Leery Over Electrolysis

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

Hello everyone,

I just had my first electrolysis session a few days ago to remove several hairs on the chin. In the end, I ended up with scabbing and some pustules. The lady who performed the electrolysis said that the scabbing was due to having to turn the energy up higher in order to kill the coarser hairs, she said she will adjust the settings next time to avoid this. However, I am now a bit hesitant over the entire process…It just seems that the likelihood of permanent scarring with electrolysis is high – no matter what the skill level of the electrolysis is.

I have scabs which may heal, but I’ve read that permanent scarring may not show up until 6-12 months afterwards…so how am I supposed to know if I haven’t ended up with permanent scarring??? Even if my chin comes out with no scabs at the end of the session and the area remains untouched, is it still possible to have permanent damage appear up to a year later? The fact that this is a possibility is putting me off another visit with any electrolysis. I don’t mean to offend any professionals but it just seem that it’s a roll of the dice and you don’t know how your skin will react and that’s a risk.

I just feel like I’m either stuck with having depressing hormonal chin hairs or having damaged skin/scarring.

Please correct me or advise if I’m wrong.

Thank You.

#2

I ended up receiving permanent scarring all over body due to butchers performing electrolysis with branding irons so I may be the expert when it comes to identifying if an area received permanent scarring. Let me share my findings and experiences with you.

-Scabbing should not last more than 21 days, if so, there is a high chance that they inflicted you with a third degree burn.

  • The reaction at the point of treatment is immediate. What I mean by that it is that if they inflict you with a burn, your skin will react like when you burn a piece of paper or it will swell but immediately after that spot is treated, not later, the change in texture will be immediate, and even when that part heals properly, you will only be able to see the formed scar tissue a year down the road. The swelling that happens a while after electrolysis is normal.

These are my experiences with the scarring, I hope the experts can illuminate us further…

#3

Some scabbing is unavoidable in this process. We are destroying tissue (that with the hair stem cells). That means there will be wounds where there were formerly hairs. (BTW also after lasering…) And a wound means scabbing if You let it heal dry. The art is to keep these wounds as small as possible - but quite obviously, the size of each follicle determines the size of the wound. The healing process after electrolysis is just the same as the healing process of any other wound.

Which also means that You can avoid scar forming if You let the wound heal under moist conditions, not dry. Someone - i think it was Josefa - suggested to keep the wound area covered over night, maybe in connection with some wound gel or simply body lotion.

#4

Hairy Man__88

That sounds awful! I’m sorry to hear about your terrible experience that has resulted in permanent scarring. You mentioned more than one butcher – how many electrologists did you see and have you lost faith in the process?

By skin reacting like burning paper, do you mean it kind of shrivels up? So you will first see the initial burn effect which then goes away and appears normal, then 1 year later it turns into abnormal scar tissue? That sounds very scary :frowning:

I really appreciate your input.

#5

Thank you for your response. But I don’t quite understand why I am seeing conflicting information with regards to scabbing. I’ve seen sites that claim that scabbing on the face is rare and shouldn’t happen, and yet I’ve experienced it and so have quite a bit of others, (I don’t mean one or two scabs here and there, but every single insertion has resulted in a scab). While the skin in the scabbed areas doesn’t look abnormal aside from the scabs, I guess I won’t know until a year from now if I have lasting damage?

#6

Yeah it kind of shrivels up or swells IMMEDIATELY. Then it heals up and looks like everything is fine but in reality fibrous tissue is building up underneath. Takes like a year for the scars to appear… How do I know this? Well let me explain. I was holding a mirror in my hand while the butcher was operating on my face so that I could tell her which hairs I needed her to remove. So at some spots, I saw the adverse reaction, LIVE. However, within a month there was no trace of those “scars”. A year later when I was checking my face out in a mirror I realized I had some odd looking bits of skin shaped exactly like how my skin got when I was receiving the treatments a year ago. That is how I know… And you will feel the electricity current dissipating along a large area under the skin when they burn you…

I Have seen many butchers and they all burned me without exception. However that is due to the fact that I live in a pos (I want to swear so bad man…) country where people don’t want to invest in their businesses therefore using outdated equipment and then some of these low life scums are of very low intelligence/uneducated/trained by village idiots or mental institution patients they simply don’t know what they are doing.

Then I flew over to germany and received a proper electrolysis treatment from Beate Ritzert who just posted a reply for you and the difference was vast. I dont have “faith” in this procedure I personally know that if done properly by someone who is smart enough to realize how dangerous electrolysis can be if done improperly, who knows how to treat different skin types etc. there should be little to no risks.

Beate’s treatments were without pain and discomfort and I even had my privates treated without any complications. I know when my skin gets burned and with her I observed no adverse reactions in my skin. I am quite experienced when it comes to electrolysis damage and I can surely say that I received no damage from her treatments. As I have said, it wasn’t even painful at all… Which is a first for me and I have received over 200 hours of electrolysis.

