New to electrolysis

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

Hi there

i have just recently started electrolysis on my face. i have had one 35m session and have some concerns that perhaps someone here can help with.

i know that a certain amount of redness, swelling etc is expected but what is considered too much? first of all it hurt like hell! no kidding…even though she kept adjusting the setting to a lower level it really really hurt. she kept saying that it was because it was my first time and the hairs on my chin had very strong roots. does it get better with time? i have my next session tomorrow and am dreading it.

the other concern i have is the burning/heat sensation i had for almost an hour after the treatment. it was really a very strong sensation and i had to use an ice pack and wash the area with cold water before it went away. is this normal??

it has been 2 days since my treatment and although the swelling has calmed down somewhat i have a lot of red dots all over my chin like tiny scab wounds. so far i have resisted the urge to pick at them but they really look bad and i feel so self consious about them! how long before they totally go away? my chin feels really rough and not scaly and i am not looking forward to the next appointment tomorrow. what can i do to make my skin heal faster and not scar??
she recommened a zinc oxide cream that she sold but it was over $50 so i didnt buy it. instead i am using a cream called sudocream that is a zinc oxide cream used as a diaper rash cream for babies. so far i havent seen much improvement but it hasnt made it worse either. should i continue with this or is there something better that i can use that is not too expensive?

i just need reassuring that this is all going to work and is going to be worth it!

any advise is welcome

thanks!!

#2

  • It sounds like overtreatment. This means that you should not go for another treatment on the same exact area. You need to wait for it to heal completely before you can treat the same exact spots.

  • What type of electrolysis was being used? How many electrologists did you check out? You should sample 3-4 at least. Look for someone using modern equipment.

  • You should invest a few dollars into witch hazel available at any drugstore. Apply it a few times a day. Also get tea tree oil at a health store and use that at night. Avoid any makeup or anything else with chemicals.

#3

I had the same reactions you had. I would not say over treatment…just TREATMENT!!! I use to have to ice my face and neck and chin after every treatment and i do not need to do that now. I would have two or three hour appts and just be a mess for a few days after, scabs and red and swollen.

Keep it clean! Try edible aloe, you can find a HUGE bottle in the dietary supplement area of your health food store. Refrigerate it and apply to the area its so soothing.

I can honestly say I am a year into electro on my neck and face and I have NO scarring. I even go to the local coffee shop after my appts now and no one even stares at my red neck coz its not red like it was in the begining. In order to get those hairs you have to be able to go often and for longer amounts of time.

I know a lady who gave up after almost two years…i asked how much time did you put into it, she said oh a half hour a month or every other month! WELL DUH!!! No wonder she gave up! You can never see results with that. Or maybe you can after YEARS AND YEARS AND YEARS!

My best advice is don’t look at it to much! Clean it and forget it! For the first few months, make sure you can come home ice the area lay in bed and take care of YOU!!!

But always do what feels right! But on that same note, it felt not right for me in the begining, but those days are in the past for me and can be for you as well!!!Remember as well its not just the physical reaction but mentally its difficult, coming to terms with the fact you are hairy and now you are fixing a problem that might have gotten you down for years or decades! It can be physically and mentally tramatic, it was for me.

Good Luck, and be patient! =)

#4

I take two extra strength Tylenol about 30 minutes before my appointment and it helped a bit with the discomfort. I know exactly how you feel about the after effects and being embarrassed. I have a lot of hair on my face, and I dread leaving the building for fear someone will see me. I have only been to 2 appointments so far too. God this is a long road…I get down a lot about it, but just try to stay positive and remember this (UNFORTUNATELY) can’t happen overnight!

#5

I would recommend using a numbing cream before your electrolysis and that way you’ll be numb and won’t feel the pain :slight_smile:
(that’s what I do, without the numbing cream it’s just too painful for me)

For the redness my electrologist uses witch hazel on me and I follow up with more at home works & it works great!
They sell it at Rite Aid.

