After over 10 years of putting up with excessive hair growth on my chin area, I’ve finally decided to start electrolysis treatments at the age of 28. The hairs are coarse and range in colour from dark brown, to red, to blonde, and I’m guessing the situation is hereditary as my mother and grandmother also have this problem (my hormone tests came back within a normal range).
I had a consultation today, and in preparation I have done the following:
- Stopped tweezing the hairs about 3 weeks ago and have been shaving since
- Shaved the area Friday morning (but not too close), and allowed the hair to grow out for the Saturday appointment
What I didn’t do:
- I forgot to drink plenty of water and limit my caffine intake as I didn’t read that bit on the forum until Friday night (but I’ll remember to do that from now)
The electrolygist I saw today has 9 years experience and runs her business from home. She was very easy to talk to and believed treatments would make a positive difference to my life. She mainly works in the galvanic method and also uses high frequency. After assessing the area she estimated I would need around 60 hours of treatment spread out over about 12 months, and then maintenance after that. She said it was possible for me when I’m around the age of 40, that I could get a reccurance of growth due to hormonal changes, but it would be nothing like I have now.
She noted that the hairs were dense and close together, and my skin appeared to be fragile, so her concern was that the area could be easily overtreated. She said that she would work on thinning the area, and I may not see any noticeable difference for at least 2 months.
She had the time to complete a 15 minute treatment to test my skin’s reaction and got me to hold a metal rod for the galvanic part. After the needle was inserted it was in position for 8 seconds of galvanic and then 2 seconds of high frequency. She said it was her preference to do it this way rather than both methods together at the same time.
She cleared approximately 45 hairs in the 15 mins, which isn’t that many, but she was also talking to me about the process and testing different frequencies. She used a metal roller afterwards to help restore the acidic balance at the surface of the skin and to reduce redness, and she applied a manuka honey/tea tree oil lotion.
Overall I like this lady and I feel confident in her abilities. She has worked on other females with the same condition and they come and go (she said that going is the good bit because that is when they are cleared). She is currently working on a female and the sessions go for two hours concentrating on the chin and the neck. This specific client gets more satisfaction when they work for two hour sessions because she can see a difference, and apparently this client is in the final stages of her treatment now. 
Her recommendation for my treatment schedule is to start with a 1 hr session where she would work more aggressively than today, and have weekly sessions after that. My concern is the process she uses is slow, therefore it will take longer for me to achieve full clearance. If this electrolygist is highly skilled in using her machine and in the end I have permanent hair removal, then I am ok with this. It may cost more money overall, but if she is good at what she does then I will have no issues.
After today’s treatment the redness went away within an hour and since I have been home I have applied some aloe vera gel straight from the plant. Right now the area looks slightly bumpy.
I told her about this forum and she said she’s going to go online and check it out. One of her clients has asked her to give a presentation on electrolysis and she is looking for help on how to give an informative and entertaining presentation.
I will being having a second consultation with a different electrolysist, but I’m definitely liking this one so far.
Thanks for reading,
-Mel