As for scabbing… the scientific documents I have looked at all say that it should not last more than 21 days. If so, it will probably leave a scar. You can watch out for that. And yeah even after Beate’s treatments I developed scabs all over however, most of them fell off after 2 weeks. Scabbing is not rare. in fact, in my opinion, people who don’t develop any scabbing are a lucky few.

However, one thing I need to mention. I know that the diameter of scabbing is relevant to the size of the treated hair follicle, but in the end it should look similar to what they call pinpoint scabbing which is what I got after Beate’s treatments, however, the scabbing I received after the treatments given to me by the butchers were irregular in shape.

That is all I have for you. The experts should have more info for you, after all I am just a client I can only know so much compared to them.

I don’t think you have much to worry about though. My case is a little different and since you asked for info on how scarring happens I wanted to share it with you to alleviate your fears.

I created a topic regarding the scarring I have ended up with and will update it with one last bit of info on how I can reduce the appearance of it next week or so. Been doing research for 4 months and talked to a lot of people.

#7

Hairy Man,

Thanks again for sharing your extensive knowledge through experience. I am glad to hear that you were able to get proper treatment from a skilled electrolysis in the end! I truly appreciate you helping to alleviate my concerns. I look forward to your updates on your threads.

#8

Bee, I’ve had over 300 hours of blend on my face, over ten years ago. I look a decade younger than I am. The sun has done more damage to my skin than electrolysis has. Hell, acne has done more damage to my skin than electrolysis has.

#9

No, it is not high, given the right circumstances.

You have to have trust in the person trained to do electrolysis. If you heal well in about 7- 14 days, that can be a rough guide for you.

No offense taken. Get good references from people who have had treatment and results from an electrologist that did their work. This is not a high risk procedure. If it makes you too nervous to get electrolysis, then keep doing your temporary hair removal method(s).

Over the last 20 years, I have treated hundred of thousands chin hairs with thermolysis, blend, galvanic electrolysis and there was no permanent scarring. In fact, permanent scarring is rare. Electrolysis is a low risk procedure. Untrained people doing electrolysis will invariably over treat the follicle and that can cause scarring. A professional electrologist would know NOT what to do in order NOT to cause permanent scarring.

#10

@dfahey, you say it’s not high given the right circumstances. That seems like a problem to me…there seems to be trial and error with finding a practitioner who will not end up using settings that will harm your skin. That is a risk.

I appreciate the reassurance by everyone, however, I have noticed some of the scabs have come off and there are small indentations in my skin :frowning: I hope these will go away…Is this normal in any way?? By the way, from my understanding my electrologist is professional and yet I still have had this happen.

#11

Scabbing can happen and if it does, it can be normal… and it will heal. If they are really big scabs and interconnect, give the Electrologist feedback so she can alter her strategy. I think you already said that your Electrologist said she would change something.

Watch Michael Bono’s YouTube videos at Electrology Now on the healing skin

Try to find an Electrologist by word of mouth of people who were very satisfied.

Very few of my clients get facial scabbing, but I always warn them that there could be a few scabs here and there and not to freak out.

#12

Yeah cause electrolysis denatures old collagen and forces new collagen to build in its stead. Sure you are going to look younger. Sure your acne scars will fill up. It’s all science.

#13

@dfahey,

Thank you. I have watched the video and it was good to know, but I still don’t feel like I know what’s going to happen to my own skin. There is still no guarantee that I’m not trading my hairs for lasting skin damage.

Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s easy to find an electrologist by word of mouth in my area. To me it seems like you go to one and if they happen to have their settings too high then your skin is damaged…then you may go back and they adjust their settings to try again and if the settings were off again…more damage, (and repeat with another electrologist). Why is there too much trial and error and less certainty or guarantee of a completely satisfactory outcome? :frowning: This is what worries me!

@Hairy Man - Is that really true about collagen and electrolysis?

#14

Well, then keep thinking and stay on the fence. You have to do what you think is best for yourself.

Electrolysis can stimulate collagen formation. Many of my clients tell that their skin has improved after electrolysis has been done, especially if they have or have had acne.

If you want to PM me and give me a general idea of what continent or region you are on, I may be able to suggest some practitioners that could handle those chin hairs expertly.

I will tell you that for some people, the first 4-6 treatments / clearances can be the hardest as far as skin manifestations go. Your skin will become use to the treatments soon after those first several clearances or thinnings. Most of my clients do not report scabbing. Chalk it up to skill and modern tools of the trade. I love my equipment because I have total control of the intensity, timing and I can choose from 4 thermolysis modalities and 5 blend modalities. I use them all because no case is alike. Without skill, modern equipment doesn’t matter, but it sure enhances the over all experience for what I do and for what the client receives.