#6

Vibe1love, that type of reaction is OVERtreatment, meaning too many follicles are treated too close together. You should not see swelling or redness for more than a few hours or a day at most. If you are seeing that, you need to ask your electrologist to tone down the settings and to remove hairs more selectively, i.e. not too close to each other. Also, don’t treat any areas that haven’t fully healed.

And the right aftercare is important. Ice the area if there is swelling and use witch hazel during the day and tea tree oil at night. And avoid makeup and anything with chemicals on any area that’s healing.

#7

perhaps it is over treatment…i never meant to disagree with that, it just so happens this was my reaction to TREATMENT! Had I not been so ashamed of my hairyness in the begining I could have left more hair to be treated. I however could only deal with leaving an area on my chin or each side of my neck, still it was all i could do as to not get noticed with the patch of hair for treatment that week.
Also had I left it all and she worked over a larger area, it would not have been safe to go get an all over treatment the following week. For me this made it so I had another section to work on.
But yes, it would stay VERY red, for a few hours, and leave pin point marks for at least a day or two.

As I have stated it is not that way a year later, she can do a ull clearance and then do a catophoresyis (SP) treatment afterwards, and there is no redness now. No scabbing and if it was not inbedded in my head to clean and do post care, i might forget just by looking.

Those first few months were hell! But its a distant memory for ME. And I was just sharing my experience. I will add again do what feels right to you…and your electologist.

Happy Saturday!

#8

You are correct Vibe1Luv/Betsy.

In some cases, at the beginning of treatment, one must choose to either have conservative treatment and accept an extended treatment range (longer than the 9 - 18 months that would be fastest) or, if it is safe, go all out and know that the first month of treatment may leave you with any combination of possibilities including redness, swelling, and maybe even experiencing weeping skin, possible scabs, and, or temporary pigmentation issues. All this fades away leaving an easily maintained treatment area, and a completed project in 9 to 18 months, and most people on such a schedule find that by the 3rd month, they are in the place where they get electrolysis at noon, and have a date at 8 or 9pm the same day.

#9

Thank you everyone for your replies :)…at least i now know that im not the only one to have this reaction.

i went for another 30 mins session yesterday and to my surprise it did not hurt as much! she is working on my chin and neck mainly as i have a lot of hair here that i want to get rid of. she said it didnt hurt as much this time because the hair she was working on was ‘virgin’ hair meaning it was never pulled out, waxed, shaved or plucked ever. i never did anything to this hair other than bleaching it. Whereas the chin hair i had to thread and tweeze all the time cuz it was so thick and long.

i didnt even need to ice the area afterwards this time. it was slightly uncomfortable but bearable. but it still scabbed over like last time. i guess this is going to happen every time for me unfortunately. its really really hard not to pick at them…im a notorious pimple popper! i couldnt help myself and just barely picked at the scabs from the first session after my bath and they practically fell of. the skin does look quite red underneath but im hoping this will go away soon.

im attaching 2 pics…the first one is from the first treatment…its not a very clear pic and lookd much worse in person.

the second pic if after the secod treatment. you can see all the scabbing. does it look normal? also i have alot of hair on my chin and neck and you can see it in the pic…is it possible to get rid of ALL this hair realistically??

#10

hmmm i dont think the 2 links are working?? how to do i attach a pic so it opens up in the message??

#11

It works best to load the pictures up on www.photobucket.com and then use the image loader to post the image directly here.

#12

thanks james :slight_smile:

i have uploaded the pics on photobucket but cant figure out how to post them here directly using the image loader?? can u pls give me step by step instructions?

thanks!

#13

photobucket provides you with HTML tags for each photo, right underneath it. You just post that link here.

#14

is this right??

