increasing moisture in dry follicles

Hair Removal Methods Do-It-Yourself Electrolysis
#1

Been experimenting with the different modes on the Fischer CB2 I picked up on Ebay. In galvanic mode, I found that my own follicles make lots of lye. UL settings of 50-60 seem to make plenty of lye (foams out the top). However, my wife’s follicles do not work so well. Even at settings over 90UL, there is little noticeable lye being formed and the hairs are still difficult to epilate (underarm hairs). I am assuming this is due to a lower moisture content in her follicles.

So my question is: Is there a way to increase the moisture in dry follicles. Here are some ideas I have thought of but not tried: dipping the probe in saline before insertion, applying a drop of saline after insertion so the fluid wicks in, getting her to perspire before epilating, applying a warm wet washcloth before epliating, drinking a ton of water before epilating…etc.

Are there any standard techniques for this problem?

#2

Part of my consultation process is having my clients get a reading on my handy dandy scale that tells us what their hydration reading is. (Yeah, it gives weight and body fat as well, but the hydration and body fat are all that matter to me) In many cases, I end up explaining to my female clients that while a perfect score on my scale would be 70 or 100 (depending on which one I use) I have had women in my office whose hydration counts have come back 29 or 38 (depending on which scale machine I use) and I have to inform them that if I were in a hospital, I would be starting an IV drip on them! Diet Coke is NOT a replacement for water.

What you NEED to do is to start increasing your wife’s intake of cleansing water, energy giving electrolytes, and life giving toxic waste removing fiber.

It takes time for the hydration count to increase. simply drinking “a ton of water” one day won’t help. In fact it would likely hurt more, as doing only that would tend to flush out what few electrolytes one actually has in one’s system. One needs to work at bringing this hydration level up. Increase the vegetables and fruit in the diet. Get electrolytes from good sources like fruits, veggies, molasses, and alkalinized water. On top of this, be sure to have a total intake of water per day that is at least a gallon a day (NOT all at the same time).

Your wife will find that her skin looks and feels better, in addition to allowing you to turn the treatment energy down.

#3

Yes, exactly. High amounts of water has caused people to drown in their own organs so yes, it is a good idea to drink some high alkaline water. If there is an alkaline digit, start with number 8 and don’t go higher than 10 alkalinity. It is also referred to as ionized water or smart water. Do not confuse this with distilled water which contains no minerals and is not meant to replace regular drinking water.

I have been thinking of purchasing an ionizing machine to create my own water but because they cost thousands of dollars, I need to do more research and figure out which brand to choose.

#4

what do you guys think about dipping the probe in saline before insertion?

#5

A couple of weeks ago, I had the same problem with one of my clients. When I started working in one of her arms, the dry and cracked skin, was preventing my from distinguishing well the follicles and I had to raise the intensity of the current.
I needed a rapid solution for another arm, only I was having a couple of hours. So the solution had to come from the exterior of the body. I applied a good cap of moisturizing cream (the first one that I found) and I occluded the zone (paper film). This worked! And my client was the first one in demonstrating her surprise.

#6

What do you think about anaphoresis?

#7

I thought anaphoresis is typically used as an after-treatment to create some HCL to neutralize lye produced during treatment. Would it increase moisture level in the follicles?

#8

Hi Rhod.
Anaphoresis will open the follicular ostiums (often referred to as pores).
You are probably thinking of Cataphoresis which produces vasoconstriction of the follicular ostiums (closes the pores).

#9

but how to get more moisture down inside the follicle? I guess no one has tried dipping the probe in saline. I will try it and report back.

#10

I don’t know.

Better to get the proper amount of actual water for ones body size and hydrate three days before a treatment. Staying hydrated is a worthy goal, whether you are receiving electrolysis or not.

You had an interesting thought there, Rhodie.

#11

well I tried the saline dip last night. I’d say the results are inconclusive. No huge increase in observed lye. I got the feeling that it tended to increase the pain level. Probably improved conduction near the surface where you don’t really want it. I have some insulated probes on the way so I’ll try it again with those. The insulated probes should fix the surface conduction issue if it exists. Keep in mind, I am doing straight galvanic method.

