Is this normal regrowth, progress?

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#21

Oh, yes! Those husbands that are engineers or sheet metal cutters want exact numbers and all sorts of data. It is a shame because several women I know I could have brought to a smooth end, ended up going back to their temporary methods that continue to chew up their skin because the husband is the “boss and has the last word on decisions” and they decided that my list of variables affecting time is shammy. So pitiful.

If a client comes to me complaining about no results after 6 months of seeing another electrologist, I make a big point about telling them part of their success when we reach the end should go to their previous electrologist, too. I’m sure people have dumped me, at the 4-6 month mark, running to someone else, complaining that they were not seeing results. No matter how well I explain hair growth cycles and reinforce that information by warning them what is ahead for them or what they may see at month 4 , 6 and 9, I have that occasional woman standing with her fist on her hip saying that this isn’t working and I spent “x” amount if money! So… I re-teach them. I pull out the charts. I show them the consent form about time and several sessions needed. I tell them that they have not given me a chance, that 4 months is not enough time. I tell them they can choose to go back to their temporary methods of tweezing, waxing, threading , sugaring, shaving (with all the skin damage, like a hamster on a wheel going nowhere) OR they can trust what I’m telling them to do.

I never tell people this is easy peasy, but I do tell them that this works and they will be free of the bad hairs permanently if they stick to a schedule to get cleared.

I do think clients like benchmarks and predictions. Anyone that has been doing electrolysis long enough, knows what those benchmarks are and can warn their clients to fasten their seat belt and brace for another growth cycle at month 4 or 6? Predictions are helpful and gives the client a sense of security.

Previous removal/reduction methods can throw a wrench into a serious electrolysis removal process, but that too can be overcome. Just clear the hair on a schedule and all should be well in a 9- 18 month period as long as the hair follicle is being disabled skillfully. Severe cases may take 24 months?

If an electrologist does not know how to deal with hair like poster Granola’s, then we as a group need to take the time to mentor that electrologist. Many ask for help. There are several of us doing mentoring on AEA Facebook and on the British and Spanish Facebook sites, all closed to the public.

Back to work…

#22

I have limited internet access, so I haven’t read all the responses yet, but I wanted to answer Dee’s (I think?) question about when the pictures were taken. I wish I had labelled the pictures with captions.

The first two more hairy pictures were taken in February, probably a week before treatment began. The second two pictures were taken 2 weeks ago, right before my 13th hour of treatment. I’ll go edit my original post to show that info. The areas highest up in the treatment area (probably around level with my lips and to my jaw) have been treated the most times, around a dozen. We treat areas with regrowth first, then advance into new territory as we have time remaining in the hour. I have a standing appointment for an hour every two weeks.

I am trying to listen to all everyone is saying while not being overly reactionary, but trying to figure out if I’m being treated properly or not. If I’m being under-treated and causing my overall treatment time to be extended, I’d want to know.

I actually called Kelly’s office this morning. :wink: She’s pretty booked, is a much farther distance, and is more expensive than the place I’m going to now, but if she’s going to do better work, it would be worth it.

Thank you so much all for your input. I want to be a good client. I’m trying to be realistic about how long this will take. I’m trying not to expect too much. I consider myself a reasonable and understanding person, and want to extend courtesy to my current technician. Does this all make sense?

#23

Right now, the areas on my cheeks between my lips and jawline have a number of fine hairs, as well as a few heavier (dark, thick) hairs. These are the areas that have been treated the most times. The areas under my chin have been treated fewer times, as we get to them only as we have time after getting the regrowth.

#24

Ok. So I’ve read through now, and sounds like the first 6 months are super hard, and you’re not sure if it’s working, and my technician may be doing a fine job with what’s going on? Sounds like Kelly would be fabulous and vetted and all that good stuff, so if I wanted to be super sure of being treated properly, I could go see Kelly instead, but staying with my current electrologist wouldn’t be terrible? Trying to get the summary here . . .

I also want to say that I fully believe in electrolysis. I have zero desire to go back to waxing, shaving, plucking, etc, and I am committed to following this through. I’m just trying to figure out if I’m on track to make that happen in a timely fashion.

#25

And my husband is not an engineer, but he could have been. He comes from a long line of engineers. It has its advantages and disadvantages. :wink:

#26

Sorry for all the short little post replies. I just wanted to be clear that I have seen some improvement. I have fewer hairs and finer hairs than I used to in the areas that have been treated, and there is even one area on my cheek sort of near my lip that I am seeing only 1 or 2 hairs regrowing there. It’s not that I have seen zero change at all.

I realize that it’s hard for you to tell, being neither the client or the professional, what’s exactly going on, and that you’re doing your best with what I’m telling you and what you’re seeing to give an assessment of the situation.

#27

Obviously the photos show progress. The imaginary line that separates the treated areas and which were not is well defined. Of course!

The question is, how many of the treated follicles are generating new hair, put another way, what is the % regrowth? Michael says (and I totally agree) that if that figure exceeds 15%, the professional should reconsider her technique.

I want you to see something, Granola. In early June, I did a test on my son’s beard (23 years). The purpose was to test a new probe size. A size that has never been commercialized by any manufacturer of probes. This is the Laurier IBP .007. Returning to the subject, the test lasted 18 minutes (with many interruptions due to shooting movies). Since my son does not want to get rid of his beard, I did not remove all the hair, but a selection of hairs in a small area of a few cm2. More than two months after the area is clearly different from the rest. I would bet my right hand to each of the treated follicles has not returned to produce hair again.

Why do I mention this? well, although he is a guy, the diameter of the hairs could be equivalent to the thickness of yours. The density (hairs per cm2) as well. Thus, if 18 minutes of electrolysis have left a void in his beard, imagine what could have been achieved with 12 hours.

