I am on my fifth (60 min) electrolysis session today, and didn’t know until after my third that the hairs aren’t supposed to feel like they’re being plucked or tweezed after being zapped. I asked last time if it’s normal, and she said that my hairs were L-shaped at the root, or J-shaped, and that they were coarse, and that I was dehydrated. At the end of the session, I asked her how many rounds it usually takes per hair follicle - offering 4-5 times as a guess, and she replied that it is usually 10 times. That sounded very strange to me, and today I asked her about it again but she assured me that it’s definitely not 1-4 times, and not always 10 per follicle. I’m confused, and unsure if the hairs just FEEL like they’re being plucked because they’re thick and struggling to get through the opening, or if she’s just burning the sides of my skin and leaving the root untouched. She’s using thermolysis, and I asked if a different approach would be better given how curly and coarse my facial hair is, but she insisted that although she can do blend and chemical, thermolysis is the best. This time, it seems like she turned the current up, and maybe didn’t go deep enough on a good number of my hairs - there are yellow/white pus-like burn marks and three or four bloody areas that scabbed up right after the appointment. Is she missing the root on many of these, and if so, will there be any change on these hairs or will they stay untouched? I’m lost and kind of desperate to know if I’m being scammed by someone with poor technique.
10 times seems like far too much, I have heard that for ideal patients it should take 4-6 sessions when staggering each session by 6-8 weeks. Your skin should be ‘lumpy’ and irritated after a session, but any significant amount of scabbing is concerning, as are pustules. Hairs also may feel a ‘pop’ as they are removed, but shouldnt feel like they were being plucked normally. I am not a professional, to be clear, but it absolutely seems like either inconsistent power, or poor technique combined with too much power to me.
I also know that Thermolysis can be equivalent in quality to blend, but I thought blend was always much more lenient- just slower. I wouldn’t go to this practitioner again.
Find another electrologist. She is reaching for any excuse to defend her poor work. Hair should not be plucked, and you should not have the skin reaction you described.
I have no other options in my area, and I already spent months getting her approved through my insurance - do you have any ideas for how to help guide her towards doing the work I would want her to do?
I do twice a week for a very coarse and thick beard, that had been plucked many many times before (by myself) - is it possible that I could coach her into doing better work - or using more appropriate techniques for my facial hairs? I don’t want to offend her by calling her work bad, but I do want to make the most of the opportunity I have if it’s possible that I can ask her to change her technique to suit my hairs better?
Do you have any images of your skin after a treatment? From your description, the yellow/white pus, the bloody areas and the scabbing on the face can all contribute to potential scarring if done repetitively across multiple sessions. This is why I recommended that you find another electrologist.
The sort of improvement she would need involves a better understanding of the energy levels and how to find the working point, plus more practice on depth of insertions. It’s very difficult for a client to coach an electrologist through that.
When I think about the gold star electrologists in my country, the one thing they all have in common is a good mentor who helped them develop their skills. In some cases, they were mentored by people on the other side of the world, but they always had someone to help guide their work in those early stages. If your electrologist can get in contact with someone like that who has a proven record of fantastic treatments, I think that’s her best chance.