Hi I am new to the forum and wanted help on electrolysis as a permanent hair removal.
I have dark coarse hair on the sides of my chin, under chin and sone along the jawline due to 3 years of plucking. I am 20 years old.
I also have a lot of fine hair in these areas and generally on my face which I haven’t touched.
I want a permanent method of hair removal and from the research I have done electrolysis seems to provide this. It seems that laser can also do this but I am worried about increased hair growth following laser hair removal. Also for the time being I want to try jus removing the dark coarser hairs but laser would not be a solution for targeting these individual hairs.
Would anyone please advise me on electrolysis and maybe how long it would take to remove these hairs and what results I can expect, how often I should be going for the procedure and if there are any side effects like scabbing or scarring that can be avoided. I have read that scabbing is common?
I live in the UK so does anyone know how I can go about locating a good professional to carry out electrolysis on me? I wish I wad in the states as I would happily let one of the professionals on this forum do it for me!
Can any of the professionals who regularly post on this forum recommend someone in the UK in the Yorkshire area which is in the north? I’m hoping you nay have some links with electrologists in the UK?
Thank you in advance. I would really appreciate any help.
Electrolysis will definitely work for the dark coarse hairs you describe. There may be some scabbing, there should be no scarring. I still tell women that it can take around 18 months of treatments to be done. That means someone who has done a lot of tweezing will have longer and more frequent treatments in the beginning, with decreasing treatment time and increasing time between treatments as they progress.
Something for you to keep in mind: Your age and the description of your hair problem could mean that you have an underlying condition (medical or genetics) that could cause you to grow new hairs throughout your life. On hairtell you might see us talking about previously dormant hair follicles (follicles that never grew a hair or may have grown such small hairs that they were not observed). Some women will have a physiology that causes dormant hair follicles to be turned on over the course of their lifetime. Some women look at this as “the electrolysis didn’t work” and others understand the nature of their body was to “want to grow hair”.
Does electrolysis work better for coarse or fine hair?
I think it’s genetics as I have been investigated by the doctor. The hair was initially fine but tweezing has made it thicker, I always regret tweezing it because I could live with fine hairs now but at the time of puberty I started growing find hair and it felt so abnormal so I removed them - big mistake!
How often do you think I would need to go see the electrologist like every 4 weeks initially or weekly?
Is a particular method of electrolysis better over another for for coarse hair, I think I read that blend method is better for coarse hair?
Also can electrolysis thin out hair so it’s less coarse? If yes, I would imagine it would take less treatments do achieve this compared to permanently removing the hair? Thank you again!
The goal of an electrolysis treatment is to permanently disable a follicles hair growing ability.
Electrology treatments certainly do thin out the number of hairs, and some electrologists use a piece-meal destruction (resulting in smaller diameter - or thinner individual hairs) as part of their consultation for treatment.
There is no one method that is best for coarse or fine hair. What you want is an electrologist who has excelled at their chosen method. The disagreements on “best method” are simply the opinions of individuals.
Over time, tweezing certainly seems to make hairs become larger, but still there is often a hormonal influence - even when all tests and examinations say that all things are normal.
As with all consumers of hair removal services, the client is definitely in charge of deciding when they are happy with the amount of hair gone.
The great thing about electrolysis is that it works on all hair, thick or thin, light or dark.
One thing you might want to try is permanently killing a percentage of your hair to reduce the density (hairs per square inch etc.) which for some may provide sufficient relief and can use temporary methods for the remainder (a man with an excessive density of hair on his face may find it difficult to shave and cut through the hair for example.)
Hi Emma you should have a member of the british association of electrolysis near look on www.electrolysis.co.uk. Some people have mixed reviews of some members, bearing that in mind have a consultation and ask for a test patch, and follow the guidelines in the link Barbara has provided
Mairi has said what I was going to. Most serious electrologists (as opposed to beauticians who ‘do’ a bit of electrolysis on the side) will have taken the BIAE exam and registered with them, so it’s a great place to start. You will have to figure out if the electrologists you see are worth you money and time though. Being a BIAE member doesn’t always mean every client will be happy with their treatment and there are also good electrologists who aren’t members. So it requires a bit of homework.
There are two ways you can tackle your hair issue with the electrologist. You will have to stop plucking either way. The first is to go regularly and have the electrologist clear the hairs that come through, so maybe every week. The only ‘problem’ with this method is that you may feel you are not making progress for a while because you will get thick hairs coming through every week. These aren’t the same hairs. It will take a while before your electrologist can get through all the hairs just for the first time. Because you pluck regularly, you probably don’t really have an idea of the magnitude how much hair you probably have. My friend has exactly the same issue as you and she’s a daily plucker. I told her that the only way to know how much hair she actually has is to stop plucking for about 2 months and let all the hair come through. She can shave. Then, providing she can find someone that can clear it all in one or two sessions, just stop shaving for a few days before the session (so it’s long enough for the electrologist to treat). This way, she will be able to manage for a while before she needs to go for her second clearance because most of the active hairs were cleared in one go, as opposed to weekly treatments catching the hairs as they come up (which she doesn’t have time for).
Scabbing isn’t always the case, it depends on the electrologist, the method used and the client’s skin. For most people I know, with Blend, they only get swelling and redness that go down the same day. Possibly whiteheads but this can be minimised with the use of tea tree oil. Witch Hazel or Aloe Vera will help with cooling the skin.
Some pointers for the first app/consultation. The needle will be inserted in the follicle which should be painless, the current will usually be passed almost simultaneously and you will feel some pain/discomfort from this but it is very different from the feeling of being poked in the skin. The electrologist will then remove the hair with tweezers and it should slide out. You should not feel plucking. Some hairs offer some resistance but again, the feeling won’t be the same as a plucking a hair.
