Hi, I have heard conflicting things about this, can you have electrolysis done if you have high blood pressure?
What would happen if you received electrolysis and have high blood pressure?
Are you allowed to have electrolysis with high blood pressure? Please can someone answer!
You’ve asked a lot of questions, all in different threads. I’m going to suggest a more even approach, one post, with ALL your questions in it. Otherwise it’s a little overwhelming and some stuff will get left alone.
High blood pressure as far as I know is not a contraindication to electrolysis.That said, it can be indicative of extra stress or anxiety, both of which can increase pain levels and make electrolysis more difficult. Also, often high blood pressure is diet/exercise related, the very same causes also can cause excessive hair growth. So addressing the high blood pressure first, can have a posative effect on your hair removal.
Seana
What do you define as high blood pressure? Are you being treated with medication and under a doctor’s care?
I’m not on medicine and haven’t been diagnosed with it. I am a high strung person and have alot of anxiety. Electrolysis obviously is extremely painful and I’m scared of having it done.
The pain varies a lot from person to person (and can even vary for the same person depending on a lot of factors), machine to machine and electrologist to electrologist. Most of my clients don’t need any type of anesthetic regardless of where we’re working. I typically do about 10 minutes for free during my consult and so do many practitioners. Get a sample done before you work yourself up about how painful it must be.
As for you not being diagnosed, if you feel it might be a problem, you should see a doctor. as it can cause a lot of other serious problems if left untreated.
Well, I go for an annual check up every year and my pressure is fine, except when I’m nervous then it can sky rocket.
I am really scared of the pain of electrolysis. I just read people saying how painful it is and how they groan and fidget by the pain. I have alot of facial hair on my jawline/neck region. I just want some areas done though, to just make it easier for me to maintain. I do clean it up well with make up/ shaving so people never notice.
Go see Michelle, you’ll be fine. Tell her I sent you.
Most people exhibit some acute anxiety effects, including hypertension… Unless you’re going to pass out, it shouldn’t be anything that interferes with getting the work done.
I figured I’d post this publicly rather than in reply to the private message you sent, since other people will likely find it useful:
The skill of the electrologist is going to be the single biggest factor in just how successful it will be. It is the only method approved by the FDA that is proven to permanently remove hair, so it really does work, as long as it is done right… and doing it right is as much skill as it is science.
As far as pain goes, in all seriousness, for 80% of my clients, I don’t need to do anything special (and about 10% of the ones that do longer sessions (1 hour+), including sessions on the face, actually fall asleep).
Electrolysis isn’t fun for most people, but it isn’t torture for most either. The vast majority of people I’ve worked on find it less painful than they anticipated. Also, keep in mind that people are more likely to say “ugh, I tried electrolysis and it HURT” than they are to say “meh, yeah, I did it, no big deal,” particularly if they were much younger (age is a factor in pain), the electrologist wasn’t very good, the equipment not all that great, etc. Some people are also legitimately just super sensitive.
If pain is an issue, the electrologist can adjust settings or switch modalities, apply topic anesthetic, use insulated probes if they aren’t already, make sure they are using the largest size probe they can get into the follicle, use a pinching technique or a buzzer to distract the nerves, etc.
Things you can do yourself to reduce your pain include…
- drink plenty of water and avoid caffeine and other stimulants for 24 hours before your appointment
- be well rested
- keep your appointments short to start out, since a session tends to get more painful the longer it goes (I make people that want a session longer than 60 minutes earn it by completing a 1 hour session before they can schedule for 2 hours and a 2 hour session before they can schedule for 4, and a 4 to schedule for longer, with the longest I’ve ever done pushing 10 hours including a short lunch and dinner break (note, most electrologists aren’t going to offer sessions that long even if you can handle the pain)) or for some people, it’s not the pain, but just sitting still in one place for a long time
- be aware that medication and hormonal changes can affect your pain level so schedule appropriately (some of my cis female clients are more sensitive during different parts of their cycle, some of my trans clients that do injections are more sensitive the day after their shot, etc). This may also include scheduling at a time of day when someone might be less sensitive (if you aren’t a morning person, you probably don’t want to schedule for the morning. if you work late, you might not want to schedule mornings if you’re only going to have 4 hours of sleep, etc)
- reduce your stress and learn some meditation techniques
- listen to music or watch tv/movies (I have a tv on a mobile cart in my office so my clients can stream pandora/netflix/amazon prime/youtube/whatever)
- chat with your electrologist (it’s a great distraction, though not everyone will want to do it regardless of what side of the probe they’re on)
- if it’s appropriate for you, take an antihistamine (particularly helps working underneath the nostrils for some people) and/or NSAID before your appointment
- after having a test session to see if it is really required by you, get a prescription topical anesthetic cream like EMLA and put it on before your appointment (clean your skin first), covering it with plastic wrap
At this point, you’ve done your homework… do some consults with a few electrologists in your area and actually experience what it is like for you and then pick the electrologist that provides the best removal in a way you can tolerate it (if the pain is even an issue for you)
Thank you so much for your help, I really appreciate it. I guess I just will think now if it doesn’t hurt, she didn’t do it correctly. Also, if sessions get more painful as they go, then how can your patients fall asleep after an hour?
Also, I belong to a swim club, when can I go swimming after a treatment, anything I can cover the area with to protect it?
Thanks again
EmancipatedElect,
Well Done.
Seana
It doesn’t necessarily have to hurt to work (everyone’s sense of pain is different), though you DO have to cause damage if it is going to work.
As for people falling asleep even if it gets more painful as time goes on, if they start at a 2-3 on a scale of 1-10 for pain and end up a 4-5, it can still be bearable enough to nap. Not everyone starts off at a 6 and gets to a 9.
With regard to swimming, I recommend waiting a couple of days. I do have two clients that insist on swimming the same day anyway (both getting body work done) and they sometimes have to deal with longer healing times, pimples, etc because of it. If they insist on swimming, I highly recommend a thorough cleansing (not just a rinse in the shower) after. After all, we are talking about the skin being wounded and pools being a great source of contamination.
Thanks so much for all your advice. I would probably get my session done on Monday and go swimming Thursday. Do you think that is enough time? I would never go the same day.
The most that would happen is my skin would take longer to heal?
What kind of rinse should I do on Thursday after my swim?
Three days is probably enough, but it all depends on how quickly you heal.
It’s possible for your skin to get infected, which could cause pimples, pustules, scabbing and scarring.
As for cleaning it after getting out of the pool, witch hazel, tea tree oil or 70% alcohol.
Thanks so much for advice, doesn’t tea tree oil have side effects?
Anything to cover my skin with to protect it when I swim?