I am new to electrolysis, had my 3rd appt today, 30 min. I have it done on my neck, chin, and started a few hairs per treatment on my lip, as i don’t want my lip to have bumps all over it, and the hair is light enough it doesn’t bother me too much.
My Question:
How long until it starts growing back more fine and slower? My electrologist is great, I like her a lot, but she shies away from giving me specific time frames, probably because she doesn’t really know, as each person is different. So if anyone could just share their stories with me, and let me know how long it took for the hairs to grow back slower and finer.
I will say I can tolerate the pain better than I thought I would. I am getting impatient already, and I know it will take at least a year for it to be completely gone, I just want to know when I can expect to see a change in growth and hair. Thanks!!
Hair grows in cycles. If it’s treated well, it’s not going to grow back at all. You just have to go for 9-12 months to kill all the hair in all cycles.
What bumps are you referring to? You shouldn’t have any bumps. Any side effects should be going away within a few hours.
What method is she using on you? What machine? What aftercare are you using? Use witch hazel during the day and tea tree oil at night. And avoid makeup and more treatments on any area which hasn’t healed.
It may even take 18 months, but what you have to realize is by month 4-6, you will see signs of HOPE and by month 9, it looks even better. By month 12 you MAY be 90-95% finished, but you will still need short nit-picky cleanups through month 18. This is all true if you have done your part to show up when needed and she has done her part to do the electrolysis part correctly with skill. She doesn’t shy away from giving you an answer to your time questions. We are warned in our electrolysis training program to only speak in generalities about time questions because there are so many variables and hurdles involved when it comes to “killing” hair follicles.
If you are thinking that finer hair that grows slower is the end result of electrolysis, then think again. We are removing the hair totally. We are not trying to make it finer and grow slower. We affect hair so it doesn’t grow at all ever again.
Sounds like you have a good electrologist working for you. Don’t let impatience derail your hair removal. Talk to her as much as you need to and make this a learning process. There is a lot to know because hair is very tough and the electrolysis procedure is very technical. Much skill and care is required to be a good electrologist. It is not a simple beauty procedure. It can be hard to perform and that’s why there is so much variation among practitioners worldwide.
Dee
Thanks Dee. And yes, I know it will be totally removed. I just wondered how long until I start seeing a change in the hair. I am so excited and just want it gone! But I know it takes time and I will do everything in my power to be at every appt. She is having surgery soon so I will miss two weeks. I hope that doesn’t mess things up at all.
You should schedule your treatments so that you clear the entire area you want hairfree as soon as possible, i.e. long sessions and often. Then you’ll only need to come in when new hair pops up, so it will probably be once a week or once every two weeks. That will gradually change and you won’t have enough hair to go in more than once every 3-4 weeks and then once a month.
Most of my clients are at the point of “Pacifaction” in a matter of weeks. Once we get to first clearance, the client looks finished and the work we do is our little secret from there. I hope you can find the same level of treatment in your area.
I’ve already written about my problem, sudden increase in, I would say LENGTH of hair on the whole body. What bothers me most is my back. There are hairs that are normal, just like they were before, and those long (1-2 cm).
The question is: is it possible to treat only those long hairs? I know that with electrolysis you treat hair one by one. I never plucked or waxed the hair, so I read that 2-3 treatments are enough. Is it true?
Hey, just thought i would add to this to give you some hope and encouragement, hope thats ok. Ive been having electro for about 1 year now and i think (fingers crossed) im nearly done. There was a long time when i didnt think i would ever reach this stage and i was so sad about it. Now i still go every 2 weeks but only for 5 minutes and to be honest the hair she is zapping is practically invisible. I think its ones that have been treated before, possibly were in the wrong phase, and are coming back through weaker. Anyway dont worry just be patient and you will be hair free soon enough
bec xx
Thanks for encouragement.
Actually, it is not my goal to be totally hairfree, because I have some hair everywhere, so it is odd to be hairfree just in one place. Maybe I’ll really need just a few treatments, but the problem is that I want to treat upperback and shoulders, where there are many hairs. What bothers me is it’s lenght, but what encourages me it they are light and I’ve never plucked them… I haven’t succeed in finding an electrologist yet, but started to save money.
bec1234, I have been treating my face for over a year and still get coarse hairs growing in just a few days after my last treatment. Actually it looks the same as it did this time last year in terms of regrowth. I don’t know what to think. I still go 3 times a month for an hour each time, and I’ve never gone more than 2 weeks between clearances of the coarse hairs. Your results are the kind I had hoped to have by this time. What kind of a machine does your electrologist use? And can you describe your regrowth in more detail?
