How Often Should Electrolysis Treatments Be Done?

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

For a given area, how often should electrolysis be done to most effectively eliminate the hair? Should it be done weekly? Bi-Weekly? Monthly? Bi-Monthly? etc…

With laser, it is often recommended to have treatments done every 2 months. However, when it comes to electrolysis, the answer is not so consistent. Some say weekly, some say every two weeks, and some say every month. What do you guys (and gals) think? If it is 8 weeks for laser, should it even be any different for electrolysis?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

#2

I personally go weekly (though recently it’s been every other week), but I’m also trying to cover a large area of hair. That way, we can clear whatever regrew or came to the surface in the area we just treated, and spread out into other areas. If they fully cleared an area each and every visit, you could go monthly. When in doubt, ask your electrologist for what they would recommend

#3

I go every other week.

#4

Disclaimer: not a pro

Laser focuses mostly on one phase of growth and relies on seeing how much hair sheds after each treatment. Then, you return to treat the hair that may not have been treatable about 4-12 weeks later.

Ideally, in your electrolysis treatments, the area treated would be cleared of the hairs that were visible at the time of treatment if there was an effective insertion each time. The hairs are gone, no waiting to see if they shed. You could do a marathon session and go back in a month, you could go every day for a week and then wait a couple weeks to see what hairs may not have been visible for treatment.

Like Ozzy, I was recommended every other week, may change to monthly in 3 months, then perhaps annually.

#5

@ user1234 : It depends on the surface of the treated area.
With electrolysis, each hair treated is definitly killed. You have to do 3 clearances on the area to get 0 hair in the end.
But this is possible if all the hair is visible during the clearance. If you pluck or shave the hair before the treatment, your electrologist will not be able to treat all the hair because all hair are not visible.
Indeed if you do not leave you hair grow, you have to receive regularly treatment.

For laser, you will have to wait minimum 6 weeks before the next treatment.

#6

Can you please elaborate more on this… I’m sorry I’m fairly new to laser and would really like to understand some details behind it.

It just seems to me that if laser requires 2 months between treatments then electrolysis should be the same way. In my mind, this becomes even more so if someone is getting thermolysis-only treatments because it would mean that (in this case) both laser and electrolysis are essentially killing the hair in the same way: via heat.

Yet I read that many people get electrolysis every week while others get it every 2 weeks while others get it every month, etc… why not do the same as laser (every 2 months)? What would happen? Why or why not would results be optimum? How about the reverse? What would happen if laser was gotten every week?

Sorry if I’m asking too many questions, but I’m honestly very interested.

Thanks for everyone’s help :slight_smile:

#7

Let me explain you. Between each laser session you have to wait minimum 6 weeks for two reasons.
Firstable, a laser treatment in order to remove your hair is a laser treatment. I mean it is not simply a beautician treatment, it is a medical treatment using heat to weaken the follicles. If you would have weekly laser treatment, it could damage your skin.
Secondly, after doing laser treatment, your hair will fall. You have to wait that hair will grow to do a new session. The wavelength produced by the laser is drawn by the melanin in the hair. Simply if you have no hair as target, the laser will have no effect.

#8

If you would have weekly laser treatment, it could damage your skin.

Not if it’s done properly. Chris, who sadly doesn’t post here really anymore, stated once that he treated someone “EVERY TWO DAYS with different lasers and settings” to help thin out a beard.

#9

Remember: Laser targets only the pigment in the hair follicle, and so, is only effective on anagen stage hairs.
Electrolysis can successfully treat hair in all phases (except exogenus).

#10

of course, it depends of what “laser” you are talking about.
After a real alexandrite laser treatment, the skin is irritated and a little bit swelled because of the heat. Using a real laser treatment every two days is a nonsense for me. The skin will be damaged plus it is not effective using laser if you have no target. (theoretically if you are using an effective laser, 1 or 2 days after the treatment, the hair begin to fall, so you have no more target to destroy the folicles.)

However, if you are using a sort of IPL, or stuff like that for beautician, I do understand this kind of procedure. It is not effective, thus you can use it every two days.

