Lucy Peters, NY electrologist recommendation

Andrea · March 11, 2004, 3:03am

A reader sent this on 25 January 2004:

<blockquote>quote:<hr />
i want to share some information that i believe is valuable for the tg community.

i am a 52 year old mtf pre-op. i have a long way to go, emotionally and physically, before i complete transition. however, i have overcome the obstacle of facial hair in a remarkably short time period. the usual pain associated with the treatment was greatly reduced, and managable with a mild pain reliever prescribed by my physician. i even fell asleep during the sessions.

i feel that my experience is so positive, that i must share the information with others in the tg community.

lucy peters in ny is one office of many nationwide. an internet search will locate their offices. the method, and the machine used, are exclusively the property of lucy peters. you do have lucy peters listed on your site. their method, and the skill of their operators, is remarkable. i know that they removed anywhere from 20-30 hairs every minute, and that the removal has been permanent. the rate was consistent over a period of hours. that would average out at 1200 to 1800 hairs removed per hour, or 7,200 to10,800 hairs for a standard 6 hour session.

i had previously received treatment using the galvanic method - about 15 years ago. the failure of the treatment to permanently remove the hair essentially stopped a previous attempt to transition. i gave up, and went into denial. i was able to grow a very full beard and moustache. that is essentially how i started treatment at lucy peters.

lucy peters is not cheap. you pay $65 for a half hour session. personally, i paid for full hours at $115 per hour. below is a schedule of dates and times i spent receiving treatment. cost up to now is approximately $3800.00, including taxes.

nov 22, 2003 - 6.5 hours, mostly neck
dec 6, 2003 - 4 hours, neck, 1/2 hour on upper lip
dec 11, 2003 - 6 hours, neck, lower jaw, 1/2 hour upper lip
jan 3, 2004 - 5 hours, lower jaw, neck maintenance, 1/2 hour upper lip
jan 17, 2004 - 4.5 hours, neck and jaw maintenance, upper chin, 1 hour upper lip - (lip cleared)
jan 24, 2004 - 6 hrs, after 1 week no shaving - 1 hour maintenance on lip, neck, jaw, and chin, strip both cheeks to hairline at ears.

the treatments cleared entire areas, leaving minor irritation and no scars. generally, saturday teatment was barely noticeable on mondays. calamine lotion dried and camoflaged treatment areas. by wednesday, the effects of the treatments were entirely gone. essentially, i have undergone the first clearing in under 40 hours. i will have to allow for longer periods of growth, perhaps two treatments at a month apart, at 4 hours each, before starting a “maintenance” schedule of treatment.

using lucy peters, the time spent obtaining results that a tg individual could live and work with has been drastically reduced from the time period you have previously estimated. I believe that your estimates are correct for “standard” electrologists, they just don’t apply to lucy peters method. by the way, i understand that the team at “electrology 2000” are lucy peters trained. they branched out, and use novocaine to reduce pain. they supposedly offer similar results, but they do not have the machine used at lucy peters. i cannot speak about regrowth or anything else concerning their methods, but they were, supposedly, trained by the best - lucy peter’s sister elaine.

in any event, the absence of pain and scarring, and the speed of treatment, make lucy peters more than worth the money.(by the way, i am not wealthy and am on a tight budget) mostly, the office caters to new york’s wealthy (and famous) women. the management and staff are very friendly and professional, and have shown me the utmost courtesy and compassion as a transgendered woman. one big problem is finding open time periods (particularly on weekends) for the extended treatment sessions that a transgendered person would require. they are pretty fully booked months in advance. i don’t believe the new york office could accomodate more than one transgended person in any given time period. i hesitated to share my experience for this reason. so i’m selfish! at this point, i feel i have gotten far enough along where i will not have to compete with another transgendered person for time with the operators.

all said, i have had experience with other methods and electrologists. none compare. i don’t work for lucy peters. they have been operating with their patented system for over 20 years. there is an alternative to conventional electrology, it really works, and tg women should be informed. <hr /></blockquote>

yb1 · April 19, 2004, 1:25am

This goes in line with what I’ve said before. Do not look at the price per hour, rather look at price to completion!

It’s good that you’ve found a good place to complete your work.

By the way, I’ve had a chance to converse with one ex-Lucy Peters electrologist. She supplied the following information:

The Integrated Method advertised by LP is simply a thermolysis epilator,
a reusable non-sterile insulated bulbous Laurel probe,
and a technique by which coarser hairs are treated once, then pulled out half way, and then the probe is reinserted to retreat the follicle.

There is nothing new or revolutionary in the method. The name was patented, so no one else can use it, but the technique is the same as many electrologists employ themselves, when appropriate.

The top brands for epilators are Silhouet Tone and Apilus followed by Fischer. Whichever epilator LP uses cannot be superior to these established brands (unless it’s one of these brands remodeled with a different case).

Some beards are easier than others and the treatment can go quickly, but a sustained rate of 2 seconds per hair sounds unrealistic. Especially if they reinsert at the same follicle more than once.

There are a lot of incompetent electrologists out there, and it’s good to know at least one that does good work. But for anyone looking for treatment, I’m sure you can find someone else at least as competent or even better for less money and an easier schedule.

[ April 18, 2004, 06:27 PM: Message edited by: yb ]

James_W_Walker_VII · February 21, 2005, 11:56pm

Both LP Int’l and E-2000 use custom case versions of machines that were (are) available to the average electrologist. If I recall correctly LP has a version of the Proteus machine (company now defunct) that they once sold and E-2000 has an Instantron machine with all company badges removed and their name put on it.

Quite simply, anyone with a Sil-Tone, or Apilus, or even the latest Instantron has a better machine than they have. Furthermore, bulbous probes have been shown to be less than ideal.

I am happy for you, but I agree, that it is possible to find as good, or better treatment for less.

Thanks for the recommendation however, because people need to know who is getting good treatment.

Arlene · February 22, 2005, 10:50pm

The technique you describe was one that sounds like the one I learned when I was a student back in the early 90’s. It’s just one of the many techniques that many electrologists use. I don’t think you can patent a technique. We were never taught it as the Lucy Peter’s technique. We would initially insert deep (for the dermal papilla), then higher up (for the bulge). Sometimes we would reinsert in the vacant follicle or reinsert with the hair slightly epilated out but still in the follicle so that we could, with certainty, find the follicle opening.

Again, I think that the skill of the practitioner is of utmost importance in permanent hair removal. I have seen great results with multiple needle galvanic too.

Shaving the area a few days before treatment can also be beneficial. Was that indicated?