I did not see signs of hope by month 6 OR 9, probably because there’s a lot of rich people in my city and the electrologists do really weak treatments so you have to keep coming in spending hundreds and thousands of dollars treating the same hairs over and over again, going months looking at the coarse hairs on your face losing self esteem. You have to ASK the electrologist what their approach is towards killing hairs, and even if they say they are trying to kill the hairs instead of making them finer, they may still give you too weak treatments that waste your time and money.
i get full clearance on my brows everytime (mostly with blend, a few times with thermolysis).
i have had 8 sessions spaced around 2 weeks apart and still many strong hairs are growing back. i don’t see much progress!
many people say, get a full clearance, then you only need to kill the hairs that are growing back. but for me that feels like all of them!
sigh~~
miss_m - Have you seen my sister’s progress pics?
How does your hair compare to hers?
http://www.hairtell.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/74126/stoppit_tidyup.html#Post74126
Her last ‘proper’ eyebrow treatment was on 23rd April (and a few mins on 8th May). The two sessions since then, she’s worked a little more on the glabella as it still needs further clearance. But hardly anything has come back over the rest of the area that needs treating yet. She still looks like the last pic in the series.
I think it is a good example, that if hairs are treated properly, they are slow to come back.
Clearances every 2 weeks sounds like a lot. Maybe the first two will have a 2 week gap but after that it should certainly be longer.
wow! great progress. she has a good controlled shaped brow to start with. thanks for the great pics.
my hair is like your sis’ but then much thicker and glossier, like eyelashes, and really black. i have maybe 2x the hair she had to start with and then half the hair she had on the side toward her hairline. i will have to take pics.
i was told that i could expect to have 15 to 20 sessions before they were gone because they are very strong hairs. though this does not really tie in with what many folk say here, that once you clear the area, you only have to kill remaining hairs.
it takes 45 mins each time to clear the area.
i used to pluck at least once a day as they grow back very fast. i think i should maybe leave a week max in between treatments and go for 30 mins instead. this coming session will be 4 weeks apart and i feel they have grown ‘stronger’ in the meantime.
the clinic i go to is very busy so i can’t always go as often as i like, especially now that i insist on having the best girl work on me.
i am wary of flashing/diathermy as i got a lot of scars from just two sessions and almost everybody uses blend here in nl.
Candela: Im so sorry its taken so long to relpy, i have been busy with work recently and havent been on in a while.
The machine my electro uses is an apilus sx500 i think. Today i had a ten minute appointment which is longer than usual but its been a month since i was there so i am happy with that. The regrowth is hard to describe as as time has gone on i have forgotten how bad it was, the upset i used to feel is fading. The only way i can describe it is even after a month with no treatment in a regular mirror thr hairs are not noticable to the naked eye as they are so fine. However i have very dark hair so up close you can still see them. Like i said before i think these are hairs that are weaker now and have been treated previously. Im hopeful after another 6 months they might be gone for good. It took a good 9 months of constant electro, every 2 weeks for 1 hour, then 45 mins then 30 mins etc to get to the point where i am today. If you are not seeing signs of progress perhaps you should try another practitioner, in my opinion and after visiting lots of different people electoysis is only good if the persob doing it is competent.
speak soon
bec x
miss_m, just to clarify, whether you have bad side effects after electrolysis has little to do with the type of electrolysis and everything to do with the electrologist performing it. Thermolysis is just as good as blend in good hands.
Thanks for the reply Bec1234. Your results are the kind I had hoped to see by now. It’s sickening how much money I’ve wasted. I’m trying to make an appointment now with someone who has an apilus and actually USES it, and hopefully she’ll be somewhat ethical. Are you treating all the dark hairs or just the coarse ones?
Hiya Candela, Im treating all of them, after a visit to my electro there are no visible hairs left at all except the normal blonde fluff most women get. No dark hairs are left. I still have to go every two weeks mind as by about day 10 i see a couple cropping up but no one eles would see them. My electro has trouble finding then nowadays!! dont worry you will see progress. There was one point when i never thought this day would come.
keep me updated
bec xxx
Hi bec, I’m looking for a new electrologist now. Could you give me advice about how you realized the electrologists were good or not, since you say from your experience you see that competence is the most important thing? Especially with people using Apilus machines, what are the signs that they’re working right?
Good treatment means you feel no resistance when the hair slides out after being zapped and that your skin is back to normal in no time with no major side effects. If they’re fast too, that’s even better.