#12

I have never applied anaphoresis before to Electrolysis’s treatment. Does it work?

I know that it facilitates the extraction of closed comedones, applied before the treatment. For years I do not use it. I will try it. Thank you for the suggestion, Arlene.

There is another thing that would work, Rhode, but it must NOT be applied in skin mucosal: The application of tretinoine (0.025 %), 15 days before Electrolysis. The elimination of the stratum corneum, it facilitates of spectacular form the conduction of the current and reduces to the half the time necessary for the healing.
Years ago I read an article of the Dr. Kligman in the one that was recommending the application of tretinoine in the zone that will receive a leather graft.

#13

For all of us Apilus Platinum / Pure users ( James, Josefa, Barbara, Arlene, Christine, Mairi, Sahra - who did I leave out?) we have a feature that enables one to determine the moisture level of our client’s skin. Directions are on page 35 of the user’s manual. Don’t know if it is as good as James’ separate unit.

Also, I received a desperate call from a colleague this morning. The screen on her Pure was blank when she turned on the unit to begin work. Just remember there is a knob on the side of the unit. It is called the ‘screen intensity knob’, so if your screen ever appears blank, just a simple turn of the knob will bring back the pictures and writing and then you are good to go.

#14

Hahaha, the notice is late for me, I itself had to verify it .

Also You have the possibility of lowering the sound of the pulses. I have a neighbor (with a very sensitive ear) and he could not sleep the siesta (sleeping after eating) :sleep: , because he could not stand the " beep, beep ". :crazy:

#15

I have been using Anaphoresis for quite a while but stopped doing thtat because some of my clients reacted very sensitive to even low levels of the current.

All those using thermolysis: the setup requires some additional effort: sponges to the cathode (like galvanic, anaphoresis will produce lye and HCl), whet cloths between roller and skin. Furthermore, it is not possible to sterilize the roller (and one would need several rollers sufficient for a working day).

Not only for those: its a feature of many, possibly all apilus machines. My old Junior device can also roughly determine the moisture level. It seems to be a simple measurement of electrical conductivity the body.

Regarding the intensity of the beeps: somewhere hidden within the menus of my box there is a control of kind and intensity of the beeping.

Beate

#16

I can do anaphoresis with my Fischer CB2. I have tried it a few times. Hard to say if it really doing anything. Certainly nothing visible or obvious. The books say it opens the pores but you can’t really see if thats actually happening. I can say it does not seem to increase the amount of lye produced during galvanic.

Since we have been focusing on armpit hair, I am wondering if consistent use of antiperspirants keeps the armpit follicles dry.

As I have posted before, my wife develops skin sensitivity after we zap for a while. Its a urticaria kind of thing. I am curious what the pros on here think about the relative sensitivity of the arm pit area: more or less sensitive (on average) than other areas.

#17

Have you thought that maybe the lack of moisture owes to that the majority of the follicles of your wife can be in telogen phase already?

In the women the telogen phase is longer than in the men.

#18

I did an underarm case today, in addition, to many other underams in the past. I can honestly say that the reaction was minimal and the area heals rather quickly. If insertions are too shallow, then you may encounter the problems you are talking about. Cold aloe vera gel would feel good. Telogen hairs have dry, white, hard balls of protein. They don’t leave the follicle very easy. Time it right when those hairs come back as moist new hairs and they should slide out better as long as the energy and timing levels are correct.

#19 
 I am so glad to see this post as I had a problem with a client today.  And "Dehydrated" skin was a big part of the problem, as I'm using galvanic on her chin,and she was only comfortable with the lower settings.    She's very "hirsute" in this area.   She's AA and the hairs were tightly coiled to boot.    

 I kept stressing the "dehydrated" condition of her skin as I took my time exploring for the follicule openings.   This one took the cake.  I was more concerned about preventing hyper-pigmentation and entry-angles than I was about anything else.

 My aftercare instructions was focused more on improved skin care (hydration) than on the Tx.