I went to my first electrolysis session today

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
1

First, about me. I’m of Middle Eastern descent, with very pale skin and dark brown (almost black) facial hair. I started waxing and plucking at 16 and then started laser hair removal at 18. After a year and a half of that, I saw no improvement, and in fact, I think that the situation worsened. Because I could only shave between laser sessions, I got into the habit of shaving my face. And now I’m 22, shaving my face every other day, and hating it.

Recently I’ve been really upset about my facial hair situation, especially because it takes up so much of my time and energy to keep it under control. I remembered that my mother had a positive experience with a electrologist around 15 years ago, so I decided to do some research. I got a recommendation for a local electrologist, and made my first appointment.

The electrologist was really nice and chatty. I felt really terrible about my facial hair, but she tried her best to make me feel better. The thing is that my facial hair isn’t incredibly thick, but it’s very dark. I hate looking at it (which is why I shaved it constantly). She said that I would probably have to come in once a week for an hour each time (and at $90 a session, that is going to be really steep for my husband and I). She used blend, which stung and made my right food twitch. She got 15 minutes in today, during which she zapped half the hair from my right cheek. She said that it would take four (!!!) hours to clear my face. I didn’t realize that I was that bad a case. Does anyone have any images/pictures of facial hair in women? I wonder how abnormal I might be.

Right now I am really debating continuing electrolysis. I love the idea of becoming hair free, but at what cost? What if it costs four or five thousand dollars to get there (and that’s just my face)? My husband and I aren’t in bad financial shape, but spending an extra $360 a month on electrolysis is not going to be a small deal for us. It’s really difficult to consider that I might not be able to do this right now and that I might have to put it off for another few years. I want this problem taken care of as soon as possible.

Anyway, she put zinc oxide diaper rash cream on the treated area and told me not to wash it for 24 hours. The area is tender, red, and bumpy, but I’m not going to pass judgment until I see what it looks like tomorrow afternoon. I have another (one hour) session on Saturday and I’m worried about the pain, but she did suggest 5% lidocaine gel which I bought, just in case.

Other than the cost, I’m also not so keen on walking around with a hairy face. It’s not hairy to the point of being masculine, but it is apparent. If I just let my facial hair grow, it can get pretty long (up to half an inch on my neck). I am not looking forward to showing it off to the world.

That’s all for today. I’ll update tomorrow with pictures and the condition of my skin.

2

Firstly, I just want to let you know that shaving daily is pretty much second nature to many middle eastern/south asian women. We don’t talk about it much to each other, but sometimes it’s the only way to deal with this type of hair. From your description it sounds like it is very fine and dark, but so long that it cannot be disguised with bleach. In theory it should be easier to treat than thick facial hairs, but I found it was the trickiest to get the hang of. The roots are fairly shallow but they are very strong, so it’s easy to overtreat. Side effects such as bad red scabbing tend not to appear until the next day, and clients often don’t tell their electrologist as they think it is normal. Although I usually prefer blend, I think with this type of hair flash thermolysis is often a better option (not always though).

My advice would be to try a few other electrologists. I know it is frustrating but you really can’t solely trust the recommendation of others. You have to try people out for yourself. Some electrologists have strengths in some areas and weaknesses in others. The is no reason why you cannot shave between appointments to keep hair in check. Zinc oxide is not a great choice. Better to use aloe vera or witch hazel gel (ie nothing with oil).

The first few appointments can often be the most disappointing as it seems as if progress is so slow. If one hour a week is too costly then just make it every two weeks, or maybe 15 to 30 mins a week. It’s not ideal but the important part is to make regular appointments to begin with. Once the hairs start to reduce you’ll be able to space out your appointments.

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Pamd- thank you so much for your reply! It makes me feel better that I’m not alone. You’re absolutely right about the type of hair I have, too. The roots are pretty shallow but very strong and stubborn. I’ve been calling around per your suggestion and spoke to some really unprofessional people and some very thoughtful and caring people, and I set up consultations with the latter. They all told me that shaving between treatments isn’t a problem, which makes me upset since the person I went to yesterday made me grow out my facial hair for 5 days before coming in. And that was embarrassing.

