How to avoid overrating chin

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

Hello!
I’m a 30 year old female who recently started getting thermolysis on my chin. I don’t have PCOS but I’ve always been hairy and did have additional hair growth stimulated by a laser (yay). I’ve seen warnings about the chin being a “danger zone” for electrolysis and since my skin is quite thin/pale with mostly coarse, thick hair, I’m trying to watch out for anything that could lead to pitting/trouble down the road.

During the second session today, the practitioner got rid of all of the hair in 20 minutes (minus a few that were too short). This is the same as the first session 3 weeks ago. It feels like a sunburn but so far seems to be healing fine. My question is: If I want to be extra cautious about reducing the risk of scarring, does it make sense to request that she just thins out the area in 10 or so minutes at a time? Should I have her tackle less hairs in one sitting, or does 20 minutes of a mix of very coarse, and moderately coarse hair covering a chin tend to be safe? Should I ask her to skip a hair if it doesn’t come out after the first 1 or 2 zaps? There were 10 or so hairs that she had to zap multiple times before pulling out, but I didn’t feel a tugging sensation on most hairs.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

#2

If the growth isn’t dense, the energy level isn’t too high, and the electrologist is only working for 20 minutes in the area, then there’s really no concern for scarring. If you have an image showing your chin before and after treatment, we can provide more guidance, but it doesn’t sound like you’ll face any issues of scarring from what you’ve described.

#3

Scarring is caused not by the time spent on the area but by OVERTREATMENT - by settings that are too high, or by piercing the skin instead of going into a follicle, or by using a needle that is too big, or by combination of these factors. With right needle, settings and accurate insertions even 1 hour treatment won’t do any harm.
If you only have mild swelling and redness that go down soon after treatment then you have no reason for concern. If you have severe scabbing that takes many days to heal then yes, there will be skin damage of some sort.

#4

Scarring CAN be caused by overtreatment, it can also ironically be caused by undertreatment as well. That said, by scattering your work , using controlled amounts of energy and accurate insertions is a very effective strategy to prevent overtreatment. THAT said, I pretty much always clear the chin these days. For dense growth this is likely to take place of multiple sessions thinning first, but once cleared, I aim to keep it that way. I’ve chosen primarily picoflash as my modality of choice, and keep synchro for another day most times. By concentrating on your depth of insertion, you minimalize the energy required to dispatch those problematic hairs .I’m constantly reminding my apprentices of the same .

Speaking of which, this is a good time to segway in the introduction of a new electrologist to my practise. For the Past month Pascale Legault, a new transgender electrologist from my neibouring KBec has been helping out for the last month while I have been injured ( Broke my Clavacle and 2 ribs when I crashed my ebike) and will be coming in a couple evenings a week for the foreseeable future. Welcome aboard to Pascale. Maybe she may even find her way in here? She seems to pop up in all the right places.

#5

Thank y’all for the insight! It’s very cool to learn about the details and thought process that goes into treatment. As a patient it is an interesting balance between advocating for yourself without micro-managing the electrologist who is doing their job. I shall try to dig up some pictures next time I have questions.

Welcome to Pascale and @Iluv2zap I hope you feel better soon.

#6

I do full clearance on the chin area every single time. I don’t subscribe to “it as a danger area” unless one is inexperienced and not using a modern epilator. I rarely send people out of my office without clearing the chin. My setup and experience allows for this to be so, but I can’t speak for everybody’s set up and experience. I will say, there are many wonderful professionals that clear chins, necks and upper lips without any problems and their clients are beyond the moon happy.

So, if you want to share with your electrologist your concerns, then you are free to do so. She may not agree with you and become frustrated, but don’t be afraid to speak your concerns. If you are dictating what you want and she doesn’t agree it will cost you more and take longer to complete in the end.

#7

Hello there! It’s fantastic that you’re being cautious against scarring throughout your thermolysis treatments. If you’re concerned, you might request that your practitioner thin out the region or remove fewer hairs in a single session. Furthermore, asking her to skip a hair if it doesn’t come out after a few zaps is a legitimate approach.

#8

I clear chin hair each and every time, wait 6 weeks and clear the NEW hair that emerges. Many of my colleagues do the same. It depends on skill, equipment used, experience and good aftercare. If done well there is no long term effects. I’ve been doing that for 24 years.

If you you were my client, I would listen to your concerns and do what you want, but I would let you know that it will take longer and thus cost more if we don’t clear.

#9

Interesting that you say 6 weeks. One electrologist I went to said every 3 and the other one said once per week to start. It takes over a week for there to be no redness or sign of treatment so I think I’d prefer to space them out. How do you decide what’s best?

#10

Excellent question. Thank you and happy to explain.

I want the skin to heal and I want the maximum amount of NEW growth to come to the surface so I can get a full clearance again. As you know, not all the hair you really have below the surface of your chin is present at the same time. Hair grows in cycles, so we play the waiting game for all NEW hair to burst forth over a period of about a year to a year and a half.

I like the strategy to clear and wait and have no problems associated with that plan. Clients like having no hair for 2-3weeks while they heal and wait for the next group of hair to appear.

The advice offered you is THEIR way of helping you to permanently disable hair follicles and will still work for you providing their insertions are perfect and the chosen energy level is allowing the hair to slide out with no resistance. We all have our favorite ways of removing hair and I like full clearance, with good equipment, good aftercare and 6-8 weeks for healing. If I can’t get a full clearance up front in the first session, then I see them every two weeks until I can - then we start with the every 6 weeks plan.

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#11

So helpful, thanks!