Follizap is not “passing judgment,” just trying to be realistic. I am using Laurier probes too but I would never work 2 hours on an upper lip … well, maybe if my machine was turned off.
Mike, your needles are good, but they do not stop the normal inflammation process (and they shouldn’t). If you have no signs of anything being done the day after treatment (normal redness and edema), then probably nothing was done. The best feature of your needles, and why I use them in certain cases: you can SEE where the insulation is. I love this feature that gives me great control over what I’m doing. (I am only using these with thermolysis because the insulation lasts about 40 minutes using DC-blend.)
I think that is what Follizap is trying to say and I agree with him. There really is no magic to the electrolysis profession: we all want to permanently remove the hair with as little trauma as possible. As Dee points out, the combination of good equipment and skill is the determing factor. Add to this, years of experience and the ability to accurately predict the outcome (in real hours), and that’s what we all try to do.
With the upper lip, we must remember that the blood supply is limited. I always clear off body hair because the skin is attached to blood-rich underlying tissue; not so the upper lip. The upper lip is essentially a flap of skin supplied by an artery on each side. Full clearance with appropriate current might compromise healing. Even when the lip looks perfect immediately after treatment there could be negative results later. Remember the lip and chin areas are densely populated with myofibroblasts; so these areas require careful treatment.
Earlier on, one of our clients on Hairtell said she was noticing “folding” on her lip and she thought it might be from electrolysis. I have seen this as well on people that have had year of electrolysis. Sometimes I have seen vertical creases and sometimes a horizontal ridge that demarks the area where the hairs were located.
Were these people “overtreated” continually? I don’t know; but suspect they were. I only know that I proceed with maximum safety when doing the upper lip, and that also includes not working excessive hours at one time. Dr. Schuster, by the way, states that electrolysis can induce such wrinkling on the upper lip (see his video). He also went into great detail on this subject in his landmark lecture in Los Angeles a few years ago. (He recommends shorter treatment on the upper lip.)
Patients want the hair gone “immediately?” Well, I never allow myself to fall into that trap. I especially get “pushed” by TG folks: they want immediate results. Going slowly, being sure each hair is permanently treated and being cautious is my protocol. Many TG clients do NOT like my approach. However, after completing many beards I have never even come close to 100 hours total. My average is 60 - 70 hours maximum. For underarms, my average is only (maximum) 6 hours.
One thing I admire about the laser folks: they understand the concept of joules, i.e., that a specific amount of thermal energy must be delivered to the follicle to attain results. Indeed, with electrolysis, there is also a minimum amount of energy (in joules) that must be delivered. Sadly, this standard has never been discovered or accurately measured; hence all our non-specific wrangling about “methods.” See, there actually IS a constant: we just have not discovered it and have no way of measurement.
Well, there’s a lot of “grist” here for my beloved colleagues.
. In my particular situation, I routinely have a good outcome with the Apilus Platinum using one or a few of the thermolysis modes and years back, when I used the Silhouette Tone VMC using microflash thermolysis, same good outcome.