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Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

Hi all, I am new to this forum but have been following it for a while as I have been extremely tentative about starting any kind of hair removal on my face for fear of what might happen. Please excuse the length of this post but I am nervous and have many questions.

Firstly, I have PCOS, but luckily for me, the facial hair I have is vellus hair, not course terminal hair. The problems are random long hairs on my face and chin and very long (at least a centimetre) hairs on my cheeks and sides of my face. The hairs are blonde but shine kind of golden under lights. I have red hair, and the longer hairs at the side of my face make me look like I have red sideburns if you see them in certain light. The other problem I have, is that the hairs on one side of my face grow downwards, but on the other side they grow left to right. Combined with their length and the way the light catches them where they bend over and lay against my skin, they look unsightly. I was diagnosed about 15 years ago and recent blood tests showed my testosterone levels are at 1, so everything seems to be under control. Part of my problem could be just genetics, as my mum has a slightly fuzzy face and my grandmother, but not like mine.

Anyway, I visited two electrologists and the first one didn’t seem to have any training, even though she had been doing it a long time. The room she worked out of was also not the cleanest place. The second one was clean, the girl I saw had had some treatments herself and she seemed to really know what she was talking about. I was still nervous though, especially about the hairs growing back worse. They use thermolysis. She did the tiniest test patch along my jaw/cheek where she said we would be more likely to see any hormonal effects on the hair. This was only 4 days ago. She told me to wait two weeks to see how my skin reacted and wait for the hair to come back to see if it changed. So far, my skin is fine. I can see two tiny spots where she took hairs but my skin went back to it’s normal white/pale self after 30 minutes and I have had no problems since. I don’t think she took more than 10 hairs though.

My main questions are:

  1. Is two weeks long enough to watch for the hairs to grow back (which I may not notice if they grow back normally, as there is so much hair there)? I thought it was more like 6 weeks?
  2. In anyone else’s experience, will the electrolysis have any effect on the hairs removed or surrounding hair to make it more coarse?
  3. How long should I expect a treatment to be (a session) to remove vellus hairs from sideburn/cheek areas? and along one cheek/jaw?- the second girl told me she would do ten minutes per side. She seemed quick and I think did it properly as I felt no tweezing, but I don’t know how many hairs you can remove in ten minutes.

I may have more questions, but for now I would just like some advice on the above queries. I hate to think I could make my face look any worse than it is and so want to look normal.

Thanks.

#2

Sorry, another question… when hairs are shedding, and a new hair may be underneath already, would this make the first hair stick out more? I have had 2 hairs on my chin that I just couldn’t stand, as they poked straight out (vellus, not coarse). While no-one else might have noticed them, they annoyed me. I put the tweezers to them but barely moved my hand at all and they came out, with barely any extra hair on the end, suggesting most of the hair shaft was poking out and they were falling out anyway. Could this be the case? I ask as a lot of hairs on my face and chin stick out (random ones) and I notice more every time I look. Maybe I just didn’t notice it before and they are shedding hairs? Otherwise, I am getting very hairy and quickly. I don’t understand why else this would happen if (a) my hormones are normal, and (b) hormones don’t affect vellus hair. Thanks :slight_smile:

#3

[quote=“redearthling
…PCOS, but luckily for me, the facial hair I have is vellus hair, not course terminal hair. The problems are random long hairs on my face and chin and very long (at least a centimetre) hairs on my cheeks and sides of my face. The hairs are blonde but shine kind of golden under lights. I have red hair, and the longer hairs at the side of my face make me look like I have red sideburns if you see them in certain light. [/quote”]

Yes, looking at the hair under certain lights might make hair more noticeable.

[quote=redearthling]The other problem I have, is that the hairs on one side of my face grow downwards, but on the other side they grow left to right. Combined with their length and the way the light catches them where they bend over and lay against my skin, they look unsightly.
[/quote]

This is common, as our hair does grow in patterns on our bodies. It sounds like you have quite a bit of accelerated vellus hair.

Yes. Genetics plays a role in hair growth.

My question: Out of the thousands of hairs you have on your face, would you be able to identify two follicles two weeks after they were treated? I would say no. If you want to make sure your skin reacts well to treatment, wait the two weeks. 6 weeks won’t give you any more information that 2 weeks would give you.

The only time this could happen is if the electrologist is tweezing hairs rather than treating them properly.

You could do anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes on each side, depending on the amount of hair, the density, or your tolerance to treatment.

