normal progress 1 year in?

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

I’m worried because I still have new dark coarse hairs coming in on my chin and upper lip even though I’ve been clearing these areas for over a year now. Has anyone out there still had dark coarse hairs past the 1 year mark, and if so, were you able to finish electrolysis within a year and a half? I know that on the other areas (feet and areolas) that I’ve been treating with this electrologist for 7 months now, it seems like I have a 50% reduction.

I’m not sure what to do because I’m planning to move to somewhere where I’d think there isn’t electrolysis by the fall at latest, and at any rate money is drying up.

#2

Hi Candela,

I’ve read your posts, but I cannot recall your history, nor your location. So…I’m going to ask some questions…

In the last year, you’ve averaged a little over 30 minutes a week. (29.4 hours in approx. 52 weeks) Was that a consistent 30+ minutes a week or the total of a progressive and decreasing amount of time per week/bi-week/month?

Before beginning electrolysis, how long had you been dealing with unwanted hairs? And…were you doing any tweezing, waxing or threading?

Do you have any family history of excess hair? Are you overweight, or do you have any known hormonal issues? Are you taking ANY medications that can cause hair growth? (there are lots)

It sounds like your brows are done, and you added new areas as time allowed…so did you ever experience any ingrown or immediate growth of stubbly hairs shortly after a treatment? If not…then I do wonder if you are one who simply grows some occasional new hair.

All those questions…the “right” (or wrong) answer can be a factor in the growth of new hair in healthy women. Some women simply grow hair throughout their lives. Is that a possibility?

#3

I’m at the 21 month mark. I occasionally get a more robust hair pop up here and there. They usually look like they were ingrown and are just breaking through. But I never have the kind of coarse hairs that I began with. Now I have very fine hairs left on my upper lip. I am very, very pleased with my results but I will admit I expected to be totally done at 18 months and I’m not. I went multiple times a week for many, many months and then once a week until the 18 month mark. After that I had to pull back and now I go every 2.5 or so weeks.

#4

Thanks for the input Barbara.

I had tweezed for about 3 years before electrolysis, and threaded for about 8 years before that. I think I started to get coarse hairs from tweezing.

The first 2 months of electrolysis I went every 3 weeks and got total clearances of the coarse hairs on my chin and upper lip. Then I started going for an hour once a week. For a couple of months in the summer I had a bad electrologist and the number of coarse hairs kept increasing. I think in November I started going 3 times a month for 1 hour each, which I’m still doing.

My female relatives do have hair issues. I am not overweight at all. I don’t know if I have hormonal issues. I take Retin-A and antibiotics for acne.

I only had maybe an hour to 1 1/2 total done on my brows, the rest is mostly my face.

I’ve had some bad ingrowns on my chin. I think some have been there for 6 months at least. You can see them under the skin, but they don’t come out. Other ingrows have come out eventually.

It’s not unusual at all for me to have new coarse hairs pop out a few days after a treatment. That’s why I go so often.

I shouldn’t be growing new coarse hairs every 9 days between treatments. I thought even if you have a hormonal problem, you grow new hairs slowly.

#5

Caligirl, did you have a lot of hair or was your electrologist on the slow side?

#6

Both. I had a lot of hair but I think my electrologist is slowed down by the method she uses, blend. Sometimes she’s quick and sometimes she’s not as quick.

I treated my entire upper lip, the coarse hairs on my chin and the coarse hairs under my chin. I was going three times a week for about 2 hours at a time in the beginning few months!!! I did have a lot of coarse hairs. Then once a week for two hours, then once a week for an hour, then every two weeks for an hour, now every 2.5 weeks for 30-45 minutes. To be fair I added areas as time went on. I asked her to start removing hair from under my lip and on the sides of my face near my ear. Now we are working mostly on the hair between my brows when I go in every other week although half the time is spent on cleaning up hairs that are still growing on my lip and chin. HTH.

#7

I wonder if I am seeing results, since I have about the same amount of coarse hairs growing in per week as I did before I started seeing the bad electrologist (when the coarse hairs increased a lot). Meaning I have about the same amount of coarse hairs growing in as I did 3 months into treatment.

I wonder also if it’s because my current electrologist was treating me with lower energy for many months. Right after treatment I had hardly any skin reactions. Then one week I went in twice and she said that it was good to find out that I heal well. Since then she increased the energy and I come out pinkish and have breakouts sometimes where I was treated. If that’s the problem, what a waste of money. Although I didn’t feel a lot of plucking even with the lower energy.

#8

My experience is that it took at least 4-6 months to BEGIN to see a difference and I was treating a lot (multiple times per week). I was prepared for that since I read a lot on this board before I started. You absolutely must stay on a regular treatment schedule and clear all the hairs or as close to it as you can every time you see your electro. Otherwise it doesn’t do much good and you will never see a big difference.

#9

I’ve always cleared all the coarse hairs,and I always stayed on a regular treatment schedule, so that’s not it.

#10

Candela, the information you gave tells me quite a bit!

Two things are going on, in my opinion. The fact that you have acne issues indicates a hormone influence, so you are going to produce hair. Some physicians will prescribe birth control pills or spironolactone to help with this problem.

The second thing is the fact that you are having stubbly hairs showing up a few days after a treatment. If you are not tweezing or tampering with any hairs yourself, then it could appear that the electrologist is breaking the hairs off during the treatment. Once the client has stopped all tweezing, waxing and threading - there should be no new ingrown hairs or any stubbly hairs growing in after about 3 months of treatment.

Once ingrown hairs are embedded as you describe - they can be very difficult to treat.

Regarding the time to completion, most clients can be done or nearly done in 18 months - but that will vary according to many things. Consistency of treatments and electrologist skills are the major factors in getting the best treatments and done the quickest time. Individual physiology should be the only obstacle to completion time…

#11

I’ve had acne since I was 12, and only had coarse hairs over the past 3 years in some of the areas I consistently plucked or threaded. Acne isn’t necessary the result of the kind of hormonal inbalance that would make you grow hair. I have a book by a dermatologist that says it’s the result of having both oily and sensative skin. And at any rate, after a year of treatments I should not be producing so many ‘new’ hairs every week, as it’s often said on this board that even with hormonal problems, after you clear the hair that’s there you only need to go in for touch ups a few times a year.

I’ve always had stubbly hairs grow in after treatments. I would think that if the electrologist was correctly treating the hairs but breaking the hairs off, then they would fall away by themselves in a few days, but these hairs are strongly rooted, so I’d say they’re new growth.

#12

Candela having excessive hair and acne go hand in hand! It could be hormonal! Have you been to the doctor?

#13

Yes, acne and hair together are often a sign of a hormonal issue.

#14

Yes, I’ve seen dermatologists for acne. And acne can have to do with PCOS, but it doesn’t have to, as anyone with oily and sensative skin will likely have acne. The fact is I don’t have coarse hair anywhere but some of the areas that I consistently plucked or threaded. And some of the areas that I plucked or threaded and then developed dark coarse hairs are improving through electrolysis (toes and areolas). But my chin has too many hairs for 1 year of clearances on schedule.

#15

No, you don’t necessarily have PCOS. There are varying degrees of hormonal issues. You may just have slightly elevated hormonal levels or slightly overactive thyroid, but most doctors don’t consider this a big deal because it’s not life threatening in any way, so it tends to be considered normal.