Is My Electrologist Bad?

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

Hello,

I live far away from any electrologists, so I’ve been driving to the Denver area (6.5 hours each way) and having 5 hour sessions on Saturdays. I have only had work on my chest, and the hairs have just started to grow back. I would say 80% of them are ingrown. I have to dig each one out with tweezers and/or a needle, which I’m not happy about.

One thing I noticed is that my electrologist plucks the hairs out, even if there is lots of resistance. I would say this happened with most hairs she zapped. I don’t know if any progress has even been made. After emailing her my concerns, this was her response:

[color:#000099]"Since the majority of the chest hairs were in the telegen stage (big white ball) they are super swallow and right under the surface. They have to come out one way or another but if you were to blast them out with a higher setting you would have burn holes that may cause scarring or pitting. You definitely will feel a “pop” when pulling them out. The probe can’t get through the dried keratin ball but the heat should be killing some germ cells beneath it.

I actually surprised you can have regrowth in just one weeks time. Typically chest/back hair has a regrowth time of 6-7 weeks. High levels of androgen can speed up the cycle but a week seems awfully quick. The best time to treat hair are in early anagen (new growth; straight weak and easy) so usually you have at least a month or so to see them start to appear after you removed the shedding hair. I am not totally sure why yours would be set up and growing up towards the surface already. Could be they were stuck under the ones we pulled out? Hmmmm… This bugs me. Sorry you have having to deal with this. Is the area surrounding the ingrown hair inflamed? As long as you still aren’t seeing tiny scabs, exfoliating should be fine.

Your stomach was much different. Could be hydration but mostly a lot of your hairs were in the anagen/categen stage stage so they were much deeper with root sheaths so they slid out like they should. Some of those I had to hit twice but a lot had 2 hairs together, too. "[/color]

Is she just squeezing money out of me? I forgot to mention she’s pregnant which makes me wonder if she’s trying to get extra parenting money. Is what she’s saying legit? Am I just prone to ingrown hairs? I find it very strange that Google doesn’t bring up any pictures or posts about people with as severe of ingrown hairs as me.

Any input would be appreciated, thanks!

#2

I didn’t have to read more than “80% are ingrown.” In a typical total body case: back and chest (man), I MIGHT get one or two ingrown hairs.

Your electrologist is “bad!”

#3

I quickly read your post before my usual ocean swim … just got back and read what the electrologist said (email).

Utter and total nonsense! My head “exploded” when I read the crap she told you. She didn’t even spell telogen correctly … what the hell, are you in Siberia or something? This person isn’t even up to 1968 “book learning.”

I could say more, but it would include a lot of words that start with “F” and “S” and then … damn this stupid profession anyway.

Sue and get your money back!

#4

The fact you say she’s plucking hair is more than enough to know that she’s not doing a good job.

I can’t imagine you live over 6 hours away from any electrologist (though perhaps you do). What major cities are you near? This list has recommendations that come highly regarded:

http://www.lauras-playground.com/legacy/transgender_electrologist_list.htm

You’re bound to find a closer one to you (I hope!)

#5

Please heed what Brenton is telling you … this kid has seen it all, and done it all … and, knows what he’s talking about. Take recommendations from people who have gone (very bravely) before you!

#6

I’m glad you agree my electrologist is bad. I don’t understand how she has a CPE certification and is also a member of the Colorado Board of Electrologists. I think I’ll actually end up at an electrologist recommended on this site who has neither credentials, who is an hour closer to me.

I live in Spearfish, South Dakota. There is actually one listed in my city but as far as I can tell she’s long gone from the area. It really does stink for me, since my job doesn’t allow many vacation days at all. I have to spend money on gas and blow a whole Saturday. It’s silly because Spearfish is always on those “best cities to live in EVER” lists, but we have no electrologists anywhere remotely close. Somebody could make a killing here.

#7

This place showed up when I was trying to find electrolysis near your area (it’s about 90 minutes away, but I would call to see if it’s offered. I can’t find anywhere else saying it is):

This is a place I found in spearfish (I get mixed results about whether or not the place is still an electrologist’s office, or it’s become a chiropractor’s office):

Advanced Electrolysis Clinic
1930 North Ave Ste 3, Spearfish, SD 57783
(605) 642-0699

Yea ok I was wrong… there really isn’t much I can find near you.

#8

No, she isn’t. Tt sounds as if she believes what she writes.

Anyway: epilating telogen hairs is straightforward if You know what Your doing. Sometimes it takes more energy to destroy the surrounding tissue and get a release. More often, however, the hairs will epilate easier or at least as easy as anagen hairs.

In contrast to her statement that treating “early” anagen hairs is most efficient, the opposite is true: electrolysis is efficient in “fully anagen” phase to telogen including its latest stages where often only a broken stubble of the hairs can be seen. If You get Your insertions right and the setting adeqate.
The early anagen hairs are actually the least efficient to treat: the hair is still developing, its root is not fully anchored in the skin. The hair will therefore slide out without effort although not the full volume of hair stem cells surrounding the anchor will be hit. And that - our target volume - might even be largest in early anagen.

Regarding the ingrows: these occur frequently if the insertions are not perfect.

1 Like
#9

Genau Beate …

Every now and then, as I’m zapping along on some poor “victim,” I will ever so gently "lift a hair’ with my tweezer … and then the hair "falls out’ with no effort at all (always an anagen hair: wet and not firmly keratinized to the follicle wall).

So, I might also surmise from what you have stated that, because of the ease of removing anagen hairs, the operator might get the wrong impression that enough current was applied to disable the follicle; and thus "undertreat’ the follicle.

I don’t know if that’s true … but I do like the idea, and I think I’ll STEAL your idea in an upcoming video. “Das Hattersheimbewirken?” A new word for our electrology vocabulary? May I use this name?

#10

Yes, of course You can.

But it was actually You who brought me on the track with the early anagen hairs.

The thread was named “they won’t go away” or so (i actually had a similar and frustrating experience with my first client)

And then that visualization of hair stem cells where You actually can see the larger volume. To me it is pretty straightforward to bring that together.