I am interested in becoming a certified Electrolysist. I come from city that is big, growing, but not large. Is it worth becoming certified? Is electrolysis on its way out? Is laser hair removal going to take its place?
No way!
LHR is great but I doubt it’ll ever replace electrolysis. Yes, electrolysis is “old school” and is slow. However, it has great results. Because of the science of LHR, it’ll never target red, blond and gray hairs. Therefore, electrolysis will remain. Also, LHR is great to a certain point. Hairs become thin and more sparse making it more difficult for laser to target the hair. Also, it then becomes an expensive way to get rid of the few, remaining thin hairs. Therefore, electrolysis will remain. Another factor is that there are some people that don’t seemt to respond to LHR, for some reason. Therefore, electrolysis will remain. I should further clarify that electrolysis will remain as a vialbe option until technology comes up with a way to pick up the slack that LHR leaves.
I agree with the post above.
In addition, I think present-day laser treatment will be “out” far sooner than electrolysis. Laser has its flaws and will greatly be improved upon with newer innovations.
i don’t think so.
i think earlier there was a collective scare in the electrologist community that laser would take some market share away from electrology.
however, i think laser has expanded awareness of hair removal methods, and recently going hairless for both men and women has become more fashionable if not accepted.
this is good for electrology in that the market for hair removal is growing (the pie is getting bigger).
if laser doesn’t work for everyone, then folks are eventually going to be seeking out a competent electrologist.
why not get trained in both laser and electrology? seems like many people are doing that nowadays.
By the way, i would note that in my area the electrologists who advertise are BOOKED SOLID (getting harder to squeeze in an appointment … what does that tell ya?).
I think hair removal forums like this wonderful site are also raising awareness and connecting people to resources … and ultimately keeping the hair killers very busy.
Personally speaking, I’ve been working seven days a week, a practice I need to cut out or control better. But, I do want to service my best clients that actually are motivated and show up for their appopintments on time.
Are any of you concerned if the new technology involving SL017 topical gel by SIRNA is approved on the market? This compound is in it’s 2nd phase of testing and may be approved by the FDA by the end of 2007 for PERMANENT hair removal. Believe me, I would hate for anyone to lose their jobs, but if this compound is as good as they are making it out to be, there needs to be concern. If anyone has any futher news on this product, please update.
Mike
Didn’t Merck recently purchase Sirna for a billion dollars?!! Sirna is a small biotech company that is in a race with a rival company called Alnylam (Spelling?) in regard to this RNA technology to make drugs that turn off the function of certain genes. There are other biotech companies racing toward finding cures for diseases using this RNA technology. The big drug research push for Sirna is related to macular degeneration (blindness). Parkinsons disease is another target for this drug technology. This stuff holds exciting promise for other diseases as well and is biology at it’s finest. The pioneers of this RNA reseach is Andrew Fire and Craig Mello who actually won the Nobel Peace Prize in Medicine for this breakthrough research last fall. I don’t know much more about this, but hope to study it more, especially in regard to permanent hair removal.
As far as permanent hair removal goes, as a practicing electrologist, I’m not concerned. I care about people having the best that is offered and if electrolysis and LASER become relics of the past for something better for the consumer, so be it. Typically, it takes about 800 million and many years to get a new drug to market. This type of technology will be very expensive for someone wanting hair removal, so we will just have to wait and see where the market forces take us. One thing for sure is this, electrologist’s and laserologist’s have other things going on in their lives as well and if RNAi technology takes over for permanent hair removal, I think we will all adjust just fine, because we have to. I know I will. I have some things I hope to explore in the future unrelated to electrolysis and will always be okay no matter what comes down the road.
If you want an update, you might visit Sirna’s website or e-mail them.
Dee
There hasn’t been much talk regarding Sirna lately. After Merck’s buyout, they have said nothing. They were to begin clinical trials on their permanent hair removal compound this quarter, but it won’t.
Quest Pharmatech in Canada has began the 2nd trial phase of it’s compound SL017. So far, the results have been promising. We will know by June if it is all it is cracked up to be since that is when the 2nd trial phase is completed.
I believe this compound works by entering the hair follicle and concentrating in the papilla. Using a certain light frequency (which is being tested in phase 2 now), the compound destroys the papilla by heat.
This might be a case where this compound increases the effectiveness of certain lasers or light treatments. It will be useful in patients with light hair as well. Electrolysis may still be needed if this treatment only increases the effectiveness of laser etc.
Laser Hair Removal sucks. That’s all I have to say about that.
Enrollment in electrology programs has been steadily decreasing over the past decade and many electrology schools have closed.
Trade and professional journals and publications have folded over the past decade.
Electrologists have been asking for advice on how to keep their businessess alive and many have gone back to school so that they could offer more services.
If electrologists are completely booked in your area, it might be because there are fewer of them offering the service these days as many have left the field. The industry membership roster is thinner and the listing in yellow pages has diminised.
Note that if electrologists worked 8-12 hour days actually administering treatment, “real sore” would be able to get an appointment. Also, if you want a 2 or 3 hour appointment, that is often tough to fit in unless booked well in advance as it means that the schedule has to be cleared for a big block of time.
So, back to the original question: Is electrolysis on the way out and worth your time in pursuing it as a career?
Electrolysis is not on its way out because it is the only proven method for permanent hair removal no matter what one’s skin or hair type. Most people seeking hair removal will try everthing except electrolysis as shaving and waxing and threading and depilatores and now laser are among their initial choices.