Vellus hairs are sweet little hairs that lie down on your skin. Accelerated vellus hairs have had some changes occur that indicate a coarsening of the hair. They grow a little longer, they have a little pigment in them, and they stick out more than vellus hairs. With the right conditions vellus hairs can change from sweet little hairs to terminal hairs. The conditions include hormones, tweezing, and some medications.

Not true. Hormones DO affect vellus hairs. All terminal (coarse) hairs grow from in follicles that used to produce vellus hairs.

#4

Thanks. Do you think I should wait 6 weeks to make sure the hairs she treated don’t turn into coarse hairs? Am I more likely to develop terminal hairs if my accelerated vellus hairs are treated? I am so fearful of becoming even hairier and not being able to do anything to stop it. I feel like these longer vellus hairs are popping up everywhere. Obviously I am very aware of them now, but they may have always been there. It was after a period of stress that I really started to notice them, but as I said, when I had my hormones checked, they were normal. I am on a contraceptive pill, but it is mainly to treat the hair problem. I have never tweezed my chin or face anywhere other than my upper lip. God I wish I was normal.

#5

So, I was just doing some quick searches on the internet and came across a few articles that said if vellus hairs are growing longer than their neighbours they are becoming accelerated vellus and will become terminal. Is this true? Do I need to worry that every hair I am noticing on my face that is longer will become a terminal hair? Surely some people just have longer vellus hairs? My mum has a few stiff hairs on her chin but the longer hairs on the rest of her face that stick out are still soft. I am starting to feel like I need to have electrolysis done on my whole face. I would really appreciate some professional advice and any personal experiences others have had. Thanks.

#6

No. You don’t need to wait 6 weeks. You will never know if treated hairs turn into coarse hairs. A treated follicle should never grow a hair again.

You are not likely to develop terminal hairs from treatment. It simply happens because of your hormones, genetics, or medications. It may very well be that you are going through a change that is causing your hairs to coarsen. To worry about it increases your stress, which in turn can cause hair growth!

Many women do have accelerated vellus growth and might have a random terminal hair. I have many clients who have had little “clean-up” treatments to stay ahead of that growth. It is very likely that you will have the same pattern as your dear mother. You might have a little more or a little less.

My suggestion is that you find an electrologist that you trust. You will trust her when your skin conditions stays good, the hairs easily slide out, and you feel no tweezing. It might be that you have a long term relationship with this trustworthy electrologist, and she will keep you feeling confident.

Remember that stress can result in more hair growth. So please, don’t stress yourself out over this. You are not alone.

#7

Ditto on all of Barbara’s comments.

Another thing: I have many female clients that have billions of vellus hairs on their face and will ask me to remove “just the long ones." In nearly all cases these “long ones” are simply the late-stage telogen phase of these hairs.

I always say, “Doing this is futile, because eventually all the “vellus hairs” will cycle into telogen … so, what’s the point.” They say, “Just remove them anyway.” I do … but this is going to continue on for the next 50 years! Nicely, I won’t be here to continue treating the “late-stage telogen” long hairs. I’m already in “Telogen” so, I suppose, “Exogen” is coming up fast? (On my gravestone I want: “I told you not to pluck!”)

#8

Thanks guys. Michael, you have possibly helped me with another query I put on another thread. Two hairs I noticed sticking from my chin were sticking straight out and annoying me, but were both still vellus, not course. I put my tweezers to them (I know!) but didn’t even pull and they came out. It was as if they just lifted off the skin. I assumed they were shedding therefore. I am now wondering if every hair I am noticing sticking out a little more is indeed in telogen and shedding. I am trying very hard to ignore them if this is the case. How long is a facial vellus hair in the telogen/shedding phase, as I have a couple under my chin that have been sticking out for months now. Again, they are soft hairs, not coarse. They are near a scar on my chin so not sure if this has anything to do with it. I also had surgery not long before I noticed them and wonder if the stress had anything to do with it.
Thanks again.

#9

Regarding “how long” for the hair phases…there are charts, but they are guestimates - maybe based on some studies, but still…every person is different.

I still believe that “sticking out” means some changes in the follicle have occurred. I have vellus hairs all over my face…they never “stuck out” until menopause time…and…the only ones that are changing in appearance are the ones in the hormonal pattern areas. Upper lip and chin.

Hmmm, Michael…you make me wonder what advertorial I could add to my own tombstone…