I was really wary about her putting oil-rich diaper rash cream on my face, too. I didn’t like that idea and I like your suggestions much more. Thank you for your comments and suggestions!

I’m especially excited about my electrolysis consultation on Tuesday morning. The electrologist seems very caring and her website is very professionally done. Her rates are identical to the place I went yesterday, but her testimonials and reviews are excellent. She mentioned trying IPL along with electrolysis (though she wants to talk to me and see my face first, and also make sure I feel comfortable with something similar to laser). To be honest, I’m really not comfortable, and I’ll let her know that. But I’m open to hearing what she has to say about it and researching my options.

The skin that was treated yesterday is now bumpy, irritated, and red. I tried some witch hazel on it and I’m getting aloe vera today. Hopefully the irritation will subside soon.

4

The irritation will subside with good after care. It’s not always predicatble how different skin types will react to electrolysis, especially in the begining sessions. We are destroying tissue, so you can’t expect to look as if nothing has happened, but sometimes it does look like nothing has happened within hours or sooner after a treatment. Depneds on the person and the situation. When you have a lot of hair close together that was treated, your skin will look a little rougher for up to a week. You shouldn’t have big scabs all over your face that last weeks and weeks and keeps you from socializing. I’m not saying that outcome is acceptable. Keep in close communication with your practitioner about healing scenario. Clients’ skin usually adjust to electrolysis after 5-6 treatments and healing outcome is much, much better from then on. So… don’t panic if you see a few bumps and redness. Keep a check on how long it takes you to heal and let your electrologist know.

IPL with electrolysis??? Does she profit in any way by using an IPL? I wouldn’t do it. I think your instincts are correct, but do let us know the reasoning behind this. Maybe all of us will learn something good.

Dee

5

a few thoughts:

  1. Do NOT let her use an IPL on you. Laser in general if not good for that type of hair, especially IPL on darker skin. That is probably in part why you didn’t get results with laser before, though you didn’t mention any specifics on machine and settings, or pictures, so hard to judge. Stick with electrolysis.

  2. I would also recommend someone using Thermolysis type, not blend. It is a lot faster and will get you clearance fast. And for straight shallow hairs should be the best option.

  3. Shaving is not a problem at all and even encouraged so that the electrologist can see which hairs are in the right growth phase. You do need to grow them out for a few days though so they can see the hair and have something to pull on when treating.

  4. It would be financially beneficial for you to come in for longer treatments as often as possible in the beginning to get to the first clearance as fast as possible so that you’re only coming in to treat the new hairs that pop up after that, which will all be in the right first stage of growth.

  5. I find that using pure aloe vera (clear gel in the sublock section of drugstore) or witch hazel a few times a day works best for aftercare. And it’s cheap too.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

6

That’s good to hear. I really wouldn’t have the IPL though. It’ll totally slow down progress, plus I doubt it would help with this type of hair.

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Dee - My healing went pretty well! Today (4 days after treatment) my skin is looking excellent, with no redness or bumps.

lagirl - I actually have very pale skin and very dark hair, but I agree that since laser didn’t work the first time, I should be reluctant to spend so much on it again. The electrologist I had a consultation with today uses thermolysis, which is something I looked out for.

pamd - How does it slow down progress? That’s the opposite of what the electrologist told me, ugh!

At the consultation today, the electrologist stressed that she was not pushing me into LHE intense pulsed light, but that she thought that in conjunction with electrolysis, I’d have great results. I’m sure she believes that, but I really don’t. At $300 a treatment once a month, that would make my monthly hair removal costs around $700. I don’t think that’s reasonable for us right now. The only other issue I see is that she immediately told me that I have a lot of broken capillaries and acne, and she also does skincare, so there’s another incentive for her.

