How long do you have to keep going weekly?

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

Hi everyone, having lurked through the forums for a while, I know there’s no way to tell how long it will take to clear an area. However (!), I’m having trouble affording so much treatment at the moment. I am a 31yr old female with coarse hair on the chin and upper lip and currently go in for 2-2.5hrs/week of electrolysis. I’ve been going for 4 months now and still have to go every week. I’ve had my hormones checked and they’re within normal range, my GP tells me some people are more sensitive to androgens like DHT. I am resigned to doing this so I don’t have to worry anymore, but I was wondering if anyone could hazard a guess when the treatments would lessen at all? At the moment this feels like a battle I am struggling to keep my head up in and I could really use some hope :frowning:

Thanks everyone in advance for any advice you have

#2

It is hard to comment since we don’t know how much hair you have. But with that many hours of treatment per week, I would have certainly expected that you would have noticed a decrease in the amount of hair coming through week on week now… leading to shorter sessions required. Estimating, it seems you’ve had some 30-40 hrs of treatment so far… that seems an awful lot for a typical upper lip/chin case. It could be that your electrologist is working extremely slowly. Without more information, it’s difficult to offer comments.

Since you have been lurking, have you read posts regarding what to expect from effective treatment?

#3

Before I started treatment I was plucking for years, once in the morning and towards the end at night too. I could easily pull (estimate) 50 hairs a day out :frowning: I only started electrolysis when I realised that even that amount of plucking wasn’t keeping on top of things, it still looked obvious and because of ingrown hairs I had terrible huge spots. Because seeing the hair come through was so upsetting, I didn’t take any ‘before’ pics. I don’t know, I’m just getting frustrated because at the moment I have to go back in every 4 days and it feels like I never get any respite, my electrolygist isn’t clearing my face in a 2hr session (I think this one is very slow though, maybe two/three hairs a minute?).

My practitioner told me she couldn’t estimate and it could sometimes take up to 2 years to clear an area.

To maximise treatment I’ve stopped plucking and only shave, though she told me to stop doing that as she says it encourages growth, which I know for a fact isn’t true. I read so many posts about electrolysis clearing times I really don’t know what to think! Erk.

#4

Oh and also, the hair is REALLY coarse and strong, thicker than anyhwere else on my body. Gah.

#5

From my knowledge, it shouldn’t really matter the hair is really coarse. If you have read any of Mr. Bono’s posts, you may read that the electrologist shouldn’t be ‘playing’ with the hair. The electrologist should be aiming to fully treat. I know many (the majority?) of electrologists prefer treating anagen hairs, and if yours are growing after having been plucked, they are in the right state.

Have a look at user Karii’s posts - her situation seemed similar to yours but once she started electrolysis, things certainly started to improve.

The fact that your practitioner cannot estimate does not inspire hope to be honest. Also, the speed is painfully slow. Not a problem if she makes she sure kills every follicle she treats… but if not, you are spending a lot of money to have hair regrow.

#6

Did you sample any other treatment before settling on this electrologist? It may be worth doing so now.

#7

I saw Kari’s post and my hair is comparable, though concentrated on my chin and lip, so I just assumed it was going to take about two years to get it cleared up. I think now may be the time to shop around for another pracitioner but there are so few registered/qualified ones in downtown Vancouver BC where I live. :frowning:

#8

Don’t lose hope. Put your mind to seeking out good treatment. Given the population of London (where I am), there are remarkably few electrologists practising here but the odd gem can still be found. If this also fails, perhaps think about looking a bit further. Travel costs etc can be offset by highly effective treatment which means you don’t need to treat the same hairs again down the line.

#9

Stoppit is absolutely right. Sometimes you might need to travel a little further for good treatment! This might be possible. There’s an area of Washington called Renton which is a little less than 3 hours from Vancouver (minus the border check wait time.) There’s an electrologist on this forum from there. Perhaps you can work with her?

http://www.hairtell.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/users/11910.html

#10

Many practitioners don’t offer an estimate of costs because they don’t want to talk about the amount of time and frequency of visits to work on your particular problem. I myself tend to tell people that while I can usually say that we should be able to finish the majority of jobs in 13 visits spread out over 18 months, assuming full clearances each and every time, the number of hours depends more on the amount of hairs, the way they are spread out. Got ingrown and distorted hairs? All bets are off. Who can guess how much time it will take with all the changes in angles, and picking out hairs and whatnot?

I know we often sound like we are trying to hide something when we don’t answer your questions, but frequently it is just a case of what I tell prospective clients on the phone, “Its like asking me on the phone, ‘How much to paint my house?’, there is a difference between your house, and Oprah’s house, and the difference in painting them will be just as different.”