I just thought I’d share my electrolysis experience for anyone who is interested. A year ago I was very hairy but am slowly but surely getting rid of my hair. I’m of Indian descent (but have very light skin for an Indian) and a genetic disposition for hirsutism. I may have PCOS and take Diane 35.
I started getting the hairs around my areolas done in Nov. 06. I was a daily plucker for many years and the hairs were coarse and numerous. The electrologist used thermolysis, had 25 years experience and, from the looks of it, was using the same machine she started with. I would go in every three weeks. I got fairly bad scabs and by the time the scabs fell off, I would have lots of new hairs come up, so my breasts were never such that I wouldn’t be extremely embarassed to have someone see them. By July 07, there seemed to be fewer finer hairs, but I could see very little progress on the coarser hairs, so I started getting my breasts done weekly by electrologist #2, who used thermolysis with a much newer, computerized machine. She is MUCH quicker than electrologist #1. The situation is improving, but I still have an average of about ten noticeable hairs to grab each week. I do get some scabbing, but there are fewer and they’re smaller than I got with electrologist #1. I’m sure I’ll be thrilled when I’m finally done, but I often feel that I don’t know if this has been worth the bother. It was annoying to have to pluck the hairs, but I only had to pluck 1 or 2 a day and my skin looked good, whereas currently, even when my breasts are hair and scab-free, which is maybe 2/3 of the time, the skin still looks spotty from where it scabbed. I reckon that I still have at least six months before the hairs are gone and that it will take about year after that for the spots to fade. I definitely didn’t feel that I could have a boyfriend while I was going to electrologist #1. I do have a boyfriend now (which was my impetus for switching electrologists) but I’m sure he notices and most of the time I have to hide myself when I’m not in the dark.
I started getting the hair on my belly done by electrologist #2 in Feb. 07. (I was still going to electrologist #1 at this time for my breasts. I knew by this time that electrologist #1 wasn’t very good, but at the time I was too embarrassed to ask someone else to do my breasts.) I had coarse hairs on my linea and finer, but still dark and often long hairs all over by belly, from the breasts all the way down. I previously waxed most of the area from time to time and plucked the linea. I go for weekly appointments. My electrologist took the approach of going for the most noticeable hairs first. I’ve never gotten full clearance on the whole area. She mostly clears the linea and vicinity and a 4 X 3 inch area above my belly button, where the hairs grow long and somewhat coarse. She gets the other areas, but not consistently. I’m not too bothered about it though, because I have fine, dark hairs all over my body, so I’m not trying to completely clear the belly as I have to accept a certain level of hairiness. Also, I find electrolysis on the areas below my breasts and on the ribs extremely painful. Initially, I got a lot of scabbing and after the first month or so we had to reduce the settings because I was scratching off the scabs and they scarred. With the lower settings and the arrival of warmer weather, the scabbing stopped, although I’m getting it a bit again now with the colder weather. I probably have about 30 scars, but they’re better than hair! I don’t have a nice belly to show off, so it’s not as though people will see them really anyway. The electrolysis is working really well on the belly. The hairs on the linea were as coarse as those around my areolas, but they’re now finer, even though started getting them done 3-4 months later. I assume that this is because I didn’t pluck out the hairs on the linea as much.
About a month ago, I started getting my eyebrows done. This isn’t really a priority area, but my electrologist waxed them for a special event and they looked so good that I felt that I couldn’t go back to my old look! I really don’t like having people touch my face, especially my eyes (which she has to do to rest her hand) and it really hurts in some areas, especially the forehead. (I have fine hairs all over my forehead and long ones between my eyebrows and the area above my temples. She’s sort of getting the hairs near by eyebrows and fading out.) I have a lot of hair and I guess because they’re so close together, the area scabs quite a bit. She tried using a gold needle, but I’m not sure if it helped much. I’m hoping that this area will go quickly since I only plucked about a third of the area she’s doing, and that the scabbing will improve in a few months when there are fewer hairs.
For aftercare on all areas, I use witch hazel or aloe during the day and tea tree oil at night. I drink lots of water all the time and avoid caffeine in the 24 hours leading up to my appointments. I also find that moisturizing the areas in the days leading up to appointments helps prevent scabs.
I’m happy with my current electrologist, #2, because she works quickly and I enjoy our conversations. She’s also relatively cheap and very close to where I live. Some things about her that aren’t ideal: she just uses a magnifying glass with the light attached, she doesn’t wear gloves and touches things (e.g. her phone) during appointments, she tends to cancel or move around appointments, and she does 45 minutes whether I book her for 45 minutes or an hour.
I think I spent about $200 with the first electrologist and I’m at about $2000 with the second.
I intend to start getting my lower back done in a couple months. I’d just like to get the coarser hairs removed, so I’m hoping this area will be reduced enough after six months. I’d also like to get my full face done - I have fine, dark hair everywhere a man’s beard would be and they type of sideburns that seem to be common on Asian people. (Sort of as though the hair on the scalp just extends down that far.) I think I’ll have to find another electrologist for my face, given how much scabbing I get from my current one, so I’ll have to wait until my eyebrows are nearly done since my current electrologist would take it very personally if she knew I was going to someone else.
I’m in various stages of getting laser done on my bikini area, underarms and legs. So far bikini and legs have responded really well. It’s too soon to say for legs. I’m hoping to be at an acceptable level of hairiness with the next 2 or 3 years. (I’ve come to accept that I’ll always be somewhat hairy, since I’m not going to go nuts removing all the hair on my torso and arms.) I’ve already come a long way in the last year.
I know this is an extremely long post, but I hope someone will find it helpful!