also dont be nervous it is kind of painful and overwhelming at first but if your really motivated in getting rid of your hair you wont mind the pain 
For most of my teenage years, I felt like some kind of mutant beastly sasquatch. I’m glad to have discovered these online communities, now I don’t feel so alone in my predicament.
Keep us updated with your progress, villa
trust me ive felt like that as well and im happy i can talk to people that i can relate i finally do not feel so alone
Hiya
You sound just like me! Here’s my story if you’d like a read http://www.hairtell.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/103870/My_female_facial_hair_story.html#Post103870
I really empathise with you. I have coarse, dark hair all over my face. I was terrified being intimate with anyone and, when I was, I was so awkward that they knew something was up, I felt so alone, spend so much time and money on pointless hair removal methods and I became reclusive. I couldn’t bear to look anyone in the eye, I’d hate being out in the sunlight, or sitting too close to someone in case they noticed etc… So you’re not alone
I have really pale skin and fairly dark hair (hereditary, unfortunately!) and at first I was just concerned about the hair on my face… but, like you, I have hair everywhere else too - all the places where it’s not deemed ‘the norm’ for a woman to have hair in our society. It’s mortifying!
I’ve been having electrolysis on my face nearly every week for 10 months now and it’s certainly making a difference, the hair is growing back finer and more sparse… however, I’ve paid an extortionate amount of money so far (and my electrologist isn’t the most expensive out there) and we’ve only covered about a third of my face. I think I might have a lot more hair than you on my face though.
Unfortunately, I don’t think you can get laser on the NHS here unless you have a medical condition. I tried, and I was told that for me it was a ‘vanity’ and ‘cosmetic’ treatment, not ‘medical’, therefore I wasn’t eligible! I’m sorry, but how is wanting rid of a full male beard when you’re a woman anything to do with vanity?! Silly people…
Speaking with my electrologist, she recommends that laser and electrology work together when it comes to people who have a lot of hair to get rid of. Seeing how long the electrolysis is taking for me, and how much pain I’m in, I’ve finally resorted to laser. I am so incredibly lucky that I’m now getting free laser treatment, as a family friend is head of the photobiology unit at my hospital. The laser is hopefully going to reduce the amount of hair, and THEN I’ll go back for residual electrolysis to clean up the remaining hairs that weren’t eliminated by the laser. I had a laser consultation a couple of weeks ago (I’m actually about to go in for my first proper treatment in a few hours!) and the laser was nowhere near as painful as electrolysis (in my opinion) so I would definitely recommend looking in to laser/getting a consultation at a hospital before beginning electrolysis, especially if you’re wanting rid of large areas of hair. My electrologist said she wouldn’t want to treat anyone who came in and wanted their legs done, for example, if they hadn’t first had laser to reduce the hair. She said it wouldn’t be fair on them, because it would be costly and time consuming. Of course there are plenty of electrologists who will happily treat whatever area you want them to, but in regards to money, I would look into laser before getting electrolysis on all your hair. Even if the laser only gets rid of 50% of the hair, it’s still going to make the electrolysis process a lot easier in the long run
I really hope everything works out for you, and just remember that you’re not alone and we all understand how hard things are for you. It’s a horrible thing to deal with, but just remember how much better your life will be at the end of all this If you want to ask me anything, or just have a chat, I’ll be happy to try and help!
I disagree that you should seek laser. Honestly while laser Can have some permanency, it isnt usually permanent formof hair removal. When you do electrolysis it gets right down to the root and if done properly kills the folicle and prevents regrowth. Laser kills the hair, but not necessarily kills the folicle’s ability to grow new hair. I asked a question of Michael recently in relation to one of his patients who had his back worked on, asking if the testosterone in his system wouldnt just make the hair grow back eventually, his answer makes alot of sense, no , because once the hair folicle is killed we dont grow new ones. I think this is relavent to the comparison. I know alot of my TG ilk have had laser, myself included, and at least 90% of them report regrowth in the short to middle term.