So those are really the two things to note. Good insertions and hair that slides out.
I had a session today for upper cheek hair. The professional seemed to struggle sometimes with few hair follicles. She had to work twice on the follicle as the follicle was not getting enough loose for the tweezer to pluck away.
Should I continue my treatment with her or find someone else? I thought she was a bit slow though for such a small area.1 hour session.
If you can tolerate it, ask your electrologist to increase the treatment energy enough that ALL these hairs release on the first attempt. Many electrologists are so overly concerned not to cause inflammation and swelling they will use the absolute minimum amount of energy necessary to release the hair. There’s really a very fine line between that minimum and an energy level that works well the first time, every time. When you consider the great range of hair follicles present in anyone’s skin, it’s easy to see how a single lower energy setting is never going to be ideal for rapid treatment. It takes years of experience and acquired skill to recognize individual skin and hair characteristics and then to select an appropriate treatment energy.
If your electrologist isn’t working fast enough, you really should mention too many hairs are requiring extra treatment to release, and ask if they wouldn’t mind increasing the energy. If you don’t ask, they may never do so. If you do ask, you’re letting them know it’s alright with you. If they refuse, then you might want to try a different electrologist.
Thank you all it’s all so useful! Iv located an electrologist in the area and will arrange a consult with her soon but I’m just a bit unsure because I’ve read that there can be pigment changes and that worries me! B
Maybe I should stop reading the stories that went wrong!
I think I need a bit of reassurance. I will ask the electrologist I go to see about training, license and any membership/certification.
If I go ahead with it I would like to clear the hairs as they cone through as I don’t think I could let all the hairs grow and then have them cleared. Is there anything wrong with doing this because I read that all the hairs won’t be on growth phase if I do this? I don’t think I fully understand the different phases of hair growth if someone could please explain this to me? Uk ow that there are three stages of growth and hair will permanently be removed if it’s caught on the growth phase but how many treatments will it require in growth phase? I think I read about 3?
I just really want to understand how electrolysis works so that I can feel comfortable with the procedure and also feel in control. A lot of posters on here have talked about various modalities and specific machines, also joules but I dont know much about this so I would really appreciate if someone could take the time to explain this to me as it would help in my decision to go ahead with electrologist.
Also I’ve read about post treatment care could someone please explain this to me also so that when I book a consult I can compare this with what the electrogist tells me.
I think at this stage I’m really just a bit unsure whether I should go ahead with it because I don’t want the problem to get worse
. My skin is also sensitive so I’m worried about scarring and pigment changes. Will the skin be smooth after treatment?
Sorry about the long rant I think I’m jus really nervous about it all
I would like to help but I’m a lousy typist and it would take too long. It would be best to get a book and STUDY IT. Then you should talk to more than one electrologist and you will be amazed at the differences in opinion you will find.
It might depend on the state where you are living as the laws in each state vary so much as to the requirements for licensing… Many states have NO LICENSING or any requirements. I would have a difficult time trusting anyone from that state. Remember …we all did not graduate at the top of the class even if we come from a state that has requirements.
Emma, go for a consultation and get a sample treatment. You’ll be able to tell if they’re good and if you’ll see any side effects at all right away. That’s what sample treatments are for. Pigmentation and scarring doesn’t just show up overnight.
If someone could please answer the questions in my earlier post I would really appreciate that so much, I know I’m asking a lot of questions and it will take time for someone to explain but I would really live to hear from the professionals. Thank you!
Hi Emma,
I’m not a pro but I will give you some personal insight. I have hairs cleared as they come in at weekly appointments because I did not want to wait for everything to grow in. This is all in accordance with the treatment plan my electrologist made with me–think of it as a collaboration!
I plucked for YEARS for possibly more than an hour a day. It was very time consuming. My person clears all the gettable hair each week, but because the growth is not synchronized, there are always new little pests waiting to pop up or ones that are too short to get. I am about 4 months into my treatments and I understand I still probably have a couple months to go before I reach the point of control and have hair free periods. I think if I waited longer between appointments, I could get periods of smoothness, but I would prefer to have more frequent appointments and less visible hair at any one time. Thus, I do have shadows from the growing hair but it’s manageable with concealer. I also think I am probably a severe case from the extensive plucking.
I haven’t noticed hyper-pigmentation from the electrolysis but I can tell you my skin is quite beat up from all that plucking so if you are worried about scarring, you should stop. Tweezing will eventually scar your face, probably much worse than a good electrolysis job ever would. My skin is not entirely healed yet but after 4 months of no plucking it looks about 1000 times better and less irritated than it used to.
I find all the info on this site very helpful but it can also be a little overwhelming. I think it’s also valuable to get some consultations, find someone you click with and trust, and put some faith in your practitioner and the process.
I wish that I could give you a sure fire way to find the 5-star-bellied Electrolysis providers, but the truth is, nothing but sample treatments will ever tell you who is better than whom. There are some first year students who do better work than people with 20 years under their belts, and there are people with no pretty pieces of paper on their walls, who do better work than those with a wall full of gold leaf embossed certificates.
Because this is part art, and part science, one must understand that the art part can not be taught. It must be an outward expression of the artist.
Don’t fall into that trap of thinking that ANYBODY’S seal of approval is iron clad. (I know of a licensed state, from which I have never received a report of GOOD treatment. People from that state are always asking me about finding someone who is good, and not too far a distance for them to travel to get better treatments)