#15

ok it works…thanks LA Girl

the first pic is the second day after the very first treatment. i had a bit of a panic attack when i saw how red and swollen and painful my chin was.

the second pic is from the second treatment. it didnt hurt as much as the first but as you can see there is a lot of scabbing. is this normal?

also you can see how much hair i have on my face and how long a way i have to go. realistically is this even possible or am i just living in a fools paradise? has anyone ever had this much hair and got rid of it permanently??

#16

That’s too much crusting. Would you mind telling me more about your session. What kind of epilator? Modality used? Anything else.

I am not impressed. I would not go back. Anyone else you can see in your locale? No more treatments until you are completely healed. I’m scared for you to continue with this practitioner. Ugh.

#17

your’re scaring me Dee! theyre arent many people who do electrolysis here…but this place is apparently very well known for it. they claim they’ve been doing it for more than 20 years…the lady i go to is russain and to be honest i have a hard time communicating with her. she always seems to just brush off my questions and in the end i feel silly for even asking. she says she uses the blend technique. thats all i know…what questions should i ask her to find out exactly what kind of equipment/technique she uses? for some reason she sounds reluctant to tell me!

the first treatment really really hurt and it was buring me for at least an hour afterwards…i had to ice the area for ages before it finally calmed down. but it still remained quite swollen and red for a few days.

the second treatment didnt hurt as much but i still got a lot of scabbing. she says it didnt hurt this time because the hair she was working on was virgin hair whereas the hair in the first treatment was much thicker anc coarse. does this make sense?

what should your skin look like after treatment and how much scabbing is normal? the scabs have begun to fall off now and the skin looks slightly red underneath. but im hoping this will fade away soon.

please help me to figure out if i should continue with her…my next apt is this friday.

what kind of machine do you use Dee? and from what you can tell from the pics what type of electrolysis would you recommend for me?

#18

Dee and I both use The Apilus Platinum, and high magnification visual aids with halogen lamps.

From what I see, you don’t have coarse hair. It should be possible to clear you out with less post treatment effects than this. Don’t get me wrong, you will heal up well. I just know many people who could do the same job better from what I am seeing.

As far as your question, yes, it is possible to clear that much hair, if you find someone good to do it, and you are diligent about staying on schedule with the work.

Please give us your location so we can help you better.

#19

Yes, please do list your location. I would not go for another appointment if you are not completely back to normal. If you get a few PIN POINT scabs that fall off naturally within a week, then that is okay, but many electrologists remove facial hair without all this scabbing! I don’t accept scabbing and I want my clients to tell me if they scab so I can adjust my strategy. If clients get a few scabs, I don’t get panicky - I just try harder next time to avoid this.

All kinds of electrolysis would work for you. I like the better flash modes offered today on the cream of the crop epilators we have at our disposal today. MicroFlash or PicoFlash would serve you well as long as the person using these powerful modes was motivated to learn all she/he can about using these wonderful epilators.

Let your skin heal. Find someone else and at least compare healing and sensation issues. I don’t care that this electrologist has 20 years of experience. What good is that if she leaves you looking like a mess? You don’t deserve this. If you had a little reaction, being that you are just starting this process and your hair is in all stages of growth, then that would be expected. I’m offering my opinion and I think this is a bit rough and it did not have to happen.

Talk to her about this. She may not be receptive, but at least she will know that you are unhappy. Some people care enough to change course and improve when a client expresses concern. Be not afraid to try.

Dee

#20

You should call and ask for the name of the machine. Also, ask if the mthod is called thermolysis, blend, or galvanic.

Definitely wait until your skin completely heals before having another treatments anywhere. For now, ice the area to reduce swelling and use witch hazel during the day and tea tree oil at night. Avoid makeup and anything with chemicals (moisturizers, lotions, facewash, etc).

After a GOOD treatment, the redness would go away within a few hours. You may have some red dots that turn into some scabs which fall off within a few days or a week at most. But that shouldn’t happen at every insertion point, maybe just a couple here and there. This is definitely either overtreatment (too many follicles treated too closely together and/or at too high settings) or improper insertions.