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Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

Hello,

I’ve been having electrolysis done for almost 18 months now on my face. I go every week on the same day, at the same time for an hour. My electrologist charges $70 an hour. I get my sideburns, cheeks, chin, and upper lip worked on. I have only cancelled twice, and missed one week because of Christmas. Other than that I’ve been there like clockwork. I haven’t plucked once since I started, even though the urge was nearly overwhelming. I had a real hair problem. Mustache, massive sideburns, and all kinds of hair. In the 18 months my upper lip is pretty much cleared, my sideburns are almost gone, and there has been a very noticeable improvement overall, but the fact is that my electrologist told me it will take at least another four to six months to finish. If not more.

So my question is if this is normal? I researched hair removal for some time before taking the plunge and starting electrolysis over a year ago. If I was going to invest the time and money to get hair removed I wanted it to be permanent. I found out that Laser is only a temporary solution, so I looked into electrolysis. I found a licensed and board certified practitioner about 45 minutes from my house, and she has a very professional setup. I checked all her credentials. She gave me a detailed sheet of instructions including aftercare, and sends me an email every week before my session to avoid caffeine and stay hydrated. So far I’ve had no complaint, other than the upper lip hurts so much it makes me cry at times. But 2 years? That seems like a lot. I have several more areas that I want to work on, and if she is going too slow I want to know now so I can find a better electrologist.

Now some of my research has indicated that once a hair is treated with electrolysis it is gone forever, but my electrologist told me that’s not true. She said that you have to treat most hairs several times before the root is completely killed. Is this true? She has treated some of my darkest and coarsest chin hairs multiple times, and they are getting thinner and lighter, but they are still coming back. Is she doing something wrong? Or is this normal? Especially after 15plus years of plucking, shaving, and creams?

Any advice is appreciated. I’ve already invested over $4,000 in getting my face taken care of, and I want to make sure it isn’t a waste of time. Not to mention all the money this is costing me. Especially since I have three more problem areas that I need to take care of. I really don’t want to be getting electrolysis done for 8 years.

Thank you.

#2

“She said that you have to treat most hairs several times before the root is completely killed.”

I find that statement disturbing at best.

#3

So you don’t have to treat hairs more than once? She told me that facial hair is some of the hardest to get rid of, and since my chin hairs and sideburns were so thick and coarse they would take longer to get rid of. It did only take her about 6 months to clear my upper lip, and now I only have those small white hairs I’m getting rid of, but still it seems like it is taking a really long time. Like I said, I still have several other areas on my body that I need electrolysis done on, and I want to make sure I’m using a good practitioner. Especially with how much this is costing me.

#4

she sounds great except for the part about the hairs having to be treated several times.

just to give you some perspective, after my initial learning -to- do- proper- insertions -and- making- a- few- rookie- mistakes- period my kill rate is probably 75 to 80%. I did my legs and after 2 clearances I had only a smattering of hairs left. I treat to kill the hair, period.

I’ve never understood electrologists who give people that line when it just isn’t true. A good electrologist should know how effective his/her technique is and be able to provide you with better information.

She is obviously effective but you definitely want to feel like you’re getting the most bang for your buck. It might make sense to continue with her since you are close to completion but look into other electrologists if you want further work done.

#5

Tweezing does have an impact on how quickly you can finish. The number of thick hairs should gradually reduce over time, although any that weren’t successfully destroyed will become thinner as they come back.

When you first started, did you grow out as much hair as possible? 6 months to get rid of most hairs is pretty good. Electrologists here say it takes 12-18 months to finish an area.

#6

When I first started I had grown out my facial hair for 5 days. I stopped any other kind of treatment as soon as I started my electrolysis except for using a facial trimmer on my sideburns and mustache. It was hard to do since I felt like everyone was staring at me all the time. When I first started I had full sideburns, tons of hair on my chin and neck, some on my cheeks, and a mustache. I was using a depilatory cream on my whole face once a week (My skin wouldn’t take it any more than that), and then plucking for about 20 minutes a day in between my “cream” days. So I had A LOT of hair.

18 months later and my mustache is gone. I only have those tiny white hairs that all girls have, but I want every single hair off my face!, and the occasional darker hair that pops up. My sideburns are almost gone, but she still spends about 25 minutes working on my chin and neck. They aren’t the huge, thick, black hairs that I had before. They are white stiff hairs and the occasional darker hair.

I called my electrologist and asked her about the “plucking” sensation I was feeling and the fact it was taking so long, and she said that since I’m not doing anything between my appointments (creams or shaving), she’s been treating some dormant hairs too. She suggested I shave 3-5 days before my appointments so she’ll only be treating growing hairs. She also said that the “plucking” feeling is her trying to dig out ingrown hairs. She promised that she isn’t tweezing, and she told me that with as much hair as I had 18 months to 2 years is the average to completely clear my face. She said I’m doing very well.

So is all of that true? Or is she under treating me to stretch out the amount of time I need to see her trying to get more money out of me? As I said in my original post I have several areas I want to work on after my face, but I don’t want to spend thousands extra because my electrologist is under treating me.