What you are more likely seeing isnt regrowth from the same folicles, but hairs from other folicles that were not available to be electrolysed . In short, keep up with the electrolysis, and you are likely to see them thin out and disappear, whereas there is no such guarantee with laser.
Seana
it isnt usually permanent formof hair removal.
Why not? Give proof. Cite some studies that show it’s not permanent. You said 90% reported regrowth. What laser was used? What settings were used? What skin types were they? How many treatments did they have?
When laser is used properly on the right type of hair, it is permanent. My guess is that your TG friends went somewhere that didn’t use strong enough settings.
I dont have any studies to show you, as I stated clearly this is based on reports fromthe patients themselves. You’re free to dispute the claim, but it’s something that was repeated over and over again by every TG I spoke to, and I speak to a lot of them probably numbering in the 100’s to thousands at this point. I’m actually being generous saying 90%, it’s much closer to 100, and this experience is based largely on reports from susans.org, a worldwide site that sees heavy traffic. Are you saying ALL of them are using the wrong type of laser or insufficient seettings world wide ? I’d find this unlikely.
Again, you are free to dispute the claim, but I’d recommend asking the same questions yourself if you believe it isnt the case.
Seana
All of us make decisions based on our own personal experiences. Laser worked for Brenton! Hurray!
My own experience with laser hair removal was okay: I still have the “sort-of” bare patch on my arm. (Electrolysis worked better though … in the same test area).
I don’t make grand statements about the efficacy of any modality, because how can I possibly do that? Of course, I primarily see patients that had failed laser treatments (LOTS of them!). However, I cannot therefore say: “All laser treatments … “
To tell you the truth, I don’t much care. The ONLY determining factor is the market place. The consumer will discover what “works best” and the industry will move in that direction.
Don’t worry about “Steadying the Ark,” or “Defending the Faith.” The “market” will take care of everything. It always does.
I am disputing the claim that almost 100% of people who get laser hair removal do not experience permanent reduction.
Over 1 million people last year did laser hair removal. Are you saying ALL of them did not experience permanent reduction? Because I have also read on susans.org quite a number of clients who are very happy they did laser hair removal
No. What I’m saying is that of the people I have spoken to, which number in the 100’s at minimum, who have done laser ( and I include myself) that the vast majority and nearly all, experience regrowth. Some WILL see a reduction but in every case I’ve spoken to ALL were unhappy because they had to continue with other methods to completely remove the hair.None report complete removal.
In most of these cases the patient experienced high reduction early on in treatment and seem to be happy. If you speak to the same person a year later, all have had to seek other treatments to remove regrowth, and in some of those cases the amount of regrowth is nearly as much as before laser treatment. Many report nearly zero reduction or removal after 4-5 treatments , and this is consistent with my own experience.
I’m not saying laser isnt a useful tool.It is, and in most cases it does cause a reduction that allows a person to then follow up with electrolysis and have to spend much less on electrolysis as a result.However in nearly every case I spoke to, it seems to send a large number of hairs into a no-growth phase, which cause them to not only not be removed by the laser, but also make them unavailable to electrolysis up to 9 months later, and to experience significant regrowth shortly thereafter…A large percentage of the people I speak to, claim laser just doesnt work for them, and have tried many different types and at different practitioners.
In short, with electrolysis the concensus I am hearing is that once it’s gone, it’s gone forever. I am hearing the polar opposite with laser, in that it doesnt remove 100% of the hair, and many see regrowth a year later, and in some of those cases the regrowth is equal to what was there in the first place
Seana
I’m trying to assemble a series of pictures to show you what I am talking about. It’ll likely take me until tonight though to gather them, and unfortunately I dont have one of the area it’s most obvious at the end of treatment, but do have a current one 5 months later where the regrowth shows up well
I think I know what you’re talking about, but I would be interested in seeing the pictures. I’m not sure who claimed laser would remove 100% of the hair… I’ve never had a laser tech ever once tell me that. Not removing 100% of the hair is very well established so that part shouldn’t be new to anyone.