Electrolysis is something the consumer often finds after trying everything else. Electrologists often hear, “I wish I found you years ago.”
Attrition is very high in this field because of unrealistic expectations. How many legitamite businesses could survive if the most that the business can generate is about $60 in an hour and then, more than half of that is going to business overhead and taxes and then, you aren’t getting medical insurance or a pension plan or paid vacation or…if you can get some support througth a spouse for example - medical coverage - great.
Go for it if you have a passion for it and you are tied in with a network of other professionals who can refer their patients or clients to you, you will have a stream of clients come in. Of course, if you already have plenty of income from other sources… you don’t have the same worries that most of us do.
Good Luck.
In one of my treasured conversations with my dear friend Michael Bono, we discussed the worst case situation for the decline of the electrolysis profession. In that conversation, he gave his opinion that our industry parallels that of master toupee makers.
A good toupee, the kind that most people don’t even know is a toupee is hand made with human hair, and is formed to fit the head and hair pattern (including baldness pattern) of the intended wearer. Because of all the labor and know-how needed to do this, to say nothing of how few people actually can do this, these hair pieces don’t come cheap. (Of course, you can swim in them without them coming off.)
On the one hand, the great masters of this craft can’t interest students to learn their secrets, and the general public is barraged with advertising for cheap alternatives. Most people are not aware of what is possible in the best of hair pieces. (Don’t be a fool and pay for that master toupee maker’s lifetime strong craftwork, buy our cheaply produced machine made junk that must be replaced every few months for the rest of your life)
Electrolysis is similar in that the constant counter advertising, product placements (remember TV’s “The Swan”), and outright slander of electrolysis, most average people on the street think that it has already gone away, or don’t even know it exists.
When told of my profession, most people still perk up and ask me, “What kind of LASER do you use?” I can’t remember the last time I saw an article that did not list the name of my industry as something similar to “Painful Electrolysis” :mad:
In the case of the toupees, the masters are dying without benefit of having replaced themselves with willing students. Although more and more people are finding themselves farther and farther away from the nearest electrolysis schools, there are still enough active practitioners out there to mentor and apprentice new electrologists. Of course, many of those involved in setting licensure standards have made a point of illegitimating apprenticeship as a means to gain accepted knowledge that counts towards taking the certification/licensing tests, but that is another matter. (You mean even though I have an apprenticeship, and have 5 years experience, I have to leave the state, attend a school and come back here just to be allowed to pay you $50 and sit for the state licensing exam?)
As long as the average electrolysis practice can break even on ten billable hours per week, and the average electrolysis practitioner is able to string together an average 800 billable hours a year, there will still be hair removal professionals out there. The question is how good will their training be.
In the early '90’s there were 313 electrolgists in the state of Ohio. Today there are a little over 200. Some of the 200 are ready to retire or should retire, others are doing laser with a little electrolysis mixed in, some work 2 days a week only and some keep their license active, but don’t work. That explains why my business is doing well. I know the only school in Ohio has a waiting list. I have been asked by a perspective student on that waiting list if I will mentor her. Yes,I will. I am already mentoring another electrologist and maybe a third will be contacting me. I am happy to do this. I’m not intimidated by future competition, but rather would have better electrologists out there representing the profession in the best form possible. I still ask for help from colleagues as well because I don’t always have the right answers.
We do take a beating from the glamour media and the new technolgy folks. Our secret of successful permanent hair removal is the best kept secret in the beauty and health industry. I no longer feel the deep desire to try and convince prospective clients who consult with me about their hair removal needs to start with electrolysis because I can handle their problem and it will cost less for PERMANENT results if they do what I advise them to do. If they want to laser their lip, chin and neck, I tell them fine, do what you want, but keep my card in their pocket because they will still need me in the end.
And they do… wink, wink.
Dee
If you think of the consumer market for hair removal as a pie, electrologists are getting a smaller piece of a much larger pie. In other words, people are spending more on hair removal, and more people are getting it, but competitive products are out there. Eelectrolysis is not going away, because it’s still the best for detailed work and for patents with light colored hair or dark skin. It’s also got the best track record in terms of clinical data, and is the only method with what most consumers would consider permanent hair removal. Not everyone wants that, or they are willing to trade that for other factors, but there will always be a market for electrology until they figure out how to control hair growth at the cellular level with no side effects.
completely agree with BRR’s post above. it’s not going anywhere. if I had to guess, many people getting laser treatments probably wouldn’t have done anything in the first place, but now doing it due to ads they saw etc.
Arlene I wish I found you four years ago. 
I heard that they are able to some how dye the hair, so that blond hairs can be picked up by lasers. As the advancement in laser technology improves, I really don’t know if it would be worth the investment to become an electrolysis. I spoke to a woman who works in in New Mexico. She said that she barely can make ends meet doing electrolyis.
I would love to get certified in both electrolysis and laser. But aren’t laser units EXPENSIVE. I can afford the electrolysis machine, but I don’t know about the laser.
What area would that be? I live in the second largest city in New Mexico. It’s growing fast, but certainly isn’t a huge city.
Setting up a laser business would be a lot more difficult. You need to check with your state laws to see if you can even perform it without certain licenses. Probably not. In CA, you need to be a PA or RN to start, plus take laser courses. And yes, laser machines are expensive. You would probably need to work for a clinic, not on your own.
The dye that supposedly makes hair dark for laser doesn’t work as it doesn’t dye the root of the hair.