How much of my experience is typical

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

So I freely admit going to my first electrolysis session a total noob and knowing nothing about the process except that I was In for a long haul.

I am a 54 year old woman. I have some white coarse hair growing from my chin. Been plucking them for years. But I am sick of the stumble and bumps which makes my skin uneven. I should also mention that I’m undergoing IPL treatments at another clinic for persistent redness issues. I know now that you aren’t supposed to have electrolysis at the same time and have cancelled my appointments unti the IPL is done. I’m adding this in case it’s relevant to my skin reaction to electrolysis.

So I walked prepared only with some previously applied numbing cream, I had been warned it was painful. And indeed it was quite painful, especially in the spots that had not been treated with the cream. Sometimes it was toe curling painful. The electrologist would zap the hair repeatedly and sometimes I would hear a sort of frying sound. Apparently it means something to the process. The hair seem to come out easily without resistance. This went on for about 20-30 minutes. Mentioning all this to see if this provides insight into the skill of the electrologist.

I had a little redness after the treatment but that quickly faded. I did nothing special, I did not know to do anything special. Just rinsed with water and applied my usual moisturizer. I might have put aloe, I forget. I spent some time feeling my chin for stumble. It’s a bad habit of mine. After inspecting my chin for results, my husband also decided I had some blackheads on my chin, and insisted on extracting them. Let’s just say his technique sucks. By the next day my chin was covered with red spots looking very much like acne but without a head. There was a lot of little crusts that looked like dried skin. Those continued to emerge over the week. I scraped this with nails and tweezer (delicately) and washed my face and moisturized using my regular (organic) product. I covered the mess with concealer and tinted sunscreen. I exfoliated (gently) to try to remove the peeling mess. Now 9 days later the chin is not quite back to normal with some remaining red spots and no crusting but there is significant improvement.

Now I realize that I did it ALL WRONG, but in my defence i didn’t know better. Now I know, from reading this forum, about using witch hazel, tea tree oil and aloe. And, although this isn’t mentioned, I suspect keeping your hands off your face is important as well (and your husband’s LOL)

How much of my experience is normal, and how much of it was potentially caused by my electrologist, or my clumsy aftercare, or other factors. I want to continue the treatment but I certainly don’t want to spend the next year with a spotty chin. Been there, done that in my young adult days. As an adult I don’t heal as fast and my tendency towards redness means that welts tend to linger.

Any insight ?

#2

All of it was caused by your poor “aftercare” . Keep reading as to what should be done. The most important thing you can do is completely keep hands off of treated areas yours and anyone elses. You will cause more ( and possibly permanent ) damage by picking at scabs or crusts, or “popping” blackheads. Soap and water, or at most a little teatree oil. NO MAKEUP or moisturizers. The only failing I see of the electrologist, is to not adequately communicate proper aftercare to you, but you also hold equal responsibility in that .No your experience is in no way normal. It is not possible for treatment to be blemish free and if tht’s what yhou requitre, then electrolysis is NOT for you. There will be physical manifestations, but such dont have to be as bad as you have made3 them by doing a lot of things to the treated are4a you should not have.

Seana

#3

Ouch ok. I should have researched this. For some reason, I thought it was no big deal. I guess I was naive.

I’ll try again then. I’ll schedule a shorter session, and ask her to spread it out and not focus on one area. I’ll use witch hazel, aloe and a little tea tree oil using only clean hands. Otherwise I’ll keep my hands off my face.

We will see how it goes.

#4

You mention that you would hear a, “frying sound”.
Did you hear this sound one time or throughout the treatment?
Ask your electrologist about this.

It is good that the hair slides out without resistance.
If you find that it is very painful, mention this to the electrologist.
She might be able to modify her settings and tools for a more comfortable experience.
If this does not change, you can always visit other electrologists until you find a situation that is better for you.

Also, make sure you get an aftercare sheet which most electrologists provide. If she does not have one, if you like, print out the one that I have at my website.

#5

@ martine

so, perhaps I was a bit rough on you. That said however, the importance of keeping hands and lotions away from treated areas cannot be understated. What you put on freshly treated skin can greatly affect how long it takes such manifestations to go through their healing process. Makeup and moisureizers tend to plug up the open pores. By all means keep the area clean, washing ( not scrubbing) the area gently with soap and water several times a day is the biggest thing you can do to help in the healing process.

Witch hazel, refridgerated aloe vera, annd tea tree oil all are acceptable in most cases, but also not necessary in many. Make up is not recommended.

