Hi everyone. Ive been trying for a long time to rid my self of facial hair. I have dark thick course facial hair and light white skin, I have had several lazer treatments which rid my neck of hair, but not my face and upper lip, only thinned it. IM mostly looking right now to rid my upper lip of hair. I hate having a moustache and shadow. My question is, is it safe to do Electrolysis on my face after having 5 lazer treatments?? Ive found that my upper lip is still slightly red from my last lazer treatment which was over 4 weeks ago now. Is it safe to proceed with Electrolysis ?
I would see a doctor if the redness doesn’t fade, but I don’t see why you could not use electrolysis. Unfortunately, in my experience, there is a good chance that what hair laser removed might come back. If so, don’t give up. Electrolysis in this area is very effective, though the upper lip smarts a lot. I had mine done ages ago, and couldn’t be happier.
Wpg_guy,
Even though I am outing myself by replying to your post, I can tell you that electrology is a safe and effective method for permanent hair removal.
I also have very sensitive skin (even worse since I started on HRT) but unlike you, I am not a good candidate for laser treatment as most of my hair is blonde, red, or (alas!) gray.
One thing I would suggest is that you make a visit to a dermatologist and see if there are any potential problems prior to starting electrolysis. Even then, make sure that you tell your electrologist that you have possible skin reaction issues. You might also want to request that the electrologist spread each treatment out and not try to do a complete clearing of each area during a treatment. This will lessen the amount of reaction in any one area, allow quicker healing and minimize the possibility of pitting and scarring.
Right now I am about ready for my third treatment on my upper lip. As was stated in another post, this area smarts when it is worked. The first time I had work done on this area, I had an hour session and it was too much for the area. Last time I barely healed and had a little sun-burn type of peeling of the upper lip before the second treatment. This last time, I had my electrologist spread the treated hairs out to about every third or fourth hair. This time I am almost completely healed within 3 days of the treatment.
This approach may take a little longer to get a complete clearing, but at least it completely eliminates the possibility of skin damage.
A few other things to consider:
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Avoid caffeine for at least 24 hours before a treatment. This includes a lot of sodas and all of the “energy” drinks! Read the labels and make sure that you do not get any by accident!
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Drink at least 8 8-oz. glasses of water day for the 3 days prior to your treatment. If you work out at a gym or at home, increase the amount of water intake to compensate for the increase in perspiration.
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I am not a physician and can not make recommendations as to pain medications or the like as that would be practicing medicine without a license. However, I find that it makes my treatments a lot easier to endure on sensitive areas if I take 2 extra-strength Tylenol ™ tablets about 45 minutes prior to my treatment. I also drink at least 16 ounces of water just prior to going into my electrologists office.
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Avoid the consumption of any alcoholic beverages for at least 72 hours prior to a treatment. It sucks the moisture right out of your skin. This requires the electrologist to kick up the power levels to get the hairs making the treatment even more uncomfortable.
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Limit your treatment to what you can endure without having to resort to transcendential meditation or general anesthesia to get through. For the upper lip, about 1/2 hour is max. for most sensitive people.
I hope this helps!
All the best,
Joanie
what laser was used on you? what settings? what was the effect on the problem area after the treatment? it sounds like they might have burned your upper lip a bit or it may possibly be irritation due to dense growth, but if it didn’t happen on prior treatments, settinsg might have been a bit too high this time. have you been using aloe vera or anything else to help the area heal? it sounds like a minor burn, which will go away. i would wait at least another month until any side effects of the burn are gone before starting electrolysis. Chin and upper lip areas are most difficult to remove with any hair removal method btw.
Thank you guys soo much. I just started using aloe Vera and vitamin E liquid on my upper lip to try and heal it. I think too it was burned, also after I had my treatments I didn’t avoid the sun as much as I should have…I just hope the redness isn’t permanent. Im going to see a dermatologist next week, and a consultation for Electrolysis. Right now im using the cool glide laser to thin the hair on the side of my face, cheek area, I don’t really care to clear it all, I mostly want my upper lip clear and the hair on my sides thinned so it makes shaving easier. Once it’s thinned I might get the electoloisist to work on my sides.
Coolglide Yag should work well to thin the hair out. But the chin and upper lip areas would need more treatments than other areas on your face. let us know how it goes. i really don’t think a dermatologist visit is necessary, unless you’re very cautious. it sounds like a superficial burn, which will resolve itself within the next month. but i guess if your insurance covers it and it’s not a big deal for you to see one, then i guess why not. he would probably prescribe a cream that heals burns faster, but that’s about it.
is Coolglide safe to use on the face? i guess im concerned about pigment changes and maybe scarring after reading this forum. I did my neck which reacted really well, i had two IPL and one coolglide and nothing grows now, just a couple hairs which is not a big deal to me, its been over two months since i did my neck. ill get another pass done on it and the hair should be gone. ive had IPL done on my face but not the cool glide. what do you think is safer, coolglide or harmony for a guys face? MY dermatoglogist vists are free, canada’s medical system covers them, as for my lazer treaments she does my whole face for 80 dollars. They charge everyone else 250 a session, i keep going back cuz its cheap for me! and i believe they know what they are going, its through a plastic sugerons office, i go here, www.thefirstglance.ca.
i jus dont think my upper lip can take that anymore lazer, my hair is too thick and it just keeps coming back, i dont want to endure another 5 or 8 session, im frighten to know what it will look like by then! So is electrolysis the safest thing for my upper lip? is it more gental then lazers? i like reading about other guys success stories! that pleases me alot. I think i got a good clinic here to go too. we’ll see when i go visit them.