As for regrowth, I believe that’s highly dependent on the settings used. You’d be surprised how many places undertreat. I’ve found the ones that are willing to use the highest settings are at dermatologists’ offices, where as medical “spas” severely undertreat to avoid lawsuits. I don’t advise people to do laser to remove 100% – I advise them to do it (properly) to knock out a ton of hair and follow up with electrolysis if they want more removed. Regrowth is interesting – would you say the same thing about electrolysis if follicles that didn’t produce hair before begin producing it after finishing an area? That would look like regrowth even though it isn’t.
You said for you that after 4-5 treatments, you experienced zero reduction. For me, I experienced ~70%, but I know the settings used were very powerful.
my last 5 sessions out of 11, were using 35 or 40 joules. I dont think they undertreated.
Pulse with? Spot size? Laser model? Joules alone are not enough.
The following is the results after 11 laser treatments spread out over 10 months.If any hairs had been in a non-growth phase, they should have begn growth during that period.
This first one is me three years prior to transition, no treatment and several days growth to give an idea of what I started with:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/66437553/11.jpg
I’ve concentrated on the area under the chin because this is the area I have the most/ best pictures of. This is just after the first laser treatment. I took this to show the laser techs the spotting I was concerned about at the time:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/66437553/100_1488.JPG
This picture is roughly about the end of my 11 treatments. I wish it was a better picture of the same area under the chin, as this is one area I havent done any electrolysis yet, but I can tell you what you will see from now, wasnnt present at that time.
This is the same area pictured after first treatment, now 4 months after the 11 treatments. Most of what you see here that is dark spots was not present 4 months ago when I ceased laser. It’s all appeared in that period.I havent shaved in 24 hours, but my camera is a cell phone , but you would see it more clearly in a day or two.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/66437553/IMG325.jpg
This is me, as of today. Note the dark spots visible, these are areas that have regrown since treatment. I’ll let it grow out day or two more and it will show up more clearly. Unfortunately I only have a cell phone for taking pictures:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/66437553/IMG326.jpg
The treatment parameters started with 25 joules, this increased to 30, and the last 5 treatments were all done at 35 or 40 joules. I’m unsure of the brand of laser, but I do know it was brand new equippment a month or two before I started treatment. Treatment took place over 10 months. As you see I did get about 70% reduction, so this is what I mean when I say you will see a reduction. As time goes on, I experience more and more coming back.The only areas I have done electrolysis, is the front chin, and upper lip.
One more. This is also from today and is a closeup. For some reason I seem to get mor regrowth on the neck, thn I do on the cheek.
So you and I are basically in agreement then about not doing laser on the face. For whatever reason, the body seems to respond differently to laser on the face vs laser on the body (perhaps this is a hormone-related issue, but I don’t know.) Laser on the arms and legs works wonders
For me the hair on my body isnt really a big issue. I’m on a hormone replacement therapy regimen and have been for a year, which means my levels are at female levels and have been for some time. I shave as any genetic female does, and that particular hair doesnt affect my gender dysphoria, because I look and feel like any other genetic female out there.
The face is a different story because this does affect how I am percieived and how I feel about myself. For that reason I do everything I can to eliminate the hair on my face and neck. It is, in the long term, making a difference, I almost never get pigeonholed as being male anymore, and acceptance gets better all the time.
Seana
I should state, that hormones make all the difference in the world. Pre-hrt I was an exdtremely hairy beast, and that hair grew at an alarming rate, so that even if I shaved by later in the day the stubble was obvious, and it was also much darker and thicker.I used to shave upwards of 3-4 times a week. Now on HRT that frequency has dropped to once a week at most, and what hair is there is thinner and lighter, similar to a genetic females, everywhere BUT the face, neck, and genital area.
Seana
Seana it’s really made a difference, there isn’t much hair left to clear up is there?
BTW I just started HRT myself after a hysterectomy 7 weeks ago so I am hoping my body hair gets finer with the oestrogen like you’ve described.
You have great skin tone!