@ Arlene, I also noticed the frying sound comment but I initially dismissed it. I think the reason I dismissed it, is I’ve heard a similar sound when doing some slow blend especially in close proximity to the ear ( breaking bubbles in lye) . You are absolutely correct however that this is a cause for concern when doing thermolysis.

so…@ Martine do you happen to know if your electrologist was using thermolysis or blend? The concern I think Arlene was getting at is that if you were hearing this frequently it could indicate settings too high or too shallow. This is an undesireable result. The extra pain is also an indicator that this could be the case.On the other hand if the practitioner was using blend it could literally be bubbles breaking in lye, though honestly this is so quiet, you would not hear it unless there was dead silence. The sizzling sound from High frequency though is differnet, and literally, well burning flesh. So if she was using thermolysis , and you weree hearing that sound frequently, this is actually a very significant cause for concern

#6

I don’t remember exactly what she said. She said the sound was a signal to her that the hair had been sufficiently treated. I think she also looked for some sort of texture change? I can’t remember exactly.

I’ve learned my lesson about aftercare, that’s for sure. I’ll be very careful next time. I’m usually a good compliant client and follow directives closely. I simply did not have directives to follow and did not think to research it until the negative reactions were well underway.

I am not sure about which type of machine she has. Maybe I’ll call and ask.

I’d like to keep this electrologist because it’s sooooo convenient for me. The clinic is right next to the bus top I use every might. It’s really easy to pop in for a quick session.

But of course if she doesn’t know what she is doing I should switch. Good care is more important than convenience.

#7

do you have pictures Martine?

A texture change? In the skin? I may be misreading your words, it’s hard to convey such things, but on the surface that doesnt sound good.

Seana

#8

I meant a texture change in the hair, not the skin. My skin reaction was more like red marks, very like those left behind from an acne breakout. The marks are still pretty obvious, even 2 weeks later, I’m concerned that every session will produces long lasting marks. That’s why I feel i need to come up with a strategy that minimizes marks on my skin. Or I might have to give up on electrolysis.

I’ll try to upload pictures.

#9

IT’s not typical to have marks last that long.From experience, most last a day or two at most, and in the case of a pinhead scab, these usually fall off within 6-7 days.

I’m not going to address anything about your electrologists treatment at this point, because I dont feel there is enough information to tell us very much at all. It does concern me though that you are considering giving up on electrolysis, because such really isnt necessary and you are going to continue to experience the discomfort over the hair if you dont proceed.

That said, the one thing you will see continuously said on this board by everyone in the know, is to try out several different electrologists before you commit to one. No matter how convenient one seems to be to get to.In general it’s a good idea to try 4-5 different electrologists at minimum for short sessions, though in some places there may not be that many to choose from. Do so in short sessions and in a slightly different area each time. This way you can compare reaction between each.Look for easy releases, minimal skin reaction (redness for a few hours is okay) and absolutely no sizzling bacon sound.

#10

Thank you for your input. I’ll try to do as you suggest. I’m going to wait till the marks fade first. I’m treating them as acne scars (apparently this is a form of hyper-pigmentation). They are much improved since I’ve started treating them with a high vitamin c serum.

#11

If you want to continue electrolysis, if your current electrologist is the only one in the area, see if you can develop a good dialogue with your electrologist.

Do you feel comfortable asking what type of electrolysis you are getting?

Ask: Is this blend or thermolysis or…

Ask: Are you using a noninsulated or insulated probe?

Matine, the more information that you have, the more information you can provide here, the more information we can offer to you so that you can advocate for yourself.

All the best,

#12

@ Arlene I think you are dead on as to what is needed to evaluate, better information and communication with the electrologist.I also think however that the average electrolysis consumer, doesnt have enough background information to ask the right questions, or even know what they are. This is why I thought pictures could help.Thank you for helping to come up with the right questions.

@Martine, yes it is possible the marks you are seeing is hyperpigmentation but that may not be the end of the story. It’s been a couple weeks since you first posted, have the marks you are seeing faded at all in that time? Have they gotten darker at all?

I would add to Arlene’s questions:
What brand of epilator is being used? If it’s thermolysis being performed, what kind of thermolysis? Normal non pulsed? Flash thermolysis? multiplex?
Same questions for blend.

Arlene is 100% correct that the more information you know about how you are being treated, the better an opinion we can give you.

Seana