#11

Chris doesn’t use IPLs, only real lasers. Sorry to hear it’s nonsense to you, but according to the laser expert, what he did worked out wonderfully for his client. Also, you post no link to a study that shows the skin will be damaged by such frequent laser treatment. Again, what Chris was doing was a specialized case of thinning the hair specifically on the beard.

To the OP, in general every 2 months or so is fine because the hair sheds, and then there’s no point on lasering if hair isn’t there. What I was posting about was a specific case and should only be done by a very well-trained laser specialist. Otherwise, you should follow the recommended procedure of every few months

#12

I am happy for him.

Sorry, I didn’t have a study about the aftermaths on the skin after a laser treatment. I just wanted to say, according to medical advices, that I heard, after a laser session, the skin is irritated because of the heat (it is a sign of efficiency). Plus, I received laser treatments and I have friends who do so, thus maybe even if I had less experiences than you, I don’t invent, after a laser treatment, the skin is irritated.
This is why, physicians recommend to do a new session after 6 weeks. Moreover, we have to wait that new hair grow, as everybody know.

I am not a doctor, but for general cases, we agree that we have to space out the treatment.

#13

With electroepilation treatments, the frequency of visits should be determined by two things. The area and the previous method of hair removal.

Example one: Excess chin hair that has been tweezing for 5 minutes every day. Treatment frequency for this client will start out at 35 minutes one week after stopping tweezing. Client will need at least 6-8 weeks of weekly visits before decreasing the frequency of visits.

Example two: Body areas need clearances. Not all clients can do this in one sitting, so the appointments can be weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or at your convenience due to time and budget.

The tweezing case needs to be frequent and consistent (in the beginning) to be most effective. Body areas can be treated several ways and it will still be effective.

#14

My electrologist told me to come back in two months! But I did a big area of my chest, 3 hours, 3,241 hairs, and it’s pretty red and will take a while to heal.

On the other hand, my laser practitioner schedules me every 3-4 weeks.

#15

It may depends on what laser you are using. But (in general) with alexandrite laser, the more you let the hair grow after a first treatment, the better you get result after the second treatment. Indeed if you wait 6-8 weeks, the new hair will grow and you get more target for the laser. Thus you will get more results.

Personnally I prefer electrolysis for many reasons.

#16

Maia, my clinic uses a Soprano XL laser machine. There are various functions and settings on the machine; more than that I don’t know.

As an aside, I buy a one year package for laser treatment, so I don’t pay by the hour. I can have as many treatments as I want. My laser doctor recommends once every 3-4 weeks.

#17

What I say, it is information from dermatologists. I am not a physician.
I received LHR and and read articles in internet about it. But you can receive all treatment you want, even a session every two days if you want. I just tell you my opinion based on medical advices.

I hope each people could find its better way to remove hair :slight_smile:

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#18

Since a LASER treatment is like getting a sunburn, I will just add that it would be the medical equivalent of having a sunburn every two days. One would ideally wish to spread out the treatments a little bit farther apart. Most literature that is in the waiting room of LASER offices states 6 - 12 weeks time in between treatments. That is what their lawyers are comfortable with them saying.

#19

I was just told to come in when they bother me I started out going every 2.5 to 3 weeks for chin and around nipple hair removed but last 2 were 4 weeks and last one 5 weeks, the hairs are coming in the same amount of time but were paler and not so noticeable hoping this continues. She said I shouldn’t leave it more than 6 weeks though unless they hadn’t come threw at all to make the treatment most effective. so anything from 1 week to 6 weeks for electrolysis depending on how much and what type of hair thick dark or thin and pale. I am still getting dark but thin ones around nipple but touch wood haven’t had any black ones on my chin in months although still get thin pale brown ones. I used to tweeze weekly around nipples since I was pregnant with my daughter 6 years ago and every 2 weeks on my chin for last year - 18 months since coming off any form of contraception, the nipple area is going to take longer. I was only plucking 1-2 hairs of the area each time and when you start electrolysis the scary this is you realize just how many hairs you actually have taking turns. Hope that helped I am only someone going through the treatments myself 6 months now and still learning along the way.