I would first like to say that this website is a godsend! It has so much helpful information. Thanks to all the professionals and people who have received treatment for sharing your knowledge and personal experiences.
I’m new to electrolysis and have a question about pitting, the scarring side effect that I have read about. I realize it is fairly uncommon and is due to badly performed electrolysis and improper care of the skin post-treatment.
My question is, how does a person know if pitting is occuring? Does it happen during or after bad treatment? Is it like acne scarring where a scab forms first, and then a pitted scar appears? Or can it happen without an obvious injury to the skin first? As I began to sample electrologists, I want to be sure I am educated about this.
In most cases, it takes several months to determine whether scarring has occurred. You should heal well or look back to normal anywhere from minutes to seven to 10 days. Everybody is different. Improper insertions that are too shallow or treating a hair with enery levels beyond what is required to damage the hair follicle results in obvious skin reaction and the electrologist needs to be given feedback on the healing so she can refine the game plan.
If you get scabs, DO NOT PICK THEM OFF. Leave them alone and let nature take it’s course. Scabs do not equal pits or scarring, but if you mess with a scab, it could cause long term tissue changes. Your electrologist should strive not to produce scabbing, but scabbing happens occassionally, so don’t freak out. Just talk to her about this. Clients that had facial scabbing, heal long term and then the fine pits can only be seen with optimal magnification and lighting. Pitting is not a common occurrence.
Keep on top of the healing part and be a true partner with your electrologist by telling her your concerns and throw some positive observations into the conversation as well. The beginning sessions are the toughest.She needs to get to know your skin and refine parameters and you need to help her along.
Thank you, Dee. You have provided very helpful information. If I do get scabs, I will be sure to not pick them off! I will also follow your advice and always provide feedback to my electrologist.
I have read about how my skin might react (redness, minor acne, etc), but are there specific reactions that I should look out for that might signal that the electrologist is using too high energy levels or doing improper insertions? I ask since I don’t want to discover pitting a few months down the line.
Hmm… I actually had the same concern. If there is no way of knowing if permanent pitting or scarring is occuring until months after the treatment, how is there to know that something is wrong? I guess you mentioned an unusually long healing process between treatments would be an indication. Are there any other indicators?
Also, what is considered normal scabbing? I spoke to my electrologist and she said I should only see red dots above my lip after treatments and she was confused when I asked her about scabbing :S (this was during a consultation).
Normal scabbing on the face will show up as pinpoint spots. They can be light or dark, depending upon the person. Normal scabbing on the body might be a little bit larger.
There is a skin reaction called high-frequency blowout. This is a reaction that happens from too much current and too much moisture that is too close to the surface of the skin. You will hear a “fzzt” sound. Hearing it on occasion will not result in damaged skin. Hearing it with most applications of current might result in some pitting. If an electrologist recognizes that this is happening, they SHOULD make some changes in settings and evaluate their insertion techniques, which should result in no pitting.
If you are seeing a little scabbing and your skin is healing up, then it is very unlikely that you will have any pitting.
I went for my first sample treatment yesterday and I did hear a zapping sound when the electrologist removed most hairs. It sort of sounded like a small electric shock, like a slight fizzling. Barbara, I think it’s the same sound as you described. Should I be concerned about the possibility of pitting? My skin is very red today and has broken out in raised bumps, sort of like pimples or bug bites. This is my face so needless to say, I’m worried! I asked my electrologist about it yesterday and she said I shouldn’t worry. She wants to keep working on me with the energy level she chose for my situation. She’s been doing this for over 10 years.
Just curious, which parts of your face did you have the sample treatment on, for how long, and which method?
I will be going for my frist 15 minute treatment on the upper lip on Saturday. She will be doing thermolysis. I wonder how bad my first reaction will be…
I had treatment on my chin and a little on my upper lip, 15 minutes of thermolysis. I think it’s hard to tell what the reaction will be. My skin might be sensitive!
Are you using aftercare? Buy witch hazel, keep the area clean and dry and apply several times a day. Everything should look good within a few days. Can you post a picture? Want to get an idea of how bad it is. Is the hair very coarse?
I have been using witch hazel a couple of times a day. I don’t have a picture. I have read here that skin reactions can last for over a week so I am giving it time. Basically it looks like lots of red bumps; the best thing I can compare it to is a bad acne breakout. Yes, I would call the hair coarse.
