questions about hyperpigmentation spots

Hi everyone! I have posted here under Here’s me story and I have been having electrolysis done for 7 1/2 months now with definate improvements on my chin and cheeks where I have very thin but longer light brown hairs. I have not begun on the side burn area and rear jawline because i am one to not want to be overwhelmed and i just cover the longer hairs with the way that i style my hair. I am very excited to begin this area hopefully soon though. As I have wrote before my lady uses a proteus which is a thermolysis only machine and it does not hurt me at all, but i Do feel the heat and no plucking, so thats all good. I also go in weekly and have only skipped about maybe 4 to five times where i went every 2 weeks. okay, so that was to catch you up a little. My concern right now is hyperpigmentation that i am now really starting to see on my face. It’s more on one side of my face than the other. I have freckle looking prick spots all over my cheeks and near my jaw line from the electrolysis and some look mildly dented in and it’s not aweful, but of course it’s my skin and this hair issue has been hard enough being what other people say is a beautiful girl and now to feel like my skin is maybe messed up is depressing. Plus, don’t forget the first lady who burned the wholes in my skin on both sides of my mouth!!! Thats a whole nother thing that is aweful. Right now i am more referring to the areas that are from the lady i’ve been going to thing whole time and not the areas next to my mouth beause i know thats a long road ahead for complete reconstruction.I just mentioned that because i just want to give an understanding that i have that also to deal with along with what i am now seeing. I deffinately see it when i look in any mirrow even with make up on. I only wear a light tinted moisturizer though. I know my lady has skill. She’s go 26 years and shes good. I don’t know about that gosh darn old machine, but i have called around every single electro in my community and they ALL have old machines except one and i went to her after that aweful lady for a 30 minute session and her place was unacceptably dirty and she didn’t wear gloves and she didn’t really listen to me like she cared. I guess what i want to know is this something you guys (James and Dee) see as okay and will just go away or what? does this EVER happen to people you treat. Just to let you know i heal up just fine very quickly it’s just these marks that are really starting to come into vissibility because i have been doing it for several months now. please tell me what you guys think. I just feel hopeless knowing that i am nowhere near done and i a can’t stop now! I have never been a plucker and shaver of these hairs so the idea of that is aweful. I want a permanent solution but i don’t want to be anxious and scared about my skin being dammaged for good. I will try to get you a picture too.
Do you think that continued electro will just thrash my skin?
I honestly can not thank you enough for reading this struggling girls long babbling post. It means so much to me that you guys are helping me and others with their journeys.

Heather

Can you provide a picture of the spots you are concerned about?

In my experience, I have had quite a few light brown hyperpigmentation spots (from laser and from DIY electrolysis), and they faded in time, though some took quite a while.

Thank You for your kind words. Sometimes we feel under-appreciated for all our VOLUNTEER WORK around here. :frowning:

Yes, pictures would help, but I can say that anyone who can make treatment with a Proteus a pleasant experience is really good at what they do. (would hit the next level with an upgraded machine, but, well, you know that already)

With time your skin will heal and all this will be a memory. It may take a year after you have completed your work for that to happen, but it will happen.

You did not mention what was the skin outcome of the one person in your area who had a better machine. Was her work outcome significantly better than the others? If so, it might be worth it to go back to her and just ask her to wear gloves (that you can provide, they are only $6.00 a box of 100 gloves for the good stuff - that’s 50 visits worth) or just be sure she washes her hands before you get worked on. You could get her to wear gloves by saying you have some skin condition you don’t want her to transmit to her other clients. And who knows, after she tries working with a good Dash Nuvo Vinyl glove, (item NV100(XS,S,M,L extra-small, small, medium or large for glove size, so a package of smalls would be NV100S) and feels how it is like a second skin, that doesn’t decrease sensation in the fingers, she may treat all clients with them on. You can order them by phone at 1-800-523-2055 or online at www.dashmedical.com

Most electrologists I have introduced them to have liked them once they found the right glove size. It must be the size that pulls tight like a second skin, but without cutting off one’s circulation. So the proper electrolysis glove size for this product is usually one size smaller than your normal isotoner size. If I were buying ski gloves, I would be in a large, but I take a medium Dash Nuvo (NV100M)

Remember, that when we tell you the ways to evaluate the practitioners in your area, it is a list that suggests what the perfect situation would be. When a perfect situation is not available, the most important thing on the list is “How does your skin look after treatment, and how well are the treatments done?” If the best skin results in the area were performed by a lady who had a vision rig and the best computerized electrolysis machine in the area, while working on clients in her unfinished basement, while delivering the same speed or better on the number of hairs removed per session, then I would say you would be best off going there.

After all, you are paying for the condition of your skin, more so than her accumen as an entirior decorator, or housekeeper.

Or her marble flooring, right James? :wink:

To minimize pigmentation, I would recommend making sure not to overtreat any area, i.e. treat an area before it has time to heal from the previous treatment since you’re going in often. Also, use tea tree oil at night. And make sure that you don’t use anything to chemicals while the skin heals. Just apply witch hazel a few times a day.

