what area did you have the laser done? how many treatments? what color is your hair?
as you know, even with electrolysis, you can see some new hairs pop up later in life just because they come out of dormancy. there is no scientific explanation for hair to be gone for 5-10 years and then suddenly “come back”. that has to be NEW hair as you would say if that happened with electrolysis. how do you explain the follicles not developing any hair for 10 years and then start all of a sudden?
Btw, there have been several posters here like NoHair who haven’t had anything come back in 6 years etc.
You may get a few hairs grow back in years after successful electrolysis but certainly nowhere near the same amount as before. Hair growth later in life is due to either external factors (exposure to heat, light and cold), medical conditions and natural changes in hormones (where the very same hormone can make hair lighter in some areas and heavier in others in the same person and at the same time).
As for my laser, there was only one type available back then (ruby). It worked perfectly and kept the hair away for almost a year, and even after that the hair grew finer for a while but it is back to how it was before. As I said before, I’m sure there are a handful of people who have been successful with laser and similar treatments, but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the manufacturers are now marketing their machines for skin rejuvenation rather than hair removal.
there are various machines. the ones that are used for skin rejuvination etc are IPLs and are not good for hair removal. the reason they’re being sold that way is to market to spas in that sort of “jack of all trades, master of none” way. the most effective lasers for hair removal are made specifically for hair removal, notably the alexandrite lasers.
do you mind answering my questions about how many treatments and the color of your skin and hair?
lagirl- sorry about the delay, it was midterm week and I didn’t get to check the forums much!
I had either six or seven treatments done (I don’t remember exactly) and they were 6 weeks apart from each other. She did my cheeks, sideburns, upper lip, chin, and neck. My skin is pale (the lightest color in most brands of makeup) and my hair is very dark brown, almost black. My upper lip hair grew back a lot lighter and thinner. The rest of my face, which before treatment was fairly thin hairs, grew back darker (definitely black now) and coarser. I have no explanation for my upper lip, though.
My mom has a bit darker skin and the same color hair as me, and she went to the same person, and her face reacted the same way. Thicker, darker, and coarser. She also had the rest of her body done with the laser (legs, bikini area, stomach, arms, underarms) and most of that was successful.
I would not do laser hair removal on my face. This is not an uncommon thing for female’s who’ve had their facial hair treated with laser to experience more growth.
I agree with Evee and one of the experts sslhr explains why on the laser portion of the forum if you want to check it out. there are several kinds of growth and this is one of them. upper lip is actually the easiest to treat relative to other areas on a woman’s face.
If you find a good electrologist, the average female face job is easily brought under control in a short amount of time, and the maintenance through completion is pretty simple. Just make sure you work towards getting as many hairs as possible as soon as possible to get full clearance, and then keep it maintained via regular appointments once you are there.
evee - That’s very wise! I was 18 when I did laser and it was because my mother recommended somebody specific, and I didn’t do my research. Had I known about the risk, I probably would have just done electrolysis from the beginning.
lagirl - I’ll definitely check that out! Thanks for letting me know that I’m not alone in experiencing this type of growth.
James - What do you mean by a short amount of time? The electrologist I’m seeing now prefers to use blend and really feel comfortable with her. I’ve had about 2.5 hours with her so far (and I’m continuing to see her once a week for an hour) and there is change, but nowhere near full clearance. I was expecting around 5 or 6 hours for full clearance, but I have no idea if that’s reasonable.
I’ve continued to see the electrologist I found close to home. She practices blend and I love her machine (http://gentronicsepilators.com/default.aspx,which has an air desensitizer). She’s also a nice person in general. I’ve had almost no irritation except for some redness on the first day, probably because she treats the area really well with TendSkin and Aloe afterwards. I’m still not going to recommend her until I start seeing results. It’s going a little slower than I expected, since I hoped each hour would clear a portion of my face, but instead she likes to work everywhere, so I can’t really gauge the change. Is that a normal practice? I’m sure if I were to ask her, she’d focus on one area at a time.
I think I might start looking around in the summer for an electrologist in the area that does thermolysis, just out of curiosity. How many seconds does the needle to stay in for thermolysis? I’ve been counting around 7 seconds for blend.
Thank you everyone for your wonderful support and suggestions. It’s been immensely helpful.
