It would be great to just "get the job done " but that hasnt been possible yet!
I know I’ve stated this many times ,but I do not have an electrolysist in my hometown and therefore I have seen a variety of electrolysists in attempts to get it done when in larger cities. I have never plucked ,waxed or fiddled with the hairs on the areas of my face that I’m currently trying to treat ,I only have shaved. In some instances I’ve managed to grow out the entire area for the session with the electrolysis though that made little difference in their approach, how much was done and in fact i have even been asked to shave the area instead of having it grown out so that they could see before the next session what was in the correct growth stage .
I’m not criticizing the various techniques I’m coming across , I’m only stating a fact that when I ask about the method of several clearances as i have read about here , in EVERY case, I have been told that that’s not how they work , which I totally accept. I appreciate this forum as a place to ask opinions and get information from many professionals ,clients and creative DIYers who care to share. I feel that research and all information has only been a benefit . I do not agree that the education ive gleaned here leads to "micro managing " electrolysis sessions, rather i am more aware and more likely to ask the right questions. After all , since it is my face being probed ,it is really not in my best interest to be a "difficult " client!
When I first saw this picture, I didn’t gasp. This kind of reaction is something you should discuss with your electrologist, so he or she can relate it to his or her treatment plan that day. He or she will look back and think of the size and type of probe they used, the treatment energy parameters used, even the modality, perhaps.
Neck areas are funkier places to do. Some of the insertions are more challenging and neck skin is different from facial area skin. In your case, the hairs are super thick, too. I don’t think this is keloiding, maybe a hypertrophic skin manifestation? , but it should heal in time. The goal is to try not to repeat this by doing something different and then observing if the skin reaction is better. Communicating with your electrologist is always recommended because he or she knows the specifics. We learn from our clients, re-adjust, grow and improve by receiving feedback.
Now, for your upper arms.
Right Shoulder:
This is body work. Scabbing is inevitable . This is okay and you will be fine. I do believe that energy adjustments can be made that will still be effective, but at the same time, the scabs will be smaller in diameter. I don’t like scabbing on the face, but for the body, it invariably happens. My personal goal is to keep them small. I will edit this post later and add a picture of what I am talking about when I get a chance.
Edit:
This is a first degree scabbing example. Totally normal and acceptable.
Hi All,
Firstly many thanks for your comments. I appreciate all the feedback and I have been put at ease somewhat. Right now I’m more worried about my neck. I’m hoping and praying that the swelling (if that’s what it is) goes down. I will of course keep you all updated on what happens.
A lot of you have private messaged me asking about the electrologist I’ve been seeing. I’ll have to ask her if she’s OK with me sharing her details on this forum. Even though she’s a certified electrologist and has been doing this 22 years, it’s something she only does in the evening as she has a different day job. She keeps up with this work as it’s kind of like a hobby and even then she preferably treats only friends and family and even then mostly ladies.
I showed my neck to my new electrologist and she was a little worried, mentioning that it should have gone down by now since it’s been just over 2 weeks. I’m just hoping it does go down but as mentioned before I’ll keep you posted.
She wasn’t happy with the level of scabbing she saw on my arms so she turned down the machine a little bit this time around which was good. She blasts some follicles twice and others once but they were still coming out which was good.
Since I have no-one else to compare her too, I was wondering if some of you wonderful people could answer some questions I have about her comments and techniques:
-
She keeps mentioning that even though some of the hairs she removes are in anagen (big bulb with sheath), they will grow but but finer. Each follicle will have to be zapped multiple times (up to 10-20 she said at one point) for permanent results. Is she correct on this?
-
Some of the ones she takes out are pulls or they break when she tries to remove them. The pulls usually have no bulbs and are quite thin and for the ones that break, she just leaves them there as she doesn’t want to treat them again. Is she working correctly? I feel a few too many may be pulls but she is right with them not having big bulbs.
-
She did one hair and then mentioned that she thinks she hit a blood vessel and that I may bruise. Low and behold, I just got home and I’ve started getting a very small bruise. Is this normal too?
-
I noticed that the probe goes all the way in for some follicles and not for others. She mentioned that she can feel the follicle and zaps accordingly. The ones on the way out prevent her from getting all the way down to the follicle and she just zaps it enough to remove the hair that would of already fallen out. The bulbs on these hairs are very small.
-
Basically she said after a first clearance (may take her 15-20 hours) I may get near total regrowth as each hair has to be treated many times until it eventually dies and that I’m looking at a couple years to be hair free. Is she correct?
It’s quite sad seeing her take so many hairs out with no bulbs and sheaths but then also very gratifying when she does. I wish they were all in Anagen! 
Any further advice would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks all.
Oh Jossie…
How I LOVE these photos!
