Overtreatment and the usual "will it scar?"

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

Hello everyone,

I’m new here so first up, hi :slight_smile:

So, I had my first electrolysis session (thermolysis) with what appeared to be a good tech at first. She has 20 years of experience and made a professional impression. However, from lurking here for a few days looking at “overtreatment?” topics I’m pretty sure I’ve been massively overtreated.

We did 30 minutes on the upper lip (15 per side) followed by 1 hour on the chin’s upper half. She went for a full clearing which in retrospect I believe was bad because the hair was quite dense.

After treatment, there was a small bit of plasma visible in one spot below the lip but I didn’t think too much of it.
I applied 95% aloe vera liberally, cooled it often and disinfected it twice a day with an antiseptic for soft-tissue/mucosal/wounds. I used fresh sterile medical gloves every time I put new stuff on.

The lip was very swollen for the first 24 hours. And started to develop scabs at around 24 hours (1) as well as one other spot I find concerning (2):

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(There is some image processing on there that I can’t turn off from my phone which reduced the redness, it is a bit more red IRL)

As it didn’t get better after 48 hours I consulted my GP, who advised me to apply “fusidin cream” as well as take clarithromycin as a precaution to prevent possible infections from interfering with wound healing. She also advised me to try and avoid chewing and talking to prevent the scabbing from falling/cracking prematurely.

After approx. 60-72 hours the light scabbing began to amalgamate into one big scab. This is just now, 90 hours after. Please note that the shininess is due to the fusidic cream I currently have on.

So yea… suffice to say I’m feeling a bit depressed right now and definitely will not return to that place.
I called to tell her how it developed but she wasn’t very interested and said it’s prob my fault for not doing proper aftercare…

Give it to me straight, how bad is it?
Thank you very much for your time, hope you have a great day
~ Levy

#2

You’ve correctly identified this as overtreatment. There is no amount of aftercare that can fix a problem created by a poorly skilled electrologist. Her blaming you for this result makes my blood boil.

Continue consulting your GP and treat the area gently until the scabs have healed. It’s likely that some wound contraction and hyperpigmentation will remain and require many months to resolve. If healing progress is slow, there are medical, cosmetic and home remedies you can explore to aid the process.

This is definitely not the worst I’ve seen. I can’t guarantee no scarring, but I think this has a pretty good chance of resolving completely or at least to the point where any anomaly is not noticeable. Just be aware that it could take more than a year.

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#3

Thank you for taking your time, I really do appreciate it. :smiling_face_with_tear:

I think this has a pretty good chance of resolving completely or at least to the point where any anomaly is not noticeable

Thats comforting at least :slight_smile:

For now, I’ll continue living in the darkness of my home until the scabs have fallen off, hoping the hyperpigmentation won’t be that bad. It’s just really depressing having had basically flawless skin in the mouth area before.

Needless to say, I’ll be staying away from electrolysis and laser for at least 6 months (or more?).
I also plan to use SPF50 daily once the scabs have fallen off to prevent hyperpigmentation. How long do you think I should keep that up? A month or more?

#4

You should be moisturizing your skin to minimize scab formation. You don’t want extensive crusting to form. Don’t pick on the scabs but moisturizing them will greatly benefit healing process. Use generous amounts of petroleum jelly/vaseline at night and during day if you can. SPF should be used indefinitely if you’re outdoors. You most likely won’t need to wait 6 months to heal.

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#5

Yeah you should be using sunscreen every day anyway, technically. Certainly on that overtreated area. MOST certainly while it is healing.

#6

Thank you everyone, I make sure to keep it well moisturized with a cream my GP gave me (which also contains Vaseline) day and night. Currently, i’m just at home anyway to make sure it can heal properly so there is no sunlight at all. Once I return to society :rofl: i will use SPF daily.

Just for clarification, the 24-hour pic directly after disinfecting and before reapplying aloe vera to moisturize. It has been continuously moisturized since immediately after the treatment :slight_smile:

My initial panic has settled now and I’ll continue to take pictures out of curiosity. Frankly, it’s rather cool to see how the skin heals. Anyways, here is 140h after (just after waking up and immediately before reapplying more moisturizing cream).

#7

The left side (your right) around your mouth is a good example of the result you should expect after electrolysis. Some redness and swelling initially after treatment that is almost completely gone after five or six days. No leaking plasma, no large scabbing.

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