My story and treatment plan

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

About myself …

I have dark hair (Not black, but dark brown) and light skin.

My story …

I had laser done with a YAG laser on my back, shoulders, upper arms, and neck about 4 years ago. I had about 15 treatments done all together for about $3,600 dollars. It didn’t work. To add to this, it made the areas even worse and stimulated more hair on my shoulders/upper arms.

I regret doing laser and this is not a “attack” on laser treatment. I don’t want to get into that debate.

Now …

I have started electrolysis on my upper back (Mid back up to shoulders), my shoulders, upper arms, and bottom half of my neck.

My hair is not very very dense, but it is hairy. It is not like chest hair, but it is still hairy.

Anyways, so I have done electrolysis with a reputable practitioner. The practitioner has a Apelia Senior and we are
doing microflash treatment.

Afterwards, there is swelling, like mosquito bites and then there is also bleeding in each follicle. My skin usually swells up and I feel pain when the surface of my skin hits something.

Overall, the areas she has done, specifically, the first part we did, I have not seen any regrowth. I started almost 3 weeks ago and I still have not seen any regrowth. Healing has occured and I can not see any scarring. If there is any regrowth I can’t notice it and it is much clearer than before (like 90% hair loss).

I started with a hour week my first week, but every week after that I am going in for 3 hours/week.

My questions …

Do you think this treatment plan will work? How long do you think it will take? And is what I am describing a good sign that it is working?

Any comments is appreciated greatly!

#2

THe more time you devote up front to clear the hair, the better. You still have hair below the skin waiting to advance to the surface and this will happen over a period of three hair growth cycles or 9-12 months. It sounds like you have a good plan and microflash is an awesome approach to a large area of stimulated hair growth.

What do you mean by “bleeding in each follicle”? This shouldn’t happen. For a larger area, you need to invest in regular treatments over a period of 9-18 months. You will have signs that it is working toward the end of year’s time. You are driving forth on blind faith earlier than a year. Yes, it does work as long as your electrologist is skilled.

Dee

#3

You didn’t get results with laser because most of those areas are not good to treat with laser, and it doesn’t sound like you have very coarse and dense hair like what is needed for laser to work. I would actually advise you to post the name of your clinic so others are aware that they’re willing to take someone’s money for 15 treatments without providing any results. Even if they didn’t do it intentionally at first, they should have known to stop after at most 6 treatments.

In terms of electrolysis, everything you describe sounds good except for the bleeding part which shouldn’t happen. It takes about 12 months after your first clearance to complete the area. However, you need to make sure to be going for regular clearances after that as soon as new hair pops up, which is usually once every week or every two weeks to start for long enough treatments to leave the room without any hair. The frequency will slow down after several months. Just be patient and realize that you have a lot more hair that you can see at any one point since hair grows in cycles, and it takes a minimum of 9 months to go through all the cycles to kill hair in every one.

Also, make sure you’re using proper aftercare, i.e. witch hazel during the day and tee tree oil at night.

#4

LAgirl, I was a ideal candidate. I have terminal hairs all over my back, shoulders, neck, and upper arms now after 15 treaments under a YAG laser. The peach fuzz that was treated became very course over the course of the treatments. And I had to treat this hair because the area which I wanted to get treated, below my neck, on my upper back and also the upper arms, would have looked awkward if the rest of the area was not be reduced as well. I don’t know exactly what went wrong and I personally don’t care, but I can tell you that if I had not spent that amount of money on laser, I would have cleared my hairs with electrolysis in 5 hours versus the 20 or so I need to get full clearance. The laser increased hairs on my shoulders, upper arms, and virtually 60% of my back. I went into the laser clinic thinking I can get rid of a few patches of terminal hairs and I ended up a walking carpet.

I am not going to divulge the name of the clinic because you will only turn around claim that laser will work if I go to clinic xyz. The people that treated me were certified nurses and the clinic was backed by a medical doctor. Personally, I don’t want to turn this into a rant on which is better, but in my opinion, I think laser is a quick fix to being hairy.

#5

hi, i don’t think lagirl would ever claim that laser would work on those areas! certainly i have never seen her do so. indeed just above she says that those areas are not good to treat with laser.

you say you were an ideal candidate but also that you had ‘peach fuzz’ areas treated. peach fuzz is absolutely not the kind of hair to be treated with laser!

i came on these forums considering laser on my face, after some time of reading and asking questions i realised that while it may be fine for my underarms and legs it is certainly not the way to go for my face or even my arms!

i started electro on those areas instead.

i’m really sorry to hear about your situation but this is why research is so important. you would have known that those areas are not really suited for laser treatment and that many people report stimulated growth. it seems like the clinic just ignored what was happening in order to keep taking your money.

#6

You’re either misreading the responses or assuming we’re saying something we’re not. We’re not telling you to get more laser treatments. We’re telling you that your clinic shouldn’t have done yours in the first place because you didn’t have the right type of hair. All their education on paper is worthless if they’re not looking out for customers’ best interests and keep taking your money when you’re not getting results (and they should know WHY you’re not if they’re experienced).

I think you believe you’re an “ideal candidate” because that’s what this clinic told you. Unfortunately, you found this forum a bit too late. If you found it before you went and read our FAQs, you would have known that that is not the case. We NEVER recommend treating those areas unless they have COARSE DENSE hair, i.e. like hair on underarms and bikini areas. A lot of dark hair doesn’t qualify as COARSE DENSE hair. Most men just have dark long hairs on those areas, but they’re not really coarse (like hair on the male beard). I don’t know what skin type you are, but Yag laser is also not the best for hair that’s not very coarse and dense, and if you’re lighter than a type IV, Yag is not the laser for you, period.

Either way, I would NOT tell you to seek laser treamtents, not now and not before your treatments because you are NOT the ideal candidate, regardless of what the clinic told you (which is the problem here).

We constantly warn people here of induced growth and make sure they don’t treat the type of hair you had treated, especially on those areas, for the very reasons you didn’t get results.

#7

I wouldn’t blame this clinic. Four years ago paradoxical hypertrichosis was unheard of by most laser practictioners. It’s still a rare occurance, especially when you take into account the number of laser treatments performed each day without incidence. Some, not all, practices are now listing increase in growth as a possible side effect on consent forms now.

LV_PB, are you actually seeing blood in the follicles, or are you seeing red dots a few days after treatment?

#8

It is the latter, red dots a few days after treatment.

#9

Red dots are fine. In order to soothe your skin after, you may want to see if you can go home straight away to spend some time shirtless so you don’t have anything irritated. I realize that applying ice to your back is hard to do, but I ice for a little bit after my electrolysis treatment if possible and it helps.

#10

Make sure to use proper aftercare and they should go away within a week. Any side effects should go away within a week. Witch hazel during the day and tea tree oil at night is the best way to go.

#11

Well, I started my treatment June 18, 2009. I must stay I am seeing super results. When I get treated, usually, the hairs don’t regrow
until maybe the third or fourth week? BUT, I am noticing very thin
hairs and also less dense. It took us approximately 10 hours to clear my mid back to my shoulders, now, it is taking us maybe, 2
hours to clear the same area when there is regrowth. I also notice
that when the hairs break, you TELL quickly. When they break,
they grow out within in the week, so, I ask her to go over it
again.

I am just hoping 9 months into it, I will see no more hair or very fine hair.

By the way, I just want to clarify, when I see regrowth usually
it is not as dense and also, it is very slow to grow back, like
I notice that the tip is just coming out 3.5 to 4.5 weeks after
treatment.