She’s very kind and likable, though. I can definitely see myself being comfortable there. Her rates are pretty standard, too, so it can’t hurt to try her out. I only have one question about that, though: is my entire face supposed to be cleared every time? I’m talking cheeks, sideburns, chin, and neck. She suggested an hour a week for now. This is the second place I’ve gone to that has been surprised at how much facial hair I have. It’s really weird for me because I know there are worse cases out there. I didn’t realize that it was that bad.

I’ll take pictures off my camera and post a couple pics of what it looks like after a week of growth. I really want honest opinions: is it so terrible that I might have to get electrolysis for years?

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It’s also worth noting that when I did laser three years ago, it was with this machine:

http://www.shohrehskincare.com/microdermabrasion/#laser

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Well, upon looking at the pictures, I’m going to have to say yes, it does look pretty bad. I’m so embarrassed.

ImageShack - Best place for all of your image hosting and image sharing needs (sideburn and cheek)

ImageShack - Best place for all of your image hosting and image sharing needs (under chin)

Wow. :frowning:

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Seeing a clients face for the first time can be a shocker, but it is not anything we haven’t seen and taken care of before. With a plan aand a cooperative client, this can be handled. You won’t have to get electrolysis for “years” if you have someone that approaches this correctly. Skip the IPL and skin care stuff and concentrate on pure electrolysis leading to the that first clearing. Starting out for an hour’s worth is reasonable, but if you can, work your way up to more time so you can get the hair off faster to reach that precious first clearance. By working up gradually, you can see what your healing is like with her, but keep in mind that you will want to give her more time to get you cleared. Thereafter, visit her every two to three weeks and get cleared again. Keep with this schedule and you will be under control and finished within a year, but don’t be in a slump if it takes 13,14 or 15 months. This isn’t an exact science, we can only talk in terms of estimates because it’s hair, mixed with all the variables of Mother Nature. That’s a tough combination, but eventually you and your electrologist will win.

[color:#FF6666]*****[/color]I just posted and then saw your pictures. Thank you very much for posting those. I’m not shocked at all by the amount of hair. See this all the time and much worse. I’m glad she does thermolysis. Does she do microflash or flash? You’ll be fine. Just get cleared as soon as you feel comfortable with her treatments and stay cleared.

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Concerning your laser post. Did you get any help from lasering your face? Did the hair reduce in size and color? Did you end up with less hair than when you started? How many treaments did you have altogether and were they spaced properly? In other words, did you follow the plan from start to finish as advised by your laserologist?

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Thanks for the reassuring words and the information. This board in general has helped me feel a lot better about the process, and I’m really looking forward to seeing results in the long run. She told me that she uses “short wave” or thermolysis, but didn’t mention whether it’s microflash or flash.

Also, regarding your laser question, I went in for 8 sessions over the course of two years, per the person’s spacing recommendation. I didn’t see any results from this. In fact, I think it may have made my facial hair worse, but since I have no pictures, I can’t tell for sure. My last treatment was about two years ago, and I’ve been shaving since then. The person who treated my alleged that I didn’t see results because I shaved in between treatments. I don’t know how true that is.

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  1. Your hair seems coarse enough for laser and your skin is light. Apex is a diode. Not the best one out there for you, but should work ok in good hands. Considering that they advised you not to shave, I would assume that it wasn’t in good hands. What they told you is an excuse and not true. Did you ever experience shedding after treatments? Do you know what settings were used? Possible to find out? If you didn’t see the hair shed each time 2-3 weeks post treatment, you were most likely undertreated. If you can find out the spot size, pulse, and joules used, we can help determine that better.

  2. If you do want to try laser again, you would need a good alexandrite machine like GentleLASE in good hands (this is most important and there are actually several recommendations here for DC area who have the GentleLASE) at high settings. Your skin is light and it should work well. However, this is not a huge amount of hair and thermolysis electrolysis should be able to handle it just fine too. So, it’s up to you.

  3. How old are you? Have you looked into possible causes of this hair? Have you seen an endocrinologist? Do you have any other symptoms that could point to a hormonal imbalance? I think it’s important to get the possibility out of the way just in case.

