’t even think of doing that. It’s wonderful that she’d be willing to give me the name of someone else to do the work. Thanks for the help!

#11

My strong guess here is that the hairs you are growing post Laser Hair Removal are the result of hair follicles that have only just become active for the first time.

I have had the same experience with hair growing again after LHR. I did 10 treatments, (already too many,) from a very reputable salon. I went to a different practitioner to try electrolysis and she basically told me I would never not have this problem. I have PCOS and this syndrome means that my body is constantly producing androgens that other non-afflicted females do not.

An explanation is that you have thousands follicles in your face that are capable of producing hair, but most will never do so. For most people, when they get LHR and go through a few cycles, they will have at some point hit all the hairs that are active in their facial area. For me, that happened too. But the difference is that the next year my body’s androgen production causes me to start growing hairs in previously inactive follicles instead. :frowning: I was told electrolysis would not give me any better results. When I told her I had PCOS, she said, “I’m so sorry, Dear, but I’ve been doing electrolysis and/or laser for 20 years and I’ve never successfully given any woman with PCOS results that lasted.” She aslo affirmed that I could expect better results with my upper lip but the chin area is near impossible.

I hear there is a way to suppress androgen production, but it’s only a treatment that can be done for 1-2 years? And when you finish you can’t do it again and the androgens come back. More research needed here.

My plan now is to use Vaniqa, shave every couple days, and possibly due a LHR treatment every few years, so at least I never have more than a few years of new hair follicles to deal with…

I’m depressed about it. Especially to think of myself as an old woman dealing with this problem.