I can tell you my definition of a short amount of time for full clearance. It varies from 1 hour to 5-6 hours for most cases I see. Of course, time is dependant on the amount and type of hair that presents itself. This time includes the sides, the chin and neck as well as the upper lip. James and others can probably perform faster. From that point on, I need to see a client every 3weeks to keep the area clear. If she wants to come as soon as two weeks, that’s fine, too. This is a reasonable scenario if one uses microflash thermolysis. Blend is a good plan as well, but full, first clearance would take longer to achieve. So, don’t fret about this if you have found someone you are comfortable with and she is close to home. Just makes sure she is giving you great electrolysis care all around.
I used this Gentronics digital computerized epilator before I bought my Sil-tone VMC. I still own this epilator,finding it hard to part with it even though I don’t use it anymore. I did mostly blend with the Gentronics and all went very well. Seven or eight seconds sounds about right for the blend. So,it sounds like she is doing a great job and I wouldn’t worry. Have you asked her if she can do microflash, as this epilator is capable of performing this modality as well. If she doesn’t, it is better to stick with someone who does any modality well as oppossed to someone else that can’t do any modality well.
Dee- Thanks for all the info! I think I have a more realistic idea of how long my first clearance will take. Right now I’m at about 3.5 hours, and at the rate I’m being cleared I think it will take about three more hours. I have asked her about microflash, and she seems to have a lot of confidence in blend, so I’d like to continue with it for now. She did mention that she will use that modality if I want, but she also says that it won’t be significantly faster than blend in her opinion. That seems to be in conflict with what I’ve learned on the boards, but she’s speaking from her experience, I suppose.
I would like to try out an electrologist who does microflash well at some point in the future, but probably not until I get a recommendation from a client with good results.
Anyway, today was another hour. It was at a higher setting and I could definitely tell. When she was working on my neck and under my chin, my right leg twitched a little and the pain was a little more intense than I was expecting. This might have been partially my fault, since I haven’t been drinking enough fluids lately. She did get a very large amount cleared today, which was very pleasantly surprising. I wish I could schedule 4 hours back-to-back with her, but she doesn’t do that. I just want that first clearing.
I think the only issue I’m having with electrolysis at this point is the cost. $84 an hour is not pocket change for me. I’ve found people within driving distance (Baltimore, parts of Northern Virginia, etc.) that charge anywhere from $55 an hour, but I think that I’m kind of reluctant to take a chance without recommendations. Anyway, I’m rambling
Great. Thanks for the update. Leg twitching happens to many people. Make sure you drink actual water at least three days up to your treatment session and then maybe the intensity can be decreased a bit.
When I first started electrology school, I had one client whom everyone had troubles with her legs jumping. I started out using the same settings that everyone else had used previously, as I did not know any better. I found that hairs however were almost welding themselves to the probe, and turned the settings down just a bit. It was surprising how much easier it became for the client and myself to remove her leg hairs. For her she did not need the settings that high. She was very well hydrated and just a bump lower in currents really made a drastic difference. She kept coming back to me for her treatments and I got lots of experience working with her. Hydration really does make a very big difference in treatments.
Those are great points, Martha and Dee. I’ll definitely keep myself more hydrated and see if she can lower the settings just a bit to see if it’ll make a difference. Up until my last session, I didn’t have any leg-jumping problems.
I’m not feeling so great about my facial hair right now, or about my electrologist. She’s also a hairdresser and she told me she could give me a discount on a trim, but that I shouldn’t feel obligated. I said I would think about it. And then when we were saying goodbye she said, “Don’t forget to make an appointment for your trim this week!” Ugh, why can’t I find an electrologist who is just an electrologist? Not someone who is eager to use their IPL machine on me and clear my invisible acne, not someone who wants to give me a trim (I self-trim because I’m growing my hair out and I don’t want anyone else to touch it), but someone whose trade and art is electrology. I’m feeling a little discouraged. I don’t know.
The stubble is driving me mad. My electrologist wants me to stop shaving the Sunday before our sessions (on Friday), which leaves me needing to be stubbly throughout the week. It makes it really difficult to go to class after Tuesday. I want to find someone who is good at thermolysis and see if s/he’ll schedule a large block to work on me. I’m willing to drive outside of this region if I have to.
I should just listen to my gut and find a new electrologist. I think.
Dee - I’m in the DC-area, and we have a lot of electrologists around here. I’ve been trying to find referrals from people who have gotten work done, but it’s been very difficult. The only referral I managed to get was to an electrologist who treated me really unprofessionally at the consultation.
I’m going to continue calling around and searching online for reviews/experiences, but if you know anyone within an hour’s drive of DC, I would love to try them out.
