How many hours for first clearance of upper lip?

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#21

Please let me comment You medication: it is quite heavy, again. Personally i would keep away from antibiotic medication as long as its avoidable and leave it over for the case i really need such heavy stuff. But as long as it is Your own decision and responsibility, this is ok for me. Just nothing to be generalized.

I know very well how the removal of a mustache feels, even one with more hair (1 1/4 hours to clear the area of the nail of my small finger at 10 hairs per minute without any numbing at all…) and a fast, but much less caring electrologist. And I have also tried out several options:

paracetamol, ibuprofen at the maximum daily amount - no noticeable improvement. Topical lidocain almost no effect (ok, applied correctly over sufficient time, it may work very well).

Let a nearby dentist numb my upper jaw: this worked perfectly over more than two hours - i even fell asleep during treatment. Comfortable for both of us, but also a sign of the heavy load the numbing puts on the body.

So i gave up everything and learned to let me “fall into the pain”. Not too difficult in a calm athmospere and with steady and quick work of the electrologist.

Treating others i usually open my clients the possibility to use EMLA but most of them decide just to keep the pain. (And i am pretty sure that my current treatments are less painful than my own experience.)

What i would like to learn is on the pros and cons of using antihistaminica, especially on systemic ones before tretment. Or would it help to reduce the inflammatory reaction if my clients apply a topical antihistaminicum before treatment?

#22

Beate, your point regarding individual responsibility is very well-founded. From many years of personal experience, I know precisely what my body and my individual metabolism can tolerate. That I can still feel (with some discomfort) every individual pulse of electrolysis is an indicator I am not over-medicated. That I have no lingering effects (sleepiness, numbness, light-headed) during and even 60 minutes after treatment is another indicator. My body mass (1.88m, 124.74Kg) is such that I tolerate this amount of pain medication well. For me, non-prescription analgesics (aspirin, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and naproxen sodium) provide almost no relief.

These are both very good questions, and I am interested in reading answers from the professional electrologists, as well.

#23

I shy away from encouraging my clients to use anything topically or even internally for electrolysis. For a normally ouchy area like the middle upper lip, some people can take the sensation and some can’t, so I tell them there are topical over the counter (OTC) numbing creams like L.M.X. I leave it up to them to use whatever OTC pain reliever that they normally use for headaches. The ones that help with inflammation are preferred.

To serve electrolysis clients well, it is very wise to invest in equipment that will increase a clients level of comfort and well being so they are not needing to take medication or use topicals in the first place. Only less than a handful of my clients use anything for discomfort, but the ones that do, are free to do what they want, but I feel obligated to show my concern if vibes tell me that there may be some harm in what they are doing.

Applying a topical antihistamine may be helpful? I don’t mess around with stuff like that because just doing proper insertions with the correct probe size, with a modern epilator, with good lighting and magnification, with the correct amount of energy and timing, with a hydrated and rested client will accomplish much that is desired, without medicants.

#24

It might as well be an indicator that You were inappropriately medicated, won’t it?

The morphine You are using is a left over from the necessary medication after a surgery. The same is true for the ibuprofen i was trying to reduce pain due to electrolysis. It was not an OTC medication. One tablet was sufficient to remove the pain immediately after that surgery almost completly, and two (the daily maximum) did not lead to pain relief during electrolysis. Electrolysis ist actually some kind of very small surgery, at least regarding pain. And like any other surgery, the sharp, short termed pain caused by damaging the tissue cannot be cured my medications aproppriate to the constant pain of the later reaction of the body. If this was different, there would be no need of anesthesis during surgeries.

Dee, i am mostly with Your position. I do actually use topical (OTC) antihistamines (or topical ibuprofen) only occasionally in those cases where the inflammation caused by my treatment is strong despite all measures i have taken against it. And this involves everything You mentioned: taking care of good working technique, good visual and lighting and fully utilizing the possibilities of my epilator to reduce discomfort of my clients. My impresssion is also that the collegue treating Caith has a similar aproach.

Regarding internal antihistamines: in my first reply i mentioned that i could not recognise any effect in the times i had (and still have to) use them because of my summer allergies. But maybe i have missed some important information?

#25

I’d like to re-state a question I posed on the previous page of this discussion:

Is it possible or even advisable to treat the coarse hairs growing just within the perimiter of the nostrils? I’d seriously like to remove these and eliminate the need to trim them weekly.

Thanks!

