first thermolysis treatment

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

hi
i went for my first thermolysis treatment on my face. i have lots of blonde hair on my side burns that is long and i just want some reduction as total clearance would just look weird compared to the short vellus hair i have on the rest of my face.

the treatment was uncomfortable but i did not feel any of the hairs being plucked. i do have sensitive skin and my skin did go red ,now they feel like little lumps and dont look so bad. i had 20 mins of treatment and during this time i counted 60 pinches. im just wondering whether this speed is considered good compared to other people in this forum who are currently using thermolysis?? or should i look around for more practitioners??
thanks

#2

That’s about the same seem that thermolysis is for me. However, I heard there are faster ways. I don’t know what they are though??? I can always feel her pulling out my hairs.

#3

I am currently under going treatment with thermolysis. To me, that seems pretty slow - I don’t sit there and count but I did for a for a few minutes last session and I counted 20 insertions - But I guess it depends where you are having it done as well, I’d like to hear others thoughts. Also, if you feeling your hairs being pulled it is not a good sign. Get a new tech.

#4

The speed of electrolysis can depend on many things. (I had one person whose work was slow because she used to chat too much.)

With thermolysis, you can shorten the treatment time for each hair by increasing the current. The choice of whether to use “high power short duration” or “low power long duration” is one that your electrolysist will make.

I don’t know why that’s done - I’m guessing it’s to treat different types of hair, different size/shape probes, and so on. Maybe one of the pros will comment?

Also, a 20 minute appointment isn’t a very long one. In that respect, I’d guess 60 hairs is a reasonable speed. You probably spend a good 10 minutes of your session getting prepped ready for the treatment and having aftercare applied.

If the actual treatment time is 20 minutes (i.e. from the time of the first insertion to the time the last hair is removed), then yes, 60 hairs does seem a little slow.

I hope that helps.

Toni

#5

It is hard to say what is slow electrolysis, because without knowing what is being worked on, and how it is being done, one can’t really guess at what would be “too slow”.

Even with clients who actually have the same hair count, I don’t have the same speed, because of variables like: type of hairs, (straight easy to insert, or curved or distorted) alignment of hairs, (neat in a row, or wild) direction of growth (all facing one direction, or each to its own) strength of hairs (requires low or high treatment setting) and finally, what type of electrolysis is being used, (galvanic, blend, thermolysis) and what has the clients requirements dictated (high fast settings, or low long settings)

If you are working in thermolysis, depending on how the practitioner is doing the work, and what challenges the work presents, you could see speeds from 2 hairs per minute up to 20 hairs per minute. Most thermolysis practitioners are somewhere between 4 and 10 hairs per minute.

#6

i had my first treatment 3 days ago and still have the red dots/lumps. my skin is sensitive and i use tea tree oil for aftercare. it is true to say that after a while i wont get as much as a reaction as my skin will get used to the treatment??

#7

yes.

#8

just had my 3rd threatment, and the reaction is not nearly as bad. we did half hour treatment as the electrolysist did not want to overwork the area. the hair on my sideburns are blonde but are long and ‘glisten’ in the sun.

while i dont want every hair removed i want the more obvious ones targeted which obviously makes her work more difficult as there is a lot of fine hair. she says she concentrates on those that show up darker and stronger under her lighting and has to be careful not to pluck out the other hairs when removing the treated hairs. the light is that that bright i have to have something put over my eyes!!! she uses a silhoutette machine and has it on power level 4. am going to try and stick with this…

#9

had my 4th treatment, but only half an hour duration. i asked if i could have longer, but she said it was better to stick to half an hour for the meantime. but i would prefer to go for longer for obvious reasons.

i have been reading about FLASH thermolysis and am wondering how this differs from thermolysis…i must say though that i dont feel her pluck any hairs and i feel comfortable with her, i just dont feel half an hour is much!

#10

If you are having work done in a small area, your practitioner may not want to do longer appointments, so as to avoid increased swelling, and possible scabbing.

If she is using a silhouet-tone machine made after 1985 she is probably using micro-flash thermolysis. If she is not, the machine is capable of doing it.

#11

hi everybody
well, i have been having electro done on my face for the past 2 and a half months, usually 40 mins, and i have to say that i do not think that my skin is reacting any less to the treatments. i always get scabs and my face looks lumpy after every treatment. i feel am very good with aftercare, i focus mainly on aloe vera and stay away from tea tree oil as i find it kind of burns my skin and i feel i am aggravating it. so i tend to stick to soothing it with aloe.
i also have red dots that have not went away one week after treatment. on one particular occasion my skin had a terrible reaction and its taken over three weeks to see an improvement. it happened when she did 10 more mins on each cheek area. she has been avoiding that area since to give it time to heal.

i have questioned my reaction with my electrologist and she said i have sensitive skin. she also mentioned that the weather can play a large part as we have been experiencing very very cold weather lately and this could contribute to the sensitivity and reaction of my face.

sometimes i think i should try another practitioner. i am curently getting 40 mins of flash thermolysis. can a persons skin always stay so senstitive to thermolysis??
thanks

#12

Curious? How old is the machine that your electrologist uses?

Dee

#13

hi dee
to my knowledge its a silhouette international 200 and she uses thermolysis. i dont know what probes she uses ie. whether they are insulated or gold probes…could that make a difference??

#14

Absolutely! I also have very sensitive skin and insulated probes tore it up! I am going to try gold next time. Stainless usually does OK, nothing out of the ordinary, but not great. Also, the strength of setting can make a difference.

#15

i have read your posts laserhater and can empathise with you. my electrolyist does indeed use gold probes, the smallest ones there are, yet im still having a reaction , to the point where my friends and work colleagues ask me what has happened to my face!

she has suggested shorter treatment times, maybe half an hour. im wondering whether i should try another practitioner, or two, just to compare. i like my current electrolyist and feel comfortable with her, i just dont like how my skin is reacting. its means having to put up with unwanted hair and a skin reaction!!!

three days after my session my skin is not puffy, yet you can tell where every single insertion has been made and they are red! maybe she should turn the intensity down??