I’m a stay at home mom of a 2 year old toddler. Although this seems like a perfect time to see an electrolysis about clearing my facial hair (particularly the chin area which is the most obvious), I’m concerned about the amount of time it would actually take. After reading some postings and seeing that some women have been getting treated over a year, I’m not sure whether I should get started on treatments now, or after I have a second child. My husband and I are planning on getting pregnant (God willing) next year. Time if a factor (I just turned 38). If in fact I was to get cleared in 9-12 months, would getting pregnant make my hair problem worse?? I know it’s difficult to say but I am wondering if any CPEs have clients who’ve experienced this. Because I’m not currently working, I would be able to visit an electrolysis regularly. I also don’t have a hormone problem; I met with an endocrinologist in April.
If you don’t have a hormone problem, do you know where the hair came from to begin with? Another good question would be did you experience excess hair growth with your first pregnancy?
Yes, excess hair is possible during pregnancy, but not guarunteed.
When we say that the time frame for electrolysis treatments is about a year, we are not talking about you submitting yourself for treatment every day of the week for an hour . This is really easy on the income for most people and very easy on the time commitment component.
You can’t possibly get permanent hair removal any faster than 9-12 months because hair grows in cycles and we can’t treat what we can’t see. W have to clear and wait, clear and wait again, clear and wait again. Laser takes a year,too. Some situations for both laser and electrolysis can require treatments that take 15-24 months. Time depends on the uniqueness of the clients problem.
You can get cleared well before 9-12 months and you can stay cleared by showing up for your appointments every couple of weeks. Cleared does not mean finished, but you will notice things getting better as the months pass. If you don’t, something is wrong. If you have a slow electrologist who uses a slower method, it will take longer. If you have a speedy, accurate electrologist that uses microflash thermolysis, you will see faster progression.
A second pregnancy could stimulate more hair. The noticable hair you have now will not revert, so getting it off now and fast and staying on it will mean that you will not add more hair to any hair that may be stimulated by the next pregnancy. Why live with the hair you now have if it is bothering you? I have had four pregnancies and got treatment during and in between those pregnancies with no problem. I’m stable to this day. There’s no reason to wait unless there is a money or time factor involved.
The time invested is not as big a hurdle as you imagine. Just get the first clearance and visit your electrologist every 2-3 weeks after that. If you need weekly appointments for a little bit, so be it, but you won’t need them for long. With that said, if you go to a slow electrologist using a slow method, progress will crawl. That’s why we suggest that you interview electrologists and experience a treatment. Up-to-date equipment, quality vision wear, quality lighting moves this process along and gives you hope that the permanent solution is close at hand. So, be wise in your decision about who you choose to hire.
I first started noticing a few hairs around my chin area during my pregnancy and plucked them (big mistake). I’m talking about only 2-5 hairs max. and only noticed them thanks to a 10x mirror (which I now regret buying). Bleaching would have taken care of them. Before my pregnancy, this area was not a problem at all. As for other areas on my face, its just peach fuzz but its a bit longer around the side burn area. The upper lip is not that bad. I feel I may have made the side burn area worse by using different hair removal products over the past years. For now, I just bleach this area which seems to help.
it’s not that huge of a commitment. it doesn’t sound like you have a ton of hair and even if you do have an average amount, you would only require weekly or twice a week appts for 30-60 mins to start. Most people go in once every 2 weeks when they start, and by the time you’re in month 4-5, you’re down to once every 3-4 weeks.
if pregnancy stimulated some hair growth the first time, there is a chance that it will happen again. however, the follicles you will kill now, won’t regenerate hair. it will be NEW follicles that will start being active. Basically, what I’m saying is that getting treatments now won’t be useless.
dfhey and lagirl, Thanks for your advice. I’m just trying to determine whether I should get started on electrolysis now or put it off until next year. I would prefer not get electrolysis done while pregnant. What I’ll go ahead and do in the next week (or 2) is schedule to interview 2-3 electrologists and see what they recommend. Thanks again:)
There really is no reason to delay treatments. The treatments you have now will make sure that the treatments you have later are fewer and of shorter duration.
There is no data suggesting that even straight galvanic is any hazard to the fetus, but since thermolysis doesn’t require any current to pass through the body, most people like to do thermolysis on expecting mothers. Current science suggests strongly that all forms of electrolysis hair removal are perfectly safe during pregnancy.
You have to go with your comfort level about receiving electrolysis when you are pregnant, but like James said so well, there has been no problems for the pregnant and electrolysis has been around for 130 years. As I said in my earlier post, I had electrolysis during all four of my pregnancies and my kids all think they are genius’s.