I was wondering if anyone could tell me how long it takes to start seeing results? I have been having treatment for 4 months now and although I believe the hair is growing back finer, I still think the hair is growing back. Can anyone tell me what time frame it takes to start seeing results?
I’d be curious to know what your electrologist told you about time to completion.
This is not a question that can be answered exactly because people present with their own unique hair problem along with all the possible causes of that hair problem. I would say that if you are seeing finer hair after four months, then you are right on track. That’s the way it works and I would emphasize that you must never give up. You will feel frustration that this isn’t going very fast - I smack well guarantee you. Just remember that is normal too, and keep pushing forward with good cheer.
After each session, as long as you are on a regular schedule after your first clearance where you get cleared each and every time you go in, you see less and less hair. You cannot be finished before nine to twelve months because it takes at least three or four hair growth cycles for every hair to come to the surface just one time. If your request is for a huge reduction on thousands of accelerated fine blond hairs on your face, you are looking at as much as 2-3 years of monthly treatments that are longer than an hour. If your body’s hormonal environment keeps stimulating hair, it could be a life long endeavor, but the good news is that with electrolysis you may run out of follicles that produce hair and you will then live happily ever after.
It takes 9-18 months for most cases. If there is a lot of surface area with dense hair, it will takes 2-4 years with regular, skilled treatments using the faster modes of thermolysis. That is what I see in my practice, using the equipment I use with my particular skills and techniques. The electrologist in Istanbul, Turkey or Gallway Ireland may have different time outcomes than me because of the tools they use and their particular skills
Thanks alot for your response dfahey its much appreciated. In your response you said that if your body’s hormonal environment keeps stimulating hair, it could be a life long endeavour. From what I read on the internet hormonal hair was destroyed by electrolysis, is this case?
Also could you please advise which you think is more effective for dark coarse hair galvanic or blend?
Your input would be much appreciated thanks again.
Individual hair follicles that were TREATED with electrolysis are gone forever. That doesn’t account for the thousands of hair follicles that are not producing hair when you are actively having treatments. You literally have thousands of follicles all over your skin. Some follicles grow hair, some follicle have hair, but are in a dormant stage until if and when a hormonal happening wakes them up and some follicles will never be able to grow hair. Do you see how difficult it is to talk in absolutes?
Both galvanic and blend will work for coarse hair, but so will thermolysis. We now how fabulous choices for thermolysis modes that knock out coarse to very coarse hair just as well as the galvanic and blend electrolysis would. The later two are slower and thus, people get more frustrated with galvanic and blend modes. ALL ELECTROLYSIS MODES WORK. Most electrologists are not doing slow galvanic anymore. Blend would be just fine, but the more advanced modes of thermolysis are found on the top of line epilators used today. Getting work done with the upper models of the Apilus line, or Sil-Houet Tone line, etc. would be very, very advantacious , given that the practitioner is skilled and up to date with theses new advances and techniques.
Please read our growth chart thread for a better understanding.
If one is getting enough work, on a good schedule, and one has a Before Pic to accurately compair, one should see noticeable results in 3 - 6 months. If one is getting full clearances each and every time, one would be able to show a difference in as little as one month. Of course, most people don’t keep photo records of their work progress so that they can actually see the progress as it occurs. They just go along and as the slow change takes place, they don’t notice it any more than a person notices the water rising in a cup sitting under neath a drippy faucet.
What area are you treating? Are you male or female?
What is the cause of your hair growth? Is it normal hair that most people have or is it hair that’s caused by a potential or diagnosed hormonal disorder?
If you have an underlying condition causing the hair to grow, you will need touchups even after you’re technically completely done since that condition would cause your body to develop NEW hair over time. Electrolysis only kills the hair that’s presently there. It can’t prevent new growth down the line.
I am a male receiving treatment by Galvanic Electrolysis on the facial area. Basically my cheekbones and side of face. and also hair that is joining from my hairline to my eyebrows. It is a hereditary condition as alot of my family members (even female members) also have. So I am not sure if a hereditary hair growth falls under hormonal disorder if you could please advise that would be great.
Also I find it hard to keep track of my progress as when I have a certain area that sticks out treated a new area on my face will start looking hairier. I am not sure if this is because the area which has just been treated was more noticeable and was some what covering up the hair which is now sticking out or if new hair is starting to grow. This makes it very hard to keep track of my progress.
Any advise or thoughts on what I have just written would be much appreciated.
Hereditary hair growth usually means that when you take care of the hair, you are done. Sometimes, however, the hereditary condition is a hormonal weakness. If that were the case, one would have to try to work to keep themselves in balance.
As for tracking progress, you will have to start taking pictures on a schedule.
When one removes hair, especially when one removes ALL hair, it frequently causes other hairs that seemed insignificant before, to now look like a big problem. This is why electrolysis providers tend to remove hairs in levels of importance. Once I remove all the biggest thickest hairs, I then turn to the next layer of importance. Often there comes a time, when the electrolysis provider is sure that the hair removal has come to a place where the average person finds nothing worth removing, and yet the client insists that more be removed, as they have become increasingly sensitized to the presence of ANY hairs in the treatment area.
If you are now performing permanent hair removal, you should discontinue threading in the treatment area, as that will make your final goal more difficult to reach.
The biggest difference you should notice after a few months is in the frequency of your treatments, i.e. after 4-5 months you will likely need to come in less often. This indicates that there is less hair to treat.
The best way to tackle electrolysis is to get to a full clearance asap and then come in as soon as you see new hair pop up (usually this is every week or two for most at the beginning). This way you are always targeting hair while it’s still weak and easier to kill AND you are always hairfree.
I would take photos every month or so. The main thing, like James said, is to have photographic evidence of what you started with because as you get more treatments you’ll get used to less and less hair and will forget how bad it was in the beginning. It’s a pretty common phenomenon. So you need photos to help you judge how much progress has been made.
This type of hair should be relatively easy to treat. I don’t know how old you are, but if you’re under 30, it’s likely that your body will develop some more hair down the line and you’ll need a touchup once in a while. But it would not be much at all, so I wouldn’t worry about it now.
Thankyou for your help it has been much appreciated.
Just one last question, LA girl you said that if I am under 30 that more hair will develop. Are you generally saying that all hair will have grown on my body by the time I am 30 years old?
Thanks again.
You may even grow into your third decade of life. Thereafter, there are some areas on men and women’s bodies that start to develop new hair into the 40’s and beyond. Men’s ears is one example. Accelerated facial peach fuzz on women is another.
The biggest spurts of growth on the most common areas continue roughly until your late 20s or so. However, as Dee mentions, there are other areas that tend to get hair as you get older, like men’s ears.
Just another question, how long should you wait after your electrolysis scabs have gone to you start putting chemicals on your skin like face wash and moisturiser etc?
Should you wait a week or can you start using face wash and stuff again as soon as the last scab has fallen off?
Once the scabs are gone, (and you didn’t scratch them off) you have new repaired skin. That’s why they fall off. Typically speaking, one should be able to get back to one’s normal routine in 3 to 7 days after treatment. At a minimum, one wants to do nothing but soap, water, and approved post treatment items for the first 24 to 72 hours.