Female; hairy back ect...; need serious advice

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

I am an 18 year old female. Since the age of 12, I have had a hairy back. I remember one of my friends at the time accidentally pulled on my shirt when we were playing and then asked in an astonished voice why my back was so hairy. It was really embarrassing.

Since then, I have not been able to wear any type of clothing that would show my back at all. If I go to the beach, I have to wear a one piece. It is my ENTIRE back, not just the bottom or the top. It is not hairy like men’s backs sometimes are: the hair is very soft and fine. BUT… I have light brown skin, and the hair is black and dense. You would not be able to see it from a large distance, but from a couple of feet away, it is really noticeable.

Females with this problem usually have a condition such as PCOS. However, I do not have any of the other symptoms of PCOS, and I had a complete blood test done just last month. Everything was normal except for my iron levels.

Anyway…I am 18 now and I have decided to do something about this. I can not let this ruin the rest of my life. My parents have agreed to pay, and we are going to try to get my first appointment scheduled for next month.

I need to have the hair on my neck down to my lower back permanently removed. I also have hair on other places I need removed as well, but I want to focus on just my back first. The other places are manageable for now.

I have multiple questions:

  1. Should I have electrolysis or laser hair removal? {I am 75% sure that I will do electrolysis since I have read that laser hair removal is not good for fine hair or dark skin, but I still want you guys’s opinions.}
    2.If I have electrolysis —> What is your rough estimate of how many treatments I am going to need for my entire back?
  2. I know every person is different, but about how much time do you think each treatment would need to be? Would an hour be enough?
  3. How far apart do you think the treatments would need to be?

Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you have any other advice for me, it would be greatly appreciated. Also…I live in Texas, so if you know any really good people who do this here, please recommend.

#2

  1. Electrolysis. LHR would work if you had very coarse hair, but you likely don’t, so you should go with electrolysis

  2. Impossible to say without a picture. It’s not about number of treatments but about total hours to complete.

  3. Same as part 2. You should go with what you and your electrologist are comfortable with. I’m finishing up my back, and I’ve gone in for about 3 hours per week or so. The more you put up front, the sooner you’ll get done. But the longer you go, you may also find your pain tolerance to decrease. So really, it’s based on what you’re comfortable with. Start with 1 hour and if you feel like you could go longer, schedule longer appointments.

  4. Again, up to your electrologist. As I stated, I went every 1-2 weeks, but some have different strategies

Also, as for recommendations, since Texas is a massive state, I would suggest adding a nearby major city to help narrow down results. I’d start looking at this list: http://www.lauras-playground.com/transgender_electrologist_list.htm

#3

Didn’t read all of the above … just a single observation with the client I’m working on today. He’s (East) Indian and started with the Yag laser (the right one for his skin type). He got GOOD results. He had TEN passes on his belly over a period of TWO years.

The lasered belly looks like what it would be with ONE clearance from me or Josefa … a little more than half the hairs were gone. I didn’t like the patchy appearance and the hairs looked more “twisted-up” than I would have assumed.

It took me 3.5 hours to clear half of his belly … and I will clear off the other half today. If he will allow, I will take a photo of this today … although he’s VERY private.

So, what did he “save” by “doing laser first and then finishing up with electrolysis?” (the plan de Jure)?

Over all he saved about 6-hours of electrolysis work (one side of his belly) … or (with my fees of $80 per hour) he saved $480. (Of course the 2-years of laser cost him $2,000 … but they did his whole chest and back too … but that didn’t work too well.)

My first clearance of his belly (let’s only focus on that), would have taken TWO DAYS: 6 hours each day or 12 hours for the whole thing. DONE! Not two years to get to “this point!”

So, yeah, he got good results … no argument there. Still, overall, I think he wasted 2-years by not going directly to electrolysis. And yes, you MUST find an electrologist that specializes in doing BODY hair.

It’s sort of ironic that in typical “Male Think” guys want hair removal done immediately … laser … boom. It usually ends up taking much longer indeed.

(Since I’m not taking new clients … none of the above can be seen as any sort of “advert’.” I’m NOT knocking laser … I’m telling you ONE SITUATION only … so please, you all, I already know the comments … maybe just number them?

#4

Wow, am I ever glad I held off on answering this question, I’ll be honest I was dreading jotting down the relevant details because I sometimes struggle for the correct wording so I waited to see if someone would do it for me, and they did!. Brenton and Michael have done a wonderful job!

I want to highlight Brentons advice that you should let your pain tolerance guide you as to how much to have done. Starting at an hour and then increasing treatment time on the table incrementally is exactly the approach I would use. He’s also correct that the more you get done early on the better, but different strategies work with great success, it’s really a matter of working out that strategy with the electrologist you are working with and following their advice on timing and skin reactions.

Michael has done a wonderful job of laying out the issues with timing and laser and cost both time frame wise and in dollar amounts. I would only add that the issue I’ve had with doing laser prior to electrolysis, is I have hairs coming in 3 years later that haven’t shown up before necessitating a new treatment every few months with electrolysis to remove 40-50 stragglers in various places. Often people who have had laser can see continued growth years later. I will never understand how laser is “Faster /cheaper” when electrolysis can do a complete removal in half the time of a well timed laser reduction, with better results.

Seana

#5

I am conflicted. I just called a lady who does electrolysis near me, and she recommended I get laser hair removal.

Would laser hair removal be completely impossible for me to get? Would it not work at all?

#6

call someone else.