Interesting, how can one tell which hairs are growing (anagen) and which ones are shedding (catagen), a few days after shaving?
Do the hairs exit the skin at different rates, so the anagen hairs are longer and the catagens are shorter? I have had an ongoing struggle figuring which is which, and whether a hair I zapped is undertreated, or it is just a catagen. I see to get far more catagens than anagens in an area when I re-clear it.
Yes, the growing hairs are actually growing, while the catagens and telagens are either being pushed up and out, or sitting in place, being uncovered by the shedding of skin. In the space of a day or three from shaving, the difference between the lengths of these hairs will be noticeable indeed.
This is why some electrologists, ask clients to shave 2 or 3 days prior to treatments, as they can work exclusively on growing hairs in Anagen phase, and either ignore the rest, or simply pluck them out while removing the hairs they have actually treated.
It is a good practice that if one uses the treat Anagen, but pluck Catagens and Telagens, one should explain this process and the reasons behind it to the clients, because otherwise, it is a good way to convince the client that all your treatments are underpowered and all you are doing is plucking the hairs. The client won’t feel the treated hairs being removed, but will feel all the plucked catagens and telagens. This will be enough to convince them that one is not getting one’s money’s worth, unless a clear explanation has been given, and understanding achieved.
I got a skin rash on the face. I took oral antihystaminic pills and put on a hydrocortisone ointment to reduce itchiness, so hopefully it will go away soon. Now, I am just wondering if it is a side-effect of electrolysis or has nothing to do with it. I got it only on the sides, and not on the lip where I was treated too; however, different parts of the face may react differently.
Not sure, but I think that the skin rash was due to a relatively hot shower that I had a few days after electrolysis. All good now! Of course I had to cancel my Saturday appointment, which didn’t bother me at all. I think it’s good to give my skin a rest.
I have to say that I haven’t seen a coarse hair for more than three weeks. I am thrilled with electrolysis!
Am I supposed to use diluted or undiluted tea tree oil?
Don’t get too excited too early. Hair growth cycles need to be conquered and it takes a good six months for most people to get through the worst part of these hairs that come forth like row after row of strong, determined soldiers. When those hair growth cycles click in, don’t get depressed, get going to your electrologist and get the hair cleared off totally.
Try tea tree oil both ways and see what works best for you. Use it sparingly in small dabs.
Sure, but I can be excited for not having to worry about them for a good three weeks!
I am a fan of undiluted Tea Tree Oil. In most cases, the people who get flaking or drying are simply using too much of the product. I think it is irresponsible how most companies don’t have a dropper top on their bottles. Even the NOW brand has a dropper bottle on their small size, but not their large size. I guess they see it as a useage size and a refill size.
If you don’t have a dropper bottle, you should just dip a cotton swab into the bottle and use that to apply the oil. One should not get too much on when using this procedure. If that still causes the skin to dry out and flake, then one can dilute the oil.
You are so right James! I actually got a small bottle and when it finished I (stupidly) threw it away. Now I have a large one and it doesn’t have a dropper top. I’ll probably give a go to the undiluted one, when the diluted one, which I have at the moment, is over.
My doctor prescribed antibiotics for my body acne, and just wondering if it is alright to continue with electrolysis while taking them.
Yes, antibiotics are fine when having electrolysis.
16th treatment. 1-hr on the upper lip and sides. The upper lip is clear apart from a few very short and light hair, which I want anyway.
So you started in July, have had 16 treatments and are all clear. You are in the maintenance phase now.
These numbers seem incredible to me. Sixteen treatments in 3 months??? And the sessions are so long?? Did you have a lot of hair? Are you having galvanic electrolysis? If you are, that is certainly okay and will work very well. I’m just curious because usually my clients have a total of 8-20 treatments (half hour sessions) over a period of a year and then they are finished. I do variations of flash thermolysis, which is thermolysis with quick bursts of energy well under one second. Very fast and highly effective, just like other forms of electrolysis.
I had 16 thermolysis treatments altogether, not only on the upper lip. I am doing chest, abdomen, nipples, lips, and sides. I am pretty sure you are quicker, because you are using a new machine, whereas my electrologist uses pretty old equipment. I have had around 12hrs of electrolysis on the face so far and around 3hrs on the body. Is this too much? No full clearance on the sides yet…
I don’t know if anyone uses flash thermolysis in Melbourne. I tried to find someone, but no luck.
