Mike's Electrolysis

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#41

DON’T PANIC … but:

pleated.jpg901×601

(From book):
Pleated Scars: Close-together dermal contraction scars sometimes line-up and cause wrinkles. This effect may encourage vertical wrinkles on the upper lip or other susceptible area.

Photo is of a person who had full beard removal and was aggressively treated (fully cleared) and overtreated. Notice vertical creases and some tissue has collapsed i.e., just above the lip (a bit sunken in).

Such poor results are not common … but you must always error on the side of caution with the upper lip. The upper lip is a flap of skin and does not have a good collateral blood supply (like the back, that does).

#42

so… what do I do?

#43

Let the skin heal completely before treating again. Have you talked to your electrologist about this? I don’t know what her technique, equipment, probe choice, levels are like, but common sense needs to prevail. I have cleared many upper lips in an hour to hour and a half range with no long term ramifications like the above picture. When the hairs are as dense and coarse as your hairs are it best to scatter the work and clear gradually, but it is common sense and common knowledge not to ram in several treatments in less than a week after the first session. In your case, I would wait two weeks between treatments.

LET THE AREA HEAL COMPLETELY and don’t panic like that crazy bird above. I would also apply the purest aloe vera gel to the area as much as you want . Cool the gel in the refrigerator . It will feel very good.

#44

Yes, just follow Dee’s advice. Again: “LET THE AREA HEAL COMPLETELY!” Don’t puch the treatment!

(I was afraid I would panic you out … Dude, just chill there is nothing going wrong …)

#45

typo : Don’t PUSH the treatment! Indeed, many clients will push the electrologist and then get in trouble. Take it slowly.

#46

After having the same areas treated over the last year, I can advise you NOT to worry. Your photo shows effective treatment, but as others have mentioned, your hair density is high, and attempting to clear an entire area too quickly will only result in more temporary inflammation. Have patience and wait longer between treatments, two-to-three weeks if necessary. Ask your electrologist to remove every other hair instead of attempting to clear the area in one visit. Don’t be discouraged, either. Any new hair you see growing in the treated area was simply below the skin and not treated yet. Electrologists are good, but they can only treat the hairs they can grasp, those that have grown above the skin.

Have faith and be persistent (but patient!) and you’ll get there. It will require multiple clearances, but the second and third clearances are MUCH easier to achieve than the first. Good results require time, and it’s not an instantaneous process.

#47

Thank you all for the responses. Ive read and taken every thing into consideration. Ill wait for a few weeks until I schedule my next appointment. Should I still be avoiding tanning and sun at this point or am I in the clear?

#48

Good and accurate and information from a consumer who has lived through this. Thanks dear Caith for reassuring Mike. Caith describes how this all goes down, so don’t be discouraged or afraid too soon. The first four to six months is the toughest and then it gets better. Tell your electrologist that you plan to go a little slower and LISTEN to your body. When you have a lot of pain and swelling, which leads to hard numbness, you know that there is a lot of action going on below the skin to bring the area back to its once peaceful environment. Let that happen now. Resume treatment when all is healed and take an easy , careful approach to finish the job at hand.

Yes, I would avoid the sun at this point. Baby this area along.

#49

Let’s just say you were tweezing your hair at home. You want to reduce the overall ‘hairiness’ but without an awkward entire line of hair missing and ruining the aesthetic you would like. What would you do? You wouldn’t tweeze an entire line of hair under your nose yourself, but select a few of the ‘thicker’ hairs and remove them. Your electrologist should go for the same approach - it’s what most people on hairtell do when they have short but frequent (fortnightly up to once a month) sessions.

#50

A patient contacted me today thinking that she might be encountering contraction scars on her upper lip. (I guess my photo made her anxious?) I gave her some recommendations. Top of the list is to consult a certified plastic surgeon (not cosmetic surgeon, or even a dermatologist … reasons here are too lengthy to discuss).

If wound contracture and/or hypertrophic scarring is actually taking place, a plastic surgeon can administer “Kenalog” (steroid) to help “relax” the scar tissue and disable it from becoming hypertophic. At such a point you need more than “tea tree oil” or “aloe.” There is also a “sweet spot” time to administer Kenalog: not too early and not too late.