#26

We are taught in school not to treat hairs inside the nose or ears. On the perimeter, yes, okay, but you have be very clean and careful with good aftercare ) dab a little bit of tea tree oil on the site for a couple days. Not all electrologists will treat these hairs even if they are on the perimeter.

#27

Thank you, Dee. I know the nasal cavities are typically home to colonies of staph bacteria, and working in this area could be very prone to infection. I’ll ask my electrologist Tuesday evening what her personal feeling is, and see what she says.

#28

Asked her about it this evening, and she’s willing to treat those areas, but gave me a fairly strong warning about how painful (even more so than the upper lip!) it will likely be.

#29

It does hurt. She is so right! Have a box of tissues nearby. You will need lots of them.

#30

Caith721,
I made the nostrils at least a dozen times in men and women, young and old, have never had problems. Indeed, take great care after treatment. Keep the area very clean and dry.

EMLA cream is very effective because it is a mucosal area and you know that the absorption is higher in these areas.
In my experience regrowth is very low, although the follicles are very deep healing is very rapid.

It is possible that your electrologist has to be discontinued during treatment because you sneeze a dozen times … all followed!

DSC01262.jpg1023×682

#31

Josefa, those are EXACTLY the hairs I am wanting removed. Thank you very much for providing that clear picture.

Now that first clearance has been achieved on both my upper and lower lips, we are working from the fold beneath my lower lip down to my chin. These hairs (fortunately) are more regularly oriented, not so deeply rooted, and don’t really cause much discomfort while being treated. I was amazed how many hairs were cleared in so short a time Friday evening. Maybe it was good to start with the most tender areas first?

#32

Most of my clients are surprised when they find that the central area of the upper lip is more sensitive than the nasal cavities. It seems that the areas with cartilage are less painful than we thought.

In my opinion, it would be wise to switch a sensitive area with other areas more comfortable.
On the other hand, some electrologists (myself included) have found that after a few minutes working in one area, it becomes stiff and is much more bearable than the beginning (inflammation of the skin produces “daze” in the nerve cells that are abundant in this area).
One thing is certain, we are not equally sensitive in different days, so, try one or two hairs at each visit and check the sensitivity of this time. Your electrologist will not refuse to change the zone, if your sensitivity so requires.

#33

That’s my plan. If she removes two hairs from each nostril each visit, it should only require a few minutes over three or four visits to reduce my nose hair to a manageable condition. I’m not wanting 100% removal, but at least 75% reduction. After removing six to eight of the largest hairs in each nostril, I should be very happy with the results.

#34

Let us not forget that the natural morphine substances called endorphin’s, which are neurotransmitters from the brain, bathe the area within the area to reduce sensation. That is why we don’t skip around to remove hair usually. Staying in one area helps us to take advantage of the endorphin pain killing effect.

Some of my clients are more annoyed by the tearing and sneezing effects than the pain sensation. Many think that it hurts a lot and they bring out the wooden spoon to bite on (not really). We are all different. I like doing a few hairs at a time at a session because the client knows there is an end in sight.

#35

It was tearing from my eyes that required taking a brief break during the two-hour session for first clearance of my upper lip. The mild pain was entirely bearable, and we’d have finished that night, if we hadn’t run out of time. I don’t think it took more than five to ten minutes to clear those last 50 hairs (less than a square inch) at the next session.

The good news is, maintenance on the cleared areas is beginning. The regrowth is finer and white, and easily removed with only two pulses, instead of three or four.

#36

This is quite well known, isn’t it? The difference may be huge: as a client i could stand the pain for a few hours one day and had to give up after 25 minutes the second day.

But it is also ourselves, isn’t it? My impression is that if we can become calm and relaxed during treatment we can transfer this to our clients and thus help them to deal with the pain.

#37

Of course Beate, but we have to relax with a good rhythm. Otherwise, our client will be nervous with tic-tac of watch ( even though he is the holy Job) :wink:

#38

The outer thirds of my upper lip had finally regrown enough to be treated again today. It’s been almost two months since it was first cleared, so I’m very happy. It also didn’t require nearly so much time or effort today. Most of the hairs released easily on the first try. We’re continuing to work on my chin and it received 30 minutes today, and will get two more hours Monday morning. Fortunately the chin hairs are finer, the roots are less deep, and they’re straight, unlike those on my upper lip. The majority of the follicles are aligned in the same general direction, also unlike my upper lip. All of today’s redness and swelling resolved in less than two hours, another great sign.

#39

This is how a skilled electrologist works to make a client happy. All sounds good, Caith.

#40

That is fantastic news Caith. Sounds as though you are making great progress!! Two months that is so awsum!!