Here a link to the video in question. (June 7)

Here, 20 days after:

SAM_0735.JPG769×577

Here, a few minutes ago:

hoy.jpg761×577

The big difference here is that while he still continues to develop new hairs above the beard line and on his neck, your density seems constant.

#28

That’s very helpful, Josefa, thank you. <3

I think the bottom line is that I’m dissatisfied with the amount of progress we’ve made, and I wanted to know if I’m being unreasonable to feel that way. Sounds like it’s very possible that I am not.

#29

I had a consult with a different electrologist today. She told me that plucked hairs don’t return for 4-6 weeks, had no idea that laser could cause regrowth, and said that a normal amount of actual regrowth after electrologist was 40-50% of treated hairs. That doesn’t sound right to me at all . . . She seemed surprised that the other electrologist I’d seen didn’t have me hold a little metal stick wrapped with a wet paper towel, like anything else would be a novelty. She was working with a 15 year old machine, which doesn’t bother me at all, if the skill is good, but it was not. :frowning: I think I’m going to try and get a bigger appointment time for a clearance with Kelly and then maintain with the woman I’ve been seeing all this time already.

#30

I wanted to write a quick update for myself and for anyone who might be interested.

I decided to leave the electrologist I was working with previously, at least to try a few others and see how their skills measured against one another, since I had basically tried only 2 before I settled on the person I was previously seeing (I’ll call her Mary).

I took a break off of regular scheduled appointments for one month to just get trial appointments with whichever electrologists were in my area. I’m very very lucky that there is a decent number of electrologists in a 100 mi. radius. I did communicate with Kelly for a while, but between scheduling and cost issues, I wasn’t able to begin with her. If it becomes necessary, I feel very confident that I can use her great skill as a fallback.

I saw 3 or 4 other providers in that time, as well as doing email consults with others to see if they were worth making an appointment, and I was amazed at the range of equipment, information, and skill levels of all of them. With the sample test given by one of them, I felt plucking on almost every single hair. :frowning:

I finally settled on one amazing provider (I’ll call her Trisha). She is about the same distance as Mary was, slightly less expensive when I buy several hours at a time, she is able to book appointments a week or two in advance no problem, and her skill is divine. The biggest thing to me was that she mentioned how she works to slide the hairs out without any resistance. In fact, it was so obvious to her that she didn’t even mention it at our first appointment, it was like she was assuming any good electrologist would do that and seemed a bit taken aback when I told her how different her technique felt from Mary’s.

She started with blend, which my skin did not react well to at all, lots of little scabs and lasting redness that remained until my next appointment 2 weeks later. But I contacted her about my skin’s reaction, she switched to thermolysis and adjusted the levels, and things have been peachy since then. I’d say as far as discomfort goes, Trisha is much more painful. Each zap lasts longer and is more intense. I recently started taking ibuprofen before my appointment, and I’m finding that helps a lot to take the edge off. She works at a slower pace too, covers a slightly smaller area in each hour visit than Mary did, but oh is she effective! I don’t feel like we’re doing the SAME area every single time, since so much of what was treated in a particular area has returned. It is much less demoralizing to go into an appointment knowing that what will be treated in that time will be gone for weeks and weeks. And that goes for areas previously treated by Mary, as well as completely untouched areas that Trisha has begun. She is simply noticeably more effective. I feel like I am in good hands.

I’ve lost track of how many hours of treatment I’ve had. I think it’s somewhere around the 18 hour mark? Maybe 14 with Mary, and another 5 or so with Trisha. I think maybe by sometime in January or February, based on the area covered each time and how frequently I go for appointments, I think we’ll be able to reach a complete clearance. We’re going the clear and advance method, and that’s working very well for us. I can see regular consistent progress. I still go for an hour every other week. I’d go more often if we could afford it, but that’s where we are for now, and I feel like it is sufficient. Next February, it will have been a whole year since I started electrolysis. 6 months with Mary, 1.5 months off, then another 2 months (so far) with Trisha.

And I will say that, providing that there are permanent reductions based on what I’ve had done (and I think there are), this has been worth every single penny. I’d estimate that I’ve put out about $2000 on this so far. I’d mentally estimated about 30 hours for total treatment before I began, just as a ballpark figure. I don’t know if I’m on track for that still, but it kinda seems like it, even with the time spent first with the not-so-effective electrologist. I’m sure she did some good, covered some ground, but I’m trying not to think of how much better things could have gone by now if I had started with Trisha instead. Ah well, you live and learn. :slight_smile:

As far as the cost goes, in case anyone is interested in how different regions measure up cost-wise, I am in Chicagoland. Rates here range from about $80-$150/hr, based on the length of the appointment and differing areas within Chicagoland. I also called or saw a few in southern WI, and their rates were drastically different, more in the $55-65/hr. range. It’s a completely different sort of demographic. I also learned some interesting things about the differences between licensing requirements for different states. WI has some of the strictest requirements, and IL has some of the easiest, or so I gathered by calling around. Doesn’t mean that everyone in WI is good and everyone in IL isn’t, just something to keep in mind as you look around. Trisha was actually licensed in WI first, until moving down to IL. Or at least that’s what I’m remembering now based on our initial appointment several months ago . . .

If anyone lives in these areas, I’d be happy to answer pm’s about specific providers in case you are looking.

#31

I’d recommend if you have found a electrologist you like, you write up a little blurb int he "referrals " section for chicago. It will have a far greater effect than expecting anyone interested to PM you which may or may not happen.
Congratulations on finding good electrologist you are comfortable with! And you did it exactly the right way, by trying out lots of different electrologist and sticking with the one that had the most effective treatments for you. Bravo! and others could learn from your experience.

Seana