#51

not experiencing scaring but a whole lot of hair growing back and causing some pimples to form. Is she doing this right? Hair is growing back already :frowning:

NXHHH.jpg914×503

#52

Those may be new hairs coming to the surface that were NOT AVAILABLE, NOT SEEN when you were having treatment. Maybe some hairs broke off under the skin during treatment and are still growing and coming forth? In any event, that which you are wanting to accomplish takes an easy, patient attitude with a highly skilled practitioner, over a period of 12-18 months. No way around that. Hair growth cycles dictate what can be removed at a particular time.

I really don’t think that you have to worry about permanent scarring from your last treatments, as long as you allow good healing to take place. Electrolysis gets the blame for upper lip wrinkles when in fact, there are hereditary reasons (rhagedes) and self-inflicted behaviors (sun, smoking, the act of drinking with a spout or straw for a prolonged period of time) If wrinkling occurs down the road, these factors should be given consideration, if they apply to you. The importance of taking before pictures of the mouth area before starting treatment can’t be stressed enough. Women that present with a very hairy upper lip, notice the wrinkling underneath that was already there, after the hair is gone. Pictures prove that those smoking, drinking or inevitable hereditary wrinkles were there prior to electrolysis. When you are watching high definition TV, you can see the the vertical pleats on many upper and lower lips, especially so on middle-aged women who never had electrolysis. If you see this happen to you down the road, think about ALL the possible causes of upper lip wrinkles. Men are less affected than women, that is why I think you will be fine after your lip is fully back to normal.

#53

Pimples? If it’s the odd white head, just clean the area regularly with soap & water and maybe spot-apply tea tree oil initially. If they’re rock hard pimples, ie. not your regular type of spot/whitehead/whatever, then your skin might just be really sensitive.

#54

Alot of the hairs have came back, some discoloring. Lots of pimples/ingrown hairs. Not sure if Ill be going back.

#55

When was your very first treatment?

#56

Unrealistic expectations probably emanate from hasty or overly-optimistic consultations. Patients need to understand that this procedure is “electro-surgery” and it involves burning (okay “dissolving” if you prefer, it’s still a burn) the skin all the way from the fat layer to the superficial dermis. This is a significant wound. Can you seriously expect no post-treatment side effects?

You are removing beard hairs for God’s sake! Your lip looks fine. “Bleeding hearts” might start wringing their hands … but they also need to show close-up photos of their own work soon after the treatment. My patients are never “freaked out” because I give them very detailed information on what’s going to happen.

I disagree with “selling” the patient without proper descriptions of risks and normal healing. You can’t do that to a patient. Of course they assume this is going to be a walk in the park. It never is all that easy. You expect perfect skin immediately afterward? There is not one electrologist here (well, yes one), that will think there is anything particularly wrong with what they see in this latest photo.

I think you should take your own advice and not continue. This procedure is not something for you. (Now, aren’t you sorry you asked?)

#57

I resent your tone. Im continuing with electrolysis

#58

No problem … I’m often “resented.”

I do however try VERY hard to “tell it like it is!” I mostly was hoping for a straight “it’s fine dude, don’t be …!” Nicely, your electrologist (who is doing an okay job) didn’t get slammed and “that whole other thing” didn’t (yet) get started. (I have a low “BS quotient.”)

I’m glad you are continuing on and hope you will be happy with the results. Again: GO FOR IT! ALL IS WELL!

#59

Michael Bono is absolutely right Mike.

One of my favorite quotes: “If no reaction, no results.” Unfortunately, the phrase is not mine, it is by a Norwegian colleague who in turn probably heard it often pronounce to her mother (also electrologist). You must understand that since Dr. Michel invented the Electrolysis, more than 130 years ago, have been written and said many things, many are true, and many false too. Perhaps with the intention of preserving this practice to a group who are not physicians. Or to avoid customer panic. The truth is that many euphemisms have been used. Very few colleagues have had the audacity to call everything by its name, Michael is one of them.

I’m glad you do not give up, if you really want to get rid of the hairs. I would have chosen a IBP 006 Long for those hairs. This would not prevent a lot of swelling but maybe (just maybe) there would be a little less post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation.

You’re young, and youth is a synonym of impatient. Your fear of a big reaction may have made your electrologist is kept below the required parameters for the hair to slide easily. When she tried to be more effective, you have expressed your concern about side effects. Yes, I agree, the problem has been a complete lack of information about how the process unfolds in this sensitive area.

#60

Jossie, you ALWAYS say things better than I … and English is not even your native language! Yeah, I know I’m a “pain in the A–”