I am completely convinced that the latest generation of the best computerized epilators assist already skilled electrologists in providing the best skin outcome, the best sensation possible and the fastest time to completion for consumers seeking permanent hair removal. HYPERPIGMENTATION is not a problem. No one ever complains about hyperpig to me caused by electrolysis which amazes me because I know that some people are prone to hyperpig no matter what precautions one takes. It just isn’t a big problem in my practice and I treat many people of color. I guess I can venture to say that it is probably due to the better epilator, skill, better probes, better vision equipment and a better plan for aftercare??? It seems to work for me.

Products with kojic acid and licorice root extract seem to help the situation if you need help right now. The best remedy to relieve hyperpig is - time - after the hair has been permanently affected. It will fade nicely with time on it’s own.

Dee

Thank you guys SO much for your advice. I really appreciate it. I have already ordered a product just yesterday with the ingredients that you listed, Dee, that would help with the spots. I do feel that my skin is prone to hyperpig because if and when i do have a pimple it does leave a mark for a while that is reddish brownish. Thank God i don’t really have problems with acne! My husband is going to set me up an appointment with a dermatologist so that i can at least have my skin assesed by a professional. Like i said, it’s not horrible, but ya know when you know how nice your skin looked before it just concerns you and you want answers. I have discussed this with my electro lady too and she has said that it will eventually fade away with time as we are not working so much in those areas. I wish there was an electroysis school near me. I tell you I would go!!! My husband and i joke about it all the time! Electrolygists can be the most wonderful people!!! Thank you again!

Heather

Hey, there are electrolysis schools in California. At least you don’t have to leave the state to go to a school like so many people across these United States.

I am sure the Apilus Academy would love to have you, among others.

Heather, I have the same problem as you do. Most trauma to my skin causes discoloration. That is one of the reasons I started electrolysis. I had a very dark shadow on my upper lip from years and years of tweezing. Before I started electrolysis I was using a rx bleaching cream TriLuma that worked pretty well. After I started electrolysis the hyperpig started to fade even more because I was no longer plucking, I was using bleaching cream AND I was getting rid of the hair under the skin that were also causing a shadow. However, I had a few bumps in the road. I went to an electrologist that scabbed my upper and lower lip so badly and caused so much hyperpigmentation that I was almost back at square one. That was over a month ago and it has faded a bit. I still get scabs sometimes and I freak out about the pigmentation but I can tell you this, it always fades. Any pigmentation on my face or body always fades in time. It can take anywhere from a few months to a few years depending on how severe the trauma was and what part of the body it was on. For scabs to the face it won’t take more than a few months to fade. Of course as your old marks are fading you might be getting new ones but they will fade!

One last thing, be careful about using products on your face while going through electrolyisis. I stopped using my bleaching creams regularly because I was having bad skin reactions. I have never used products with the ingredients Dee recommended but I would maybe give your skin a few days to heal from electrolysis treatment before slathering a lightening cream on it. I could be wrong about this but I did want to warn you. Dee, do you have any input on this?

hey caligirl! thank you so much for your input. Yeah, I ordered this stuff that has a lot of natural ingredients(although not ALL natural, which i prefer because i do not use chemicals on my body usually) like the licorice and kojic acid so i am excited to try it. it supposedly works well. I think what is so hard about all of this is like what you said about some marks fading, but then you get new ones, so it just seems to never end even though i know it will. What is really difficult for me is the pitting marks that i got from the first elctro i went to. They have improved and filled in over 8 months, but they are still there and a little purplish. I hate it. I feel like it looks kind of like old lady skin a little bit. Everything is always worse when it’s your skin though. I never wore makeup on my skin until i started electro and now i cant feel good without it. I was planning on doing my simple routine right after electro and then using the cream around 3 days later until my next apt.

I instinctively reason that I don’t like my clients using anything but witch hazel, aloe vera gel (clear stuff,100%)and maybe tea tree oil if I can trust the client to use it sparingly. I don’t like products with a lot ingredients, sort of like eating natural, untainted almonds verses eating a chemical twinkie. Personally, I don’t wear gunk on my own face. I wash it and use something simple like grape seed oil, avocado oil or light olive oil. My daughter is trying to get me to purchase a tiny bottle of essential oils that a New York makeup artist uses that she works with, but I may be using the same thing she promotes in a 1 ounce pretty bottle? She raves about it, but I’m happy with my regime and it’s less expensive. I will get the name of the product if anyone is interested. Sorry, I got off topic…

Just get through your treatments, talk to your electrologist about doing all she can to use strategies or modalities that are better for your special skin type and then let Mother Nature heal things after the hair is gone. The first six months can be trying, but I will say that the great majority of my clients have very minor skin reactions or none at all, thanks to better equipment and my skill, of course :grin:. Some may take a week to heal, but if you would see their hair structure and density, you would understand why. Get over the six month hurdle and you will see that your temporary skin reaction diminishes greatly or may be non-existant. It’s really neat to see the hair diminish along with the skin reaction. Emotions are calm and emotions soar at the same time because the proverbial light is seen at the end of the tunnel as you get closer to the 9-12 month mark, if all is being performed correctly. Very good indeed.

Dee