Now it has been over 2 weeks since the 4th session of electrolysis in this area, and I still can not see a single hair of regrowth!
This area is absolutely worth doing, it makes such a HUGE difference! …every morning I remember you Jossie, when I feel the baby soft skin on my neck, that I dont have to shave 
Here’s the thing, I have heard explanations like this many times, but I find it not to be accurate. What I have found is that if a hair follicle is treated properly (a perfect insertion combined with the right amount of intensity for the right amount of time), then it only needs one go around, not five, not ten, not twenty revisits. Boom, one time, Gone.
Hair should not be breaking when she pulls them out. The purpose of the tweezers is to grasp the newly treated hair and lift it out of the follicle without traction.
A least she was honest and told you straight up. We are not perfect and occasionally may puncture the wall of the follicle. If this happens too frequently, then you may want to continue getting consults.
So these are telogen hairs. Many electrologists know that these hairs can be treated successfully, but others believe they can’t.
Time-wise, I always tell people 12 - 24 months for large areas, but you got to put in the time up front to clear the hair and then you have got to punch away at the NEW GROWTH and some regrowth that appears over the whole process.
Well, non-anagen hairs do not make me sad. I hit all hairs with the intense purpose to knock them out permanently, no matter what stage they are in.
Is this the second professional you have seen?
I remember you at all times, especially when I read threads like this. Do you remember the first time I saw a tear in your eyes? I thought this was caused by fear of the reaction after hours of electrolysis on your neck (back). Until you told me that this is what you’d expect: “No reaction, no results. If with the electrologist in Spain, there is no reaction, take the first plane back home.” This is what she told you, and I never thank her enough.
Oh yes I remember.
No reaction, no results!
I think the tears must have been tears of joy and happyness 
Mi Jossie, I think I will have to take new photos of my legs soon and update the diary. The hyperpigmentation is nearly gone!!
It looks A-M-A-Z-I-N-G
I had the same reaction when I had electrolysis on my shoulders and within few days everything went back to normal and now I have smooth skin like a baby thanks to Josefa.
But you might get some discolouration which is normal for dark skin people. This happened to me but faded within a month. Don’t scratch the area as I know it’s very itchy right ?
give it a month and you should be fine. All the best for you.
Actually your arm looks very familiar to mine when I first started electrolysis. Your hair will be gone but I can pretty much guarantee pigmentation, she should definitely turn power down, use a insulated needle, Laurier if possible, not hit same hair many times. Seems her insertions are not all that if your feeling pulling even after adequate taps. Stick with it though, I did, I’m 95 percent free, your hair seems half as dense as mine was, when was your last laser session btw?
Hi All,
I’ve recently come back from my 2 week holiday and wanted to share my results so far. My feelings are mixed at the moment. First good bit of news is that my neck (done 6 weeks ago) no longer has raised bumps. The skin is now smooth but hyper pigmentation has now occurred. It seems to be fading which is good 
And now the bit I’m worried about, if you remember, I switched to another electrologist to do my body work. The scabbing on my arms has disappeared but there is now some serious hyper pigmentation as can be seen by the below pictures. I took these pictures an hour ago. Please note that the work was done exactly 4 weeks ago.
P.s. my camera broke on holiday so I took the pictures with my mobile. The quality attests to this:
Natural Light:
Camera Flash Light (Looks a lot worse):
There is hair growth in the area since the first clearance but the majority of them are not in the pigmented area so they must be hairs that were not present at the first clearance? I’m hoping that’s good news but then how long would it take for treated hairs to come back if they weren’t zapped properly the first time? She keeps saying that the hair she zapped will all come back but finer and that’s not exactly I want to be hearing.
Should I be worried at the way my skin is healing?
Also I would greatly appreciate some advice on her technique. This is what I’ve noticed:
-
I would say that 80-90% of her needle insertions are NEAR the hair shaft but never at the exact base of it. I would say approximately in and around a 2 mm radius. When the needle goes in I’m wondering why there’s so much gap between where the hair is and where she’s sticking the needle. The interesting thing is that the hairs are still coming out easily.
-
When the needle goes in she zaps me for a whole second. It’s painful as hell! She’s tried shorter bursts but the hair then doesn’t come out. Compared the time each hair is zapped to Josefa’s videos on YouTube seem like an eternity.
I guess what I want to know is, is the way my arms are looking normal? Is her technique good or should I be looking for another Electrologist? Ideally I would go to see Josefa but she’s not able to offer me any dates 
I apologise if I sounds like I have OCD and am a hypochondriac (I do have both these things) Thanks in advance for your responses.
I have so much I could say but it’s hard for me to get in the mood to repeat what’s been said so many times already on this forum… sorry!
