Problems, problems, problems?

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

I started my electrolysis a few weeks ago and after trying 3 people, I settled on two of them. (thermolysis on upper lip and chin.) I’m now starting to think neither one is any good. I just had another session this morning and it’s about 12 hours later and my chin has one area that’s dark dark red and scattered all around are a few big whiteheads. (I don’t put on coverup after a session anymore. Just witch hazel and aloe.)

Also, many times during treatment I feel a burning sensation of the probe being inserted.
Is any of this normal?

I feel like every time I tell one of the electrologists a complaint, they tell me it’s all normal but then turn down the machine. So that I’m left feeling like I’m making a big deal out of nothing. Am I? Or is it them?

Thanks again to all of you.

[ June 05, 2004, 11:43 PM: Message edited by: VespaSusie ]

#2

Hello Vespasusie;
You should be making big deal out of this. It is your skin. You should not be having tremendous redness as you state. You certainly should not be getting large whiteheads. This smacks of extreme overtreatment. Also it would appear that the intensity settings are way too high. You always start with a low setting and work your way up to reach the client’s comfort level but taking in the effectiveness of the treatment as well. And you feel a burning sensation as the filament is being inserted??? You sould feel nothing at all if the filament is inserted correctly at the correct depth and angle and hopefully your electrologist is using a filament diameter compatible with your hair follicle diameter. I hope the current isn’t on as the filament is being inserted. Upper lip should be worked on for not much more than 15 minutes. This is a very sensitive area and slow to heal if a lot of superficial damage is done.
You should not be instructing your electrologist what settings to use. They should know this. My suggestion: take control of the situation, it’s your body and and check out some different electrologists and hoping you can find one with a good track record. You absolutely should not be having these problems. Take care.

#3

VespaSusie:

It would be very helpful to follow your story if you could post on the same thread as started on May 27, 2004, so we don’t have to jump back and forth to check out details previously given.

I am assuming that you went to electrologist #2?
Hopefully, your chin is much better today. I would encourage you to discuss your problem with your electrologist, even if you have to call her before your next appointment. In the beginning weeks, she is trying to get to know your skin’s reaction to electrolysis, adjusting and re-adjusting the working points that are effective yet friendlier to your particular skin situation. This is something we electrologists do in the early stages of treatment (or should do). If you just stop going and don’t tell her why, you may have lost a great opportunity with a very capable electrologist, to reach the goal of permanent hair removal. If her attitude is denfensive and uncaring, then I would walk away and search on. Yes, it’s your precious skin, but if corrections can be implemented up front, all should be well. Develop an open relationship with your electrologist so that fine tuning takes place when it matters. It it doesn’t work, there are others that can help you.

For those thick chin hairs you have, does your electrologist do blend?

Dee

#4

Thank you, Eddy and Dee.
I followed your advice and called my electro and told her about the extreme redness and whiteheads. She had me come in to show her. As she has done before, she told me it was all “normal,” but was nice enough to offer me a free 15 mins at my next visit. It took a full week for those whiteheads to go away. They turned into small pale pinkish dots, so I didn’t go for treatments until I was fully healed.

Today was my first day back. Eddy, maybe you were on to something: The electro, although again saying that my skin’s reaction had been “perfectly normal,” also told me that she was switching probe sizes for me. (Maybe not so normal after all, hmmm?)

Today’s treatment went much much better. I’m not ready to post her info on the referrals board yet, but we’ll see.

Dee, she does not do blend on my chin, only thermolysis.

Thanks again to everyone!
Susie :smile:

#5

Yes it is nice that you were able to have a talk with your electrologist. Give her a chance to see if treatment adjustments can be made effectively. Intensity settings are important as well as filament insertion and angle. Filament size should be no larger than the hair diameter otherwise you run into problems with insertion. The hair follicle size is going to be no smaller than the hair diameter. “Blowouts” in the follicle can also contribute to the appearance of these ‘whiteheads’. Does your electrologist use stainless steel or gold plated filaments? If you are still having problems 2 or 3 treatments down the road then you will have to evaluate what is going on and perhaps try another electrologist to compare results. Hopefully you and your present electrologist can work out the logistics for your particular case. Good luck.

#6

Feedback is invaluable. Sounds like a great partnership is in the making. I think it’s a good sign that she asked to see you and made an attempt to change something (using a different probe) so that scabs and whiteheads are not a part of what you would have to put up with for your healing process. That is another embarrassment you don’t need.

My question about the blend method doesn’t imply that thermolysis isn’t the right choice for you. It’s only my personal preference as an electrologist to treat coarse facial hair with the blend and gold probes. Yes, the blend takes several seconds per hair, but I find that it’s much kinder to client’s skin. I rarely have scabbing complaints from clients when I use the blend method and gold probes. Just a thought if your electrolgist is proficient at both thermolysis and blend, maybe you could make a request for her to try the blend on your face as an experiment to see which method works best for you.

You did well, VS. I have no doubt that you will meet success one way or another.

Dee