That sound is from high frequency blow out. The follicle was overtreated and the oils and moisture are blasted out of the follicle. Too shallow of an insertion and also result in the blow out. In my opinion, an occasional one is nothing to be concerned with, but hearing it with most applications of the current is not a good sign. The ONLY time there might be an exception would be for super-super oily skin, as the sebaceous gland is large and the oil reacts by blowing out.
That oily skin can also a problem with aftertreatment breaking out. I can’t see your skin, and I don’t know how your electrologist treated your skin - so I’m just making “my opinion” statements.
Hi Barbara, I do have pretty oily skin, but the electrologist cleaned the area before she bagan treatment (not sure what with, witch hazel, maybe?).
My skin is still pretty broken out. Sorry I do not have pics. If my skin heals normally within the next week or so and I don’t see scars, does this mean I am in the clear? What kinds of marks should I look out for that would signal scarring? Is there anything I can do to minimize my chances of pitting?
I made a second appointment with a different electrologist who comes highly recommended, so I’ll hopefully get some feedback from her.
One more question for you: what kind of sound and/or sensation is considered “normal” when an electrologist makes an application using thermolysis?
Surface cleaning does not remove the oil in the sebaceous gland. Surface cleaning is very important though, because we want to start out with clean skin.
Have you had acne problems before treatments? If so, then you should expect that to continue until you get it (the acne) under control. If not, then it would be a good idea to use some products for acne skin - salicylic acid products that are designed for acne should help. You can find these at the drug store.
Something else you might try is cleaning the skin prior to treatment with Hibiclens (or something else with Chlorhexidine gluconate). This antiseptic cleanser is effective for many hours after being used and “might” help.
Don’t use them all, just pick one. Overdoing things contributes to problems.
There is a lot I don’t know about your situation. My belief is that scarring is a rare result of treatments with old epilators, and even rarer now with state-of-the-art epilators.
If your skin heals normally, then I believe you are “in the clear”. Infected follicles could be the “sign” that results in scarring. To minimize your chances of pitting, avoid overtreatment, do not touch your skin after treatment, keep it clean and do not take chances of exposing your skin to contamination from items such as phones and soiled washcloths.
Normal treatments should not have a sound, although I’ve had clients tell me they can hear a little fzt when I am right beside their ear - and that is without my seeing any reaction on the skin.
The sensation during treatments should be from the application of the current. There should be no sensation from the insertion of the needle and the extraction of the hair. That said, there can be a “traction” sensation (not tweezing) upon the extraction of the hair.
Thanks so much for all the info! You are more helpful than you know.
I struggled with acne for a long time as a teen and adult. I did take accutane about 11 years ago in college, which helped. I’m 30 now and my skin has been quite clear for the past three years thanks to Proactive. I’ve been laying off of it since I had my first elec. treatment. My skin is looking better today, but still broken out. It’s strange because I typically do not break out like this anymore. It’s very uncommon for me to have more than one pimple, and I have about 7 right now. In general, when post-treatment is it alright to start using acne medication again? Should I just wait it out until my skin is all healed up?
Hopefully I am in the clear…I will just have to see how my skin heals over the next week or so I suppose. Is acne a sign of infected follicles?
I’ve ben keeping my skin as untouched as possible - I’ll pay more attention to how I am holding my phone though. I hadn’t been doing that.
I think the sensation I was feeling was from the current rather than the insertion/extraction. It did hurt somewhat though. And there definitely was a noise. I see now that it could have been due to oil in the sebaceous glands, though I thought the accutane dried that up years ago! I will check out Hibiclens as you suggested for next time. The first electrologist I sampled is in NJ, and I plan to make an appointment with a highly recommended person in NYC for my next appointment. It will be interesting to compare the two.
I had my first treatment today on my upper lip. I only head the zapping sound during three insertions. The lady worked on me for about 10 minutes. I felt like a few hairs were being pulled out, but for the most part they slid out easily. I was actually surprised that about 4 hours after the treatment all the redness is gone and I have no bumps (she was using a high setting on Fischer machine - thermolysis). Maybe I will get a reaction tomorrow… But it sounds like what you experienced is not normal…
I am actually using tea tree oil. The two drug stores I went to didn’t have witch hazel (or maybe I just couldn’t find it). Is there an advantage to using witch hazel over tea tree oil? On the bottle it says it’s a natural antiseptic.
All the redness has actually gone down now (10 hours post treatment)
Thanks for the info.