BTW when I say sides I mean the whole side, including chicks and the rest
Dee was just concerned because it sounded like you were only treating your upper lip. For all those areas, it’s definitely not too many hours at all.
Okay. This makes sense now.
It’s very time-consuming to go back and review posts to refresh my memory about important details of posters.
Yes, for all those areas, 16 hours sounds normal. If you would focus on one or two areas, then full clearance would be obtained and then you would officially be in ‘maintanence mode’. All sounds good for you.
Thanks for the replies, and I totally understand that you can’t remember all the details of everyone’s story Dee! The opposite would surprise me!
During the first few treatments my electrologist got rid of the most bothersome hair, and tried to thin the rest of the hair, not clear them. I had some coarse hair only on the upper lip. At the moment, the upper lip is clear, the chicks and generally the front part of the sides are almost clear. So from the next time she will have to start focusing at the back part of sides, which still have quite a lot of hair at the moment.
I tried to take a picture of the sides to show to you what my hair look like, but they were not visible in the photo, as they are very fine and relatively light, although I am brunette.
Would normal blood tests show a hormonal imbalance or do I have to do a different test to see whether there is something wrong with my hormone levels? What I mean is, I am a blood donour, therefore my blood is checked regularly. If I had a hormonal imbalance, would it be obvious from those tests or not? I also had a blood test at a hospital for a different reason, and everything was normal. However, I was looking at the results of that test, and it doesn’t say anything about testosterone levels. I am a bit worried, because my menstrual cycle is a total mess, and I started having some body acne 3 months ago. I had never had body acne, not even as a teenager.
17th treatment. 45 min on the upper lip and sides. My electrologist (#1) run late, so I had a shorter treatment.
Yesterday, I was supposed to have a 1hr treatment. I didn’t have a treatment at all, as the electrologist (#2) run too late and she would have only 20-30min for me. This was the third time that she did this, so I am not booking again with her. Very annoyed, as I wasted a couple of hours of my life for nothing. Anyway, today I said what happened to my electrologist (#1), who offered me 30min free treatment.I think that this was very nice of her. Electrologist (#2) didn’t even apologize.
Some of these business practices are truly couinterproductive for both parties. If there are no other electrologists in your area to consult with, your stuck with this scene. They can behave any way they want if there is no competition. Never hurts to express your dismay with these ladies, but if they are so busy, I doubt that your complaint will barely matter.
I found out from one of the other girls that work there that electrologist (#2) always runs late. So, I am just not booking again with her.
What I said to my original electrologist (#1) is that I don’t understand why they accept clients who runs late. In my opinion, if a client goes late, they shouldn’t offer them a treatment. It’s the clients’ fault after all. The clinic does the opposite. They accept the late clients, encouraging them to be late again and again, since it doesn’t affect their treatment, and they make unhappy clients like me, who go there always on time, and quite often have short or no treatment. Just because I do electrolysis and can be curtailed doesn’t mean that I am happy with that.
I think they got my point and that’s why I got 30min free. I am in Melbourne. There are a lot of clinics and electrologists around, and I don’t think that it is of their interest to loose regular clients. Will see how it goes…
How right you are. I never tolerate a late client that may interfer with the next appointment. I reschedule them at my convenience. If they are late, and it will not interfer with the prompt client’s appointment, I tell them they are lucky that I can see them, otherwise, I would have had to reschedule them for another day. If this is a chronic thing, they get the idea that it is no fun to make the effort to drive to my office only to find out that they have no appointment due to being late. They usually do better in the future and all is well again.
I had a client who was ALWAYS late. I am not even talking about 15 minutes late, I mean frequently an HOUR or more late! Then she would get mad when I would tell her that the next client is here, and she will be shorted on the time we are working, though she must pay for the entire time she took up… you know, the time I was waiting for her to show up and could have worked on another client had I known she was showing up at 2pm instead of 1pm.
One day she even showed up 15 minutes AFTER her scheduled appointment was to have ENDED! :mad:
Well, after all the verbal and monetary sanctions failed, and I had begun booking her on days when I had no other clients after her appointment, I would give her 30 minutes and then I would lock up and go home.
You can’t imagine the bewildered phone messages I got from this person showing up an hour late and finding the place locked tight like a drum and dark as a tomb. :o
She finally got the message. 