Coolglide is a Yag and is preferred for a man’s face because it’s not as harsh as alex, diode, or IPL, meaning you’ll get less irritation on an area with such dense coarse growth. There is burning (or scarring) that should be occuring and it’s rare with a Yag since it’s made for darker skin types and settings would need to be pretty high to burn. It sounds like the setting they are using is too high for your upper lip. The skin there might be a bit more sensitive for you and the hair more dense than other areas.
You would need multiple treatments with electrolysis as well and if the area is sensitive, it would also get irritated. It’s up to you which you would like to choose. How many treatments have you had on the upper lip area so far with Coolglide? Have you only had the redness reaction after this one treatment there or after every treatment? If it’s only after this one, I would just let them know so they can lower the setting and treat it a few more times. Are you seeing shedding on the areas?
ive had only one treament on my upper lip with coolglide, but 4 treatments with IPL harmony machine, after every time there was shedding and my hair does grow back thinner. and my upper lip always get the most redness irratation after each treament, i was going every three weeks for a while, i think i maybe have done too much too soon for my upper lip. When i go do the sides of my face ill ask for a low setting cuz im sensitive.
And i understand i would need multiple treatments with electrolysis, im ok with that. i just want it all gone!! But dont want redness there all the time, cuz then ill want my hair back to hide it!
What are the most important questions to ask when i go for my electrolysis consultation? what are the certified levels called?? which one would be best for her to have? what are the different types? what would be best for a guys beard area? yikes! so many questions! thanks everyone!
ok, now that you’ve explained – the problem is going in WAY too often. Laser treatments should be spaced 8 weeks apart to start and longer after that. 3 weeks??? Noone experienced and knowledgeable would EVER recommend that, so that makes me question their skill. Having those treatments that close together was basically wasting money on 3 out of the 4 because you were treating and retreating the SAME hair. You didn’t give enough time for your skin to heal OR for DORMANT hair to grow in to kill. I still think you should get more laser treatments with either Harmony (one of the better IPLs and good for light skin) or Coolglide (should be less irritation overall with correct settings) and have 6-8 treatments every 8 weeks or spaced out longer.
What did you have at 3 weeks to treat?? The treated hair should have only finished shedding at 3 weeks and then you’re supposed to have a hairfree period for another 3 weeks until dormant hairs starts to grow in – which is only when you need the next treatment.
If you want to go the electrolysis route, you need to research to find a good thermolysis electrologist. You would need to go in for consultations and try a few to decide who’s good. It will depend on their skill. If you feel hairs being plucked, it’s not a good sign. But like I said, for an area with dense hair like the male upper lip, you will have a bunch of redness and irritation, probably more than with Coolglide at correct settings. It’s up to you. Maybe you should try electrolysis for one treatment and compare the aftermath. I can only suggest what I personally would do in your situation based on my knowledge and experience with both methods.
Hey Wpg_guy,
Electrolysis is clearly the way to go with the beard area. It’s not patchy, it can contour cleanly, and it’s more proven to work in general. The levels, at least here in California are RE Registered Electrologist, and CPE which is a level that takes many more hours and demonstrated skill. CPE’s are usually much more thorough and experienced.
The three types of treatments actually kind of blur:
Galvanic - DC current only
Blend - Both AC (thermolysis) and DC (galvanic) currents combined.
Thermolysis - AC only. This can be called slow Flash, Flash, Superflash, or something along those lines.
There’s no real set boundary between these modes with modern machines, although many operate with purely AC and go with flash to avoid eschars (little scab crusts that appear a day or so later, then go away).
For beard, my opinion is that they would use mostly flash, with a bit of DC to insure permanence. But really, it’s the skill and experience of the operator that will determine how they approach this. And note, return visits with electrolysis are usually far, far less expensive, and more reasonable that laser stuff.
Good Luck
Mantaray
A guy who had his beard contoured
Hi:
I had nine sessions with Lightsheer laser diode laser before switching to electrolysis.
Since then I have had over a 100 hours of electrolysis and am getting to the point it is pretty sparse regrowth with a few scattered hairs from cheeks to bottom of the neck. It might take an hour to clear the area since the hairs are so hard to see now. We have used mostly thermolysis, but I had her do blend on a few stubborn hairs.
It takes a number of hours before you feel that the treatments are going to get rid of all your hair, but if you stick with it it definitely will. Just be patient.
Alicia
Well i went today for an electrolysis consultation. i think i found a good one, what im choosing to do is electrolysis on my upper lip beacuse i want it clear, and i also went back to my lazer place to see if its safe enough to proceed with the cool glide on the sides of my face for more reduction. i had the cool glide on my neck and im happy with the reduction there, very easy to shave but i want my upper lip clear. i guess my still scared with the whole electrolysis situation, she suggested that i do the blend method although she did a test patch on the right side of my upper lip with thermolysis, so ill see how my skin reacts to that. ill go back next week for a test patch on the lip with the blend. i have thick beard hair but not too too dense, white skin, it certainly didnt hurt like i thought it would, lazer hurt way more, she told me shes was using a high setting to get the hair out and she made sure she wasnt tweezing it out, she had to zap the first one a couple times. ive already got tea tree oil and 100% aloe gel on it, so hopefully it heals nicely. any encouraging thoughts or comments are welcome!
Congratulations. You’ve made a wise choice. Electrolysis is great, especially on the face. The neat thing about getting the beard or upper lip contoured is that it looks better even with a little bit of grub growth. A few of my coworkers now want to get what I had done. Keep your appointments, be nice to your electrologist, practice good aftercare, and over time you’re going to get your money’s worth. Keep us updated! It’s always good to hear from happy people.
Mantaray