Reading some of the problems encountered is really worrying me.
Can someone clear up something I’ve read somewhere on this site.
Pitting and wrinkling can appear up to 6 months after treatment.
It was a comment found somewhere on the internet, but I have read
where people develop sudden wrinkling on the corners of their mouths.
Would there have been obvious damage from the beginning such as
large scabs, infected areas, etc or will these problems possibly occur
even if there was very little trauma visible. By this I mean, just a few
pin point scabs or so.
I guess, I worry that I will be getting treatment and not develop obvious
problems such as scabs or swelling then have wrinkles and pits 4 months
down the road. Thank you for reading this long post.
The upper lip, chin and eyebrows are very sensitive areas. Most women have very shallow root hairs, this requires greater caution. In these cases I used to use a slow thermolysis with longer times, 3 or 4 seconds and very, very low intensity. Since I have the Platinum, I do the opposite, a picoflash, with high intensity in a millisecond. It’s the safest thing I’ve tried so far.
Maybe you should suggest that he or she used a IBP.
Because people move around a lot, I have seen many cases where other electrologists have worked on people before they continued their treatments with me. I have never seen pitting or wrinkling. With my own work, after a person’s upper lip is finished, frequently my clients will call me later to tackle a new area. They have never complained about pitting or wrinkling and I have not observed it. Much of the pitting and wrinkling Internet talk may involve competing hair removal “options”. There are some do-it-yourselfer’s who can certainly cause bad skin damage. There are many professional electrologists that are competent enough to get you hair-free without dreadful side effects.
I haven’t yet posted on hairtell but i felt i needed to reply to this. I can’t see where you are from but if you are in London, please pm me. I deliberated for such a long time over having electrolysis. I finally had treatment with a lady and have been left with fine lines around the mouth, slight pitting and dark areas. I’m devastated by this and would hate for you to have the same person do this. I don’t want to publicly name them here though as i don’t think that’s fair but message me if you’re from london.
I found another electrologist after this and it has been absolutely fine but sadly i’m still left with the damage from the first lady. I’m pretty sure i was just very very unlucky though and think you will be fine. The difference between the electrologists was evident just from the consultation. The lady who caused the damage didn’t ask anything about my skin, told me i could tweeze after if i wanted, no test patch and didn’t check to see how the current was for me. It was very painful but i didn’t say anything as i was too worried to be a pain or offend her.
I wish i told her to stop cos i knew it didn’t feel right and now am left with this damage.
The person i’m seeing now was the opposite and explained about the process in detail before she started and made me feel comfortable etc.
I would say, make sure to ask questions and that if it hurts too much then say. If you don’t feel comfortable with the electrologist and they’re not happy to answer questions you may have or you get a bad feeling about it then trust your instinct and find another person.
I hope this doesn’t put you off. This is just one case. As the the other posters have said, this is very rare and from what i can see, they are very experienced and have a lot of knowledge. I’m no expert but i think you can probably tell just through a few minutes of conversation what the person treating you is like.
I’m sorry to have shared a not very nice experience but i posted as i felt maybe it would help to know about it so you can avoid it when you find your electrologist.
Josefa–thank you for that information, very helpful
Dee–your experiences in observing other people’s work is reassuring
Caith–appreciate hearing a positive experience
lengo–I’m so sorry to hear of your experience. I truly appreciate what
you have shared and I’m sure it will be helpful to others.
You mentioned it was very painful. Were you left with any immediate
signs that something had gone wrong? Like large scabs or long
lasting swelling? Or did the damage just appear one day?
Have you seen any improvement in the damage? I would think that
the dark spots should fade at the very least from what I have read on
this forum. Good luck to you, I hope your skin is somehow able to
heal itself. To answer your question, I am in the US.
Yes, i left with an immediate burning sensation which actually lasted for a week and swelling too. Large scabs formed on the second day.
Because i didn’t really know about the healing process, i tried to speed it up by putting cream on the scabs which in retrospect was a really bad idea and i should have let it heal naturally for longer and allowed them to fall off on their own.
Compared to how many scabs there were, only a few of them have left tiny pits and marks. the main problem is the pigmentation and the fine lines around the mouth which seemed to have formed dark shadows.
It’s rare, but I’ve seen it. I had a transgendered woman coming to me for facial hair removal, after she did her own upper lip at home with a mirror. She had some training in electrology, but has never practiced herself. Well, the lip had no more hair, she’s saved on some professional treatments and splurged on her own Apilus epilator. The result? Very prominent pitting and wrinkling all over her upper lip. Sad.
Scarring on the upper lip is rare.
Give it time and it will probably heal completely.
In the meantime, soothe the area with clear aloe vera gel and add a tiny bit of bacitracin after a treatment. If you have oily skin and don’t mind the smell of tea tree oil, try that as an alternative to the bacitracin.
If you have dry skin, ice the area immediately after a treatment but cover the ice so that it does not directly touch your skin.
Since electrolysis works so well, I would recommend it. The thing is, how do we advocate for ourselves and who can we trust to do a good job?
Go for short treatment tests where the tech will do just a few insertions.
If you get excessive scabbing and if any scabs are larger than the tiniest pin-point dot, do not return to that facility. If you feel a constant tweezing sensation, do not go back. Keep on searching for a facility until you find the right match. Electrolysis is the only method of permanent hair removal that I would recommend for a female’s face.
Hyperpigmentation will fade, give it a few months.
Well, you could let the operator work on the body first. If the temporary side-effects are dreadful and take months to heal, you can be fairly sure the same will happen on the face.
PS. Yes I understand that body technique is often harsher than the face technique but generally if an electrologist uses excessive intensity to compensate for bad, hasty, careless insertions on the body, you can assume she’ll use the same method on the face too.
