New here - starting treatment soon

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

Hello everyone,
I’m so glad to have found this forum, so many helpful people and lots of good info. I have finally bit the bullet and made my appointment with an electrologist (whose info I found on the boards here btw). Some info about me: I’m 34/f and have always been hairy. But with the new treatment I would like to focus on the face/chin/sideburns etc. Even as a 5 year old I remember asking my mom how come I had a mustache and she didn’t :confused: I started with electrolysis back in '96 but the lady couldn’t have been an expert because I don’t think it really worked. At that time I remember it being excruciatingly painful, getting swollen and scabbing over (but never scarred thankfully). Anyway, over the years I have had two 6-session treatments with IPL that seemed to work at the time but the hair came back within a couple of months. I have waxed/tweezed/shaved…you name it. Also used vaniqa which does help but I am not good with following routines. I have had blood work done repeatedly but nothing comes up. The doctors always tell me the same thing: idiopathic hirsuitism.

Anyway so I’ve finally decided to make an appointment. It is going to be 30 minutes the first time after an initial consultation. She seems to be popular with transgendered people (so that’s a good sign, right?) I would appreciate any tips going in. Foods to avoid/lifestyle changes/options for painkillers etc. My friend who is getting electrolysis done in another country wears EMLA cream to her appointment but the person I talked to said not to wear anything on the skin.

What should I be looking for at my appointment? I have been trying to read up but really all I can come up with is that they shouldn’t be pulling anything. Is there anything else?

Anyway, just wanted to say hi. Please wish me luck. This is probably a last ditch effort. Thanks.

#2

Hi there, I am new too! I have an appointment on monday. Kind of nervous because I can’t really find any reviews on any practitioners in my area! She seems very professional and I’m excited to get started. I’m female, and I luckily havn’t had much of a problem with facial hair until recently and I now have to pluck about 5-6 dark hairs off of my chin everyday. I am more worried about other areas first and once I gain confidence with my practitioner I will let her touch my chin!

Basically my problem areas is my ‘happy trail’. I have had this since I was 12 and it’s always been so embarrassing. I remember a ‘friend’ saying “look! she has hair on her belly like dad! hahahah!” So embarrassing and I’ve tried hiding it for 10 years and I’m sick of it!!

Even waxing doesn’t hide the shadow of all the hairs in the regrowth phase, so I’m ready to get rid of it. Next, I’ll do bikini line and the big toes (I Imagine will be very painful!) I’ve also tried home laser hair removal with no success. Hopefully we can share our progress with each other as we go!

#3

Hi there! I’m no electrolysis expert, but I’ve been having electrolysis done on my face for the past 6 weeks (14.5 hours) so I can give you some advice based on my own experience, but I guess everyone will be different!

Firstly, in regards to using anything on your face before you go for treatment, I’d assume it would be pointless as the electrologist cleans the area before hand and throughout the session so I guess they’d probably wipe off any creams etc anyway! I tried taking painkillers before one of my sessions as the previous two weeks had been excruciating, but I found that these had absolutely no effect unfortunately. They might have a placebo effect on some people, but certain areas of your face are very sensitive and you’re probably going to have to just grin and bear the pain!

I was told that a good night’s sleep, lots of water and a decent meal before hand would help, but I’ve found that it doesn’t help with the pain. It does, however, make you more comfortable in general, which is a bonus.

When it comes to the actual treatment you’ll know yourself if your electrologist is doing it wrong. As you have tweezed before, you’ll know what plucking a hair feels like, so you’ll notice if this is what your electrologist is doing. There’s a distinct difference between plucking and the small ‘pop’ that you can sometimes hear when the hair shows some resistance etc. The removal of the hair itself shouldn’t be painful, and if it is then your electrologist may be plucking. Also, you shouldn’t feel the insertions. my electrologist occasionally misjudges the angle of the hair and pokes my face with the needle. She quickly realises, and corrects it before using the current. However if you feel the needle often and then she uses the current without correcting her mistake then she may not be a very skilled electrologist. (This is my take on things anyway, if this is wrong I’m sure a professional will correct me!)

Also, if you feel that an area is being over treated or its getting too painful don’t be too shy to ask your electrologist to move on to another area for a bit. make sure you interact with them as, although they know what they’re doing, they might not always be aware of how you’re feeling. Don’t lie there in agony without letting the electrologist know. She may change some settings, or give you a break etc…

Basically, the advice I would give you is to always think of the end result. I’ve been close to giving up, as I have a full face of coarse hair to remove and it IS painful. But what gets me through the difficult times is thinking about how much better my life will be after all of this and how much more confident I’ll feel.

Good luck! I hope everything works out for you!

#4

Thank you so much for your encouraging posts!

As I said before, I have made one appointment so far. Then I did some more research and found that I have a CPE 10 minutes from my house (whereas the first one is an hr away and is not a CPE). I think I will book a consult with the new one I found too.

If it is not too much trouble, could someone please share names of Houston area electrologists with me if you have had a good experience with them? I will be forever grateful!

#5

So just wanted to update that I went for my first treatment yesterday. The lady seemed really nice, she wore gloves, used a disposable needle. She told me about the different modalities and I am not exactly sure what she used but I know she only used blend for what she called were “tough hairs”. I was shocked that there wasn’t that much pain (we’re working on the chin, under the chin, little bit of sideburns - concentrating on the most bothersome areas). There were some that startled me pain-wise but most were OK. It was supposed to be a 15 min session but I was feeling so great that ended up going up to 45 minutes! I was a little concerned that there wasn’t pain and she was probably not using enough power but she said that she’d rather not go up too high and compromise the skin. I didn’t have to put on anything (she said to use epsom salt compresses for swelling…but I hardly had any pain so I didn’t). My skin doesn’t look perfectly clear but it is not swollen, it doesn’t hurt at all and there aren’t any scabs.

Since this was my first appointment, I am going for another consult next week which is a bit further away (and whom I heard about on this forum). So after next week I will decide who I want to go with.

#6

It’s really nice to hear from people who are just starting the process. I have my first treatment in March on my chin. The person I saw doesn’t do test patches, she goes right for a 15min session to start with. Nothing like the deep end :eek: lol.