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  1. I saw some shedding, but it wasn’t very much. As far as I can tell, she used a really high setting on me (at least that’s what she told me). Unfortunately I don’t speak with her anymore because she acted very unprofessionally and, in my opinion, stole our money, so I don’t have that information.

  2. That’s good to know! If electrolysis proves too time consuming and slow, I’ll look into that. I’ll check the laser forum for more information on referrals, etc.

  3. I’m 22. I’ve gotten a lot of blood work done. Nothing abnormal is going on. My mother is also normal hormonally and has the same facial (and chest) hair growth as me. The only other symptom I see is the hair around my nipples (around 20 dark hairs around each nipple).

I went to a third consultation + treatment today. I really, really liked her. She prefers to use blend, but she’s willing to split it and use thermolysis if I want. I loved her machine, which let out cold air while it zapped my hair, so the pain was much more tolerable. She said that it was ok to shave my face, but to leave about 3 days worth of growth for when I come in, which makes sense. She answered all my questions really well, taught me some things I didn’t know before, and she worked swiftly but patiently. The area doesn’t feel too sore at all. Her rates are about the same as everywhere else, but I can really see this working out for now. I have an appointment for Friday to get as much cleared as possible. Hopefully she’ll prove to be a good electrologist and I can stop searching for now.

15

Sounds like you’re on your way. Good luck.

With laser, all treated hair should shed within 3 weeks. So it definitely sounds like she was undertreating you. It’s unfortunate that these people are even operating laser machines. As I recommend to everyone on the laser forum, it is absolutely necessary to check out at least 3-4 places before committing to one as you’re doing with electrolysis now.

Just something to consider: most regular physicians miss issues such as PCOS etc. Seeing a specialist, an endocrinologist, would give you a definite answer on the issue.

Treating hairs around the nipple with electrolysis is also pretty simple. Once you’re on your way with your face and you’ll have some time left during your appointments, just have her grab those as well.

If you do want to find that GentleLASE referral in the future, run a search on cosmetic enhancements forum too. There are several people there from DC who checked out a bunch of places.

16

I have to jump in, though a little late, and say that the allegation of shaving between treatments causing hair to grow is somewhere between absurd and ridiculous. Or, it could be both.

Obviously, the person who said that didn’t know what they were talking about so I doubt that they were very good at permanent hair removal or reduction.

17

Just an FYI, someone just posted about successful results at a place called Alase again near DC. The guy had his entire back treated 3 years ago with 95%+ removal results. I thought of you since he just posted this yesterday and it’s near you. You can check out his post at the following link (last post) and keep this place in mind for the future just in case.

http://cosmeticenhancementsforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4107

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Sorry I totally missed this question before. I’m going on 1) personal experience and 2) observation of my asian/middle eastern clients who’ve had laser before coming to me. Basically, if you pluck out a hair then you’ve got to wait for it to grow back in order to treat it with electrolysis. Considering laser/ipl/lhe/etc keeps hair away for months (if it works at all with this type of hair) then that’s how long you have to wait in order to finally get it with electrolysis. I’m coming from the opinion that laser/etc isn’t permanent, so others here will no doubt disagree.

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Yes, I personally would have to disagree since I haven’t had to shave my underarms in over a year now for example. I don’t think all the hair will just start growing in in another year. Seems far-fetched. And I definitely wouldn’t be spending money on getting my legs done, which I just did for the first time, if I didn’t think I got permanent reduction on the other areas I have done. However, for all the fine hair I have, including the facial areas, I had electrolysis, which has also been permanent. No treatments on upper lip in probably 6 months now with no regrowth.

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But that’s exactly the problem. Nobody wants to wait 5 or 10 years to see whether it really is permanent, whereas you can see grandmothers today with bare chins thanks to electrolysis in their 20s. I had ruby laser in the mid 90s and every single one grew back eventually. There’s a plethora of ‘evidence’ and case studies about, but it is pretty easy to pick it apart. I’m sure there are some people who have achieved partial or even total removal, but not nearly enough to justify the hyperbole.