Is my electrolysis just really slow or is this expected?

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

Hey everyone,

I saw an electrologist for the first time for a consultation and we decided to do a 15 minute session just to try it out. The electrologist had licenses and was part of an association.

I had shaved yesterday so a lot of the hairs were barely poking out. The lady said that it’s easier when the hairs are longer so she can get them with tweezers. She used what she said was a mixture of AC and DC current so it would be most effective.

Now I am biologically male and my chest hairs are very thick and dark. She said she kept having to go for certain hairs more than once, I don’t know if that was because the hair was short, because it was thick, or something else. But throughout the 15 minute session she maybe got 50 hairs if even.

She also said that it would take a year of doing an area for it to actually be hairless, she would have to get all of the hairs during the right phase multiple times. She explained it like there being 4 “seasons” of hair. She said the hairs would become less, get weaker, and get easier to zap over time. The thing is, from what I’ve been reading it seemed like you would only ever need to get each hair once, so is she just not getting them correctly or is that to be expected?

I have another appointment next week for an hour but I’m trying to consider whether I should find another electrologist or give this one another try. So, with having recently shaved thick hair for a first time appointment, is this speed expected?

Thanks in advance!

#2

I agree with everything your electrologist told you.

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#3

Thanks for the comment! That’s definitely good to know she is knowledgeable. She met all the requirements with certificates and continuing education and has been doing it for 30 years so it would seem like she’s a good electrologist.

I’m still concerned about how few hairs she got in 15 minutes. She was using the zap and tweezers. Do you know if thicker hair takes longer to zap, or if recently shaved hair takes longer to zap? My chest hairs seemed pretty sparse but it seemed at the rate she went it would take over 8 hours to just zap all of my visible chest hairs once. Does that seem normal enough given the circumstances?

Here are some pictures of the zapped area if it helps.

Thanks again in advance :slight_smile:

withtape
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fullchest

#4

This is normal. For a high-density area, I would probably use flash-thermolysis instead of the blend (the method you had) which would be a bit slower. You can research the technical aspects and differences between the two modalities. The end result is the same.

#5

There are so many variables, but everything your electrologist told you is true. Based on the pictures you seem like an excellent candidate for laser hair removal. I would suggest that you go have a consult for laser because you can cover a much larger area. Then after you complete 6-10 laser treatments (usually spaced about 6 weeks apart), I would follow that with electrolysis to tackle the final remaining hairs to get totally smooth skin.

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#6

8 hours to clear entire chest is not a bad estimate nor is it slow for electrolysis. If an electrologist zaps hair faster with thermolysis but you end up zapping same hairs 6X before it’s completely killed, is it really faster than blend in the end? Practitioner skill is the important part. You can do one hour of work with this electrologist on one side and have other side with a different electrologist so you can compare the work and make a decision on who to commit with.

#7

I had electrolysis done for facial hair–it is a very slow process and is good for people like me with a bit of dark facial hair. The type where they place a needle in each hair follicle and hold it works best. The flash
kind did nothing for me. For large areas like the entire back or chest I would think laser would be easier.

#8

Your Electrologist is correct. First all your dark hair doesn’t grow all at one time. Hair has 3 different stages of growth. Anagen -Active growth, Catagen- Transition stage, growth stops, Telogen -grown stops and is dormant. Also you are male and have a higher testosterone level which stimulates hair growth. You can go on testosterone inhibitors to help stop growth, but once you stop taking it your levels will go back up. Hair is tenacious and it may take more than one treatment to kill it.The hair needs to have some length so the needle can enter the shaft. Laser is also and option if your hair is darker but it will take the same removal time.
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