All I will say is that… why are you not running far faaar away from someone who is not completely destroying follicles first time or at least trying to. If she only wants to work in anagen, then she should get you to shave and just work on growing hairs. Waste of time and money to treat hairs which she expects to come back. URG!
Have you tried contacting Follizap for a consultation? Since you seem to be based in London.
Hello Stoppit, how much I’ve missed you! What can we do with all these kids who need help? oh, how I would like have a dozen collaborators like you. 
I think this prolonged skin reaction is unnecessary. I say that with a shouting voice. If an electrologist cannot see the follicle opening, they turn up the energy level ( no wonder it hurt like hell) because the hair won’t release and as they make new holes in the skin, close enough to get the hair, the hair finally releases with that turned up energy that spills over into the follicle, thus causing the prolonged skin reaction in the form of scabbing and the hyperpigmentation. This should fade within three to six months.
In my book, most hairs are affected with the first treatment. There may be some regrowth and yes, the new hair will come back finer. It can take 6-16 weeks for the hair to regrow if there were some hair germ cells left behind.
This skin reaction is too much.
HairTell is missing a hug emoticon
It is a while before I can hope to be called a collaborator. Before I had funds but no time, now I have time but lack funds, so the wait begins again.
Perhaps I should put in out a call and request that if any epilator manufacturer wants to get this aspiring electrologist started on her journey, she would welcome a donation in the guise of equipment!
stoppit&tidyup I have contacted Follizap and unfortunately he has decided to pursue other endeavours, no longer pursuing a career in Electrolysis
Please understand that I am TOTALLY new to Electrolysis so I am still learning. Having my first few sessions has opened up a whole bunch of questions for me so please be patient with me
You live and you learn right?
The main problem I have is finding a decent electrologist that suits my needs. I live in London and have a 9-5 job. Since I am looking to clear my upper arms, shoulders and back, finding someone that does 2-3 hours at a time, is willing to take on a large area, has competitive rates and is of a good standard Electrologist is not as easy as it seems. I thought I struck gold When I found the lady that I did. She charges £30 an hour, lives around 15 minutes from my house, works from home, has 20+ years experience is BIAE certified and is willing to do 3 hours at a time. It’s for this reason that I was inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt and wait to see what the outcome of several treatments would be. I’ve had nearly 20 hours with her so far and I’ve been providing the results so far for all too critique which you guys have done and I am grateful for.
Judging by the comments here based on my skin condition so far and of what I’ve observed of her technique, you guys have made it clear that I should consider finding someone else. If anyone here can recommend me someone to go see I would be more than grateful.
I personally called nearly 20 different electrologists in the London and Essex area, the majority of which either refused outright after learning I wanted large areas done, were charging £60 per hour or said they would not be able to offer more than 1 hour treatments at a time.
Josefa why is there no-one like you in the UK sigh
OhMyGosh what?! runs to pm follizap
I have a feeling I know who your electrologist might be… onward to pm!
I’m sure you can find better that what you are receiving.
The only other recommendation I can give is to contact Mairi Hawkes based in Scotland to schedule in a marathon session. You will probably need to take a few days off work to do this (unless she’s willing to work a weekend) but think of it as an electrolysis holiday. This is what my sister and I have done when we’ve gone to Spain to see Josefa… as have others. It will probably be some time in the future, depending on how booked up she is but that’s all for the better as you should let your skin recover and let maximum hair grow in so that she can do a complete clearance.
Electrolysis just isn’t considered as an appropriate body hair removal technique by the industry as a whole here so they don’t even try.
Sorry to hear that about follizap.
What we do is difficult and not many people stay electrologists for the long term. That is why it is difficult to find an electrologist that will support your specific needs if it includes large blocks of time on large areas. Don’t know if this is why follizap has moved onward? If it is, this is why every successful electrologist should specifically embrace and mentor the newly trained electrologist and nurture them along. Most of what you learn in school will not translate into the real world once one is sitting alone in their office.
Oh gosh YES … We have a BEAUTIFUL new electrologist in town and (poor girl), I’m already sending her clients. We are talking all the time and we are getting together next week for some “hands-on” together. (Did I mention the beautiful part? That helps too!)
Join the club. I’ll probably have to second stopit as if I want work doing it seems at the moment there are only two logical choices. Josefa and Hawkins. I’d be in Spain in a jiffy if funds and josefa had time, another option and it’s completely variable dependent is Michael (u will have to ask), not sure where he is or if he has time, the only way I could convince myself it was worth it other than hair removal and to justify cost is think of it as a holiday as stopit has also said. Ill be looking soon too I bet so ill keep u updated.
Hands on? Lol have fun with your beautiful electrologist just get some work done 