overwhelmed and not knowing where to turn! advice?

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

i have just spent the last hour or so reading posts here, and am finding myself more confused than ever. here’s my “hair history”:

i am a 28 year old female with medium colored skin (caucasian). i have dark brown (head) hair and semi-dark features. i have some italian in my background. don’t know about my hormone levels. i have most of my hair problems on my face, but other areas like my abdomen are problematic, too.

i started having facial hair problems around puberty. i had a few hairs here and there. i now have hair (dark, coarse) on my chin, cheeks, neck and jawline. also have a moustache, but it’s not as dark. years ago, i bleached. i also tried electrolysis in the early 90s (didn’t have too many treatments - under 10, i would guess). i then went to using creams (they were murder on my skin) and now pluck on an almost-daily basis. i had laser treatments (ruby laser) in 1999 about every four weeks for 12 months. NOTHING has reduced or permanently removed my hair. NOTHING. it seems like i am having more of a facial hair problem as the years go by.

i have decided to again try laser electrology. i have an appointment scheduled with someone here locally (quad cities iowa/illinois area) and they will be using a dode apex 800 laser. since i’ve had NO LUCK with anything before, i am wondering if this too will be a waste of my time. each treatment of my entire face will cost $250, and i am expecting to have at least 4-5 treatments. the more i read about electrolysis, i am wondering if this is the way to go.

money is an issue, but i would gladly pay almost any price if i knew i could get permanent results. so, here are my questions for anyone who’s willing to answer them:

  1. has anyone had treatments with the diode apex 800 machine? if so, please describe your hair problem, # of treatments and long term results.

  2. anyone know of a good electrologist in the quad cities (iowa/illinois) area? i live in davenport, iowa.

  3. is it posible that NOTHING will work for me, in regards to permanent or long-term hair removal/reduction? are some people just a lost cause?

thanks in advance, and thanks to everyone who has posted. i know this is a nightmare, but what appals me most is the lack of success and the money lost. seems odd that medicine can transplant a heart, fix broken bones, but yet hair (too much or lack of) seems to plague so many of us. if only we could transplant our facial hair to balding people…

:wink:

[ March 31, 2004, 07:49 PM: Message edited by: callisto9 ]

#2

And I know some balding people who wouldn’t mind at all! :smile:

  1. Do make the trip to your endocrinologist and check your hormones. At best it will give you reassurance, and at worst it will save your health and even life.

  2. As far as lasers go, I wouldn’t classify it as a viable solution altogether blaming the facts, observations and the FDA for classifying lasers not a permanent hair removal method at best. But there is another opinion on this board that of a gentleman nicknamed “redhead”. He thinks that some people could greatly benefit from lasers, even though they are not a method of permanent hair removal. However, even in your case, he would probably also agree that since you tried it for so long with no good results, then laser isn’t for you.

  3. About electrolysis. Since you read the recent posts, it would be redundant to introduce you to electrolysis as the only method of permanent hair removal that will work on everyone without an exception. You had 10 sessions you say? I can tell you (from my experience) that if they were long enough and done expertly, you should have seen a huge improvement (you must find a competent electrologist). It is not possible to destroy all hair in a couple of months, because the hair grows in different cycles which stretch longer than that. But it doesn’t mean that you cannot be cleared in a short period of time (depending on your hair, skin and practitioner). Then you would just have to maintain that clearance with appointment times getting shorter and appointments being spread farther apart, until all your hair cycles in and you don’t have to come back ever again. This is the abbreviated story.

So the important points are again: 1. Check your hormones. 2. find a good electrologist by trying everyone within your traveling range (and reading www.hairfacts.com on how to tell one)

Good luck, and remember this is doable and isn’t so hard. We clear men’s beards with a dozen times more hair and hormonal stimulation. Permanently.

#3

If you rule out hormone problems, and have tried laser with no success, then by all means you should try Electrology. Chances are that Laser technology has improved since 1999, and you might find a few reasons (practitioner skill and hormone levels) that contibuted to Laser not working for you, but I have to say this: I tried Laser, and even though it sounds like I had better results then you (I am a poor candidate for Laser with my hair color so I could not achieve the reduction I expected), I stopped after a while and tried Electrolysis. If you are talking about an area like your face and abdomen, then you have much less of an area then I wanted to treat, and might easily see Electrology as a great solution for you even though it was too much for me. Especially if you are really determined to get rid of your facial hair and are willing to deal with some of Electrologies problems. Those problems will be significantly reduced if you get help finding a really good Electrologist. Why go back to Laser if it didn’t work for you? No matter what you decide, make sure you don’t have a hormone problem. It sounds like you were really young when you first tried Electrology, and if you had a hormone problem that could explain why treatments didn’t work. And with this Forum, you might find a much better Electrologist then you had before. You mentioned that you had 10 treatments with Electrology that didn’t seem to do anything. Do you mean that you had the areas CLEARED ten full times, or did you mean that you had ten sessions of and hour or two?

[ April 02, 2004, 01:54 AM: Message edited by: redhead ]

#4

thanks to those who have replied. i had 10 sessions with a LASER and didn’t see any results. that was in 1999. the person used a ruby red laser, i believe, but the machine was always breaking down. either way, i thought i would have at least seen SOME results, but no, there weren’t any. i had a couple of electrology treatments about 1993/1994. didn’t follow through though. i am female and 28, for the record. :wink:

i just had my first electrology treatment last night. damn, it hurt! i still have red bumps on my face. i am more confident about the electrology (she’s using thermolysis) now that i have talked with someone.

after all the reading i’ve done, i just don’t have confidence that laser will give me the results i want. plus, i don’t have $1000 or more to “have it done and find out!”. i need something a little more substantial than that.

again, thanks to you both for posting!

#5

Sounds good, and I’m sure you know there is an Electrology section on this Forum where you can get help with your ongoing treatments. I’m pretty sure you should still look into getting some simple blood work done to make sure your hormone levels and everything else is normal so that you can finally be rid of your hair problem. Good Luck!

#6

Finding a good electrologist is the key. Modern equipment also helps. It does not have to hurt that much in most cases. Minor overtreatment is not a life treatening thing :smile: . It will usually take longer to heal, but still is only a temporary discomfort. But you should be watchful of severe overtreatment. Over a period of time it can cause some pitting and scarring.

Of course you can have electrolysis with minimal discomfort and minimal skin reaction. This will be determined by the electrologist you find. Some people are more sensitive than others, but for the vast majority of people more gentle treatment is possible. You will also be able to take longer appointments and get smooth faster. (I did a survey of my clients who have had treatment elsewhere before they came to me. They all have said that they’re used to more pain and they never knew how gentle electrolysis can be)

Do see many electrologists in your area to compare their work. Make sure they don’t just tweeze the hairs and make sure you don’t get a fierce skin reaction. You can find a lot of valuable info on the electrolysis board of this forum. Hope to see you there with questions and experiences. And don’t disregard the recommendation to check your hormones.

Good luck!