Questions regarding electrolysis treatment

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

Hi,

I’m a male, in my late 20s not from the US. I have white skin and very dark hair.
I apologize for the long post, but I would like to tell my story before asking questions.

Starting from my early 20s I slowly started noticing that I have hair growing in places where most people have either barely visible vellus hair or no hair at all.

First of all, I started getting a little more hair on the bottom of my neck area, so that my beard (which ends at about the Adam’s apple area) seemed to connect with my chest hair. The density of the hair in this area is much less than the beard area above it, but it is a nuisance, and very unaesthetic. But this is not the main reason for writing this post.

What’s more alarming to me was the fact that I started getting small black hairs on my nose and I noticed that the hairs on my ears (on the lobule, and on the rim of the ear… called the helix I believe) are also becoming black and visible (even though they’re thin).
In recent years these hairs have gotten worse (longer, more visible), and they’ve been killing my self esteem and causing me lots of anxiety.

To make things worse, last year I was on medication for about 2 weeks (it was Concerta, a form of Ritalin), and I noticed something rather strange on my second week. I noticed that the skin on my forehead looked strange, it’s as if it was a little less smooth, more wrinkly. At first, I didn’t understand what was happening, but one day I looked closer and I realized that there was barely visible very thin vellus hairs all over my forehead. I now realized why the skin looked wrinkly, it’s probably the hair follicles that are giving me this impression.
I panicked because I thought it might be the meds that are somehow accelerating hair growth (they’re stimulants after all) so I stopped taking them… but I can’t be certain that they’re the real cause of this, since hair loss is actually one of the side effects.

Anyway, it appears that I’m starting to see a small patch of small black hairs starting to pop out in the middle of my forehead (I think I can see about 30 of them). This is what finally broke me and I realized that I need help ASAP. I need to get my hair problem fixed, or otherwise my anxiety will paralyze me and won’t let me leave the house.

I found an electrologist nearby and I want to pay her a visit soon, but I don’t know anything about electrolysis and I have a lot of questions (and fears) that I would love to have answered here by the experts before I make my first appointment.

These are the questions I was thinking of asking the electrologist. I would really appreciate if you could give me answers I should expect to hear from her, and any suggestions to improve/modify the question list:

  1. How many years of experience doing Electrolysis do you have?

  2. What technology do you use? [Note: I don’t know much about this, but I’d love to hear more on what technology is better]

  3. Do I get a private needle for the whole treatment period? [Do I really need to ask this?]

  4. What can I expect after a first treatment/clearance?
    Will the just grow back like it usually does after a shave?

  5. On average, how many treatments does it take to treat an area such as the nose/ear and usually how far apart are the appointments?

  6. Is the hair removal really permanent? That is, hair that was removed will never grow back, and that if I see hairs growing back in that region those must be new hairs that weren’t previously treated?

  7. Must appointments be spaced in regular intervals, or can I come back whenever I see some hairs growing in the treated region? Because I really wouldn’t want to be walking around with long hair growing out of my nose/ears.

  8. This is related to the previous question. Can I shave the treated area before the next appointment in case I see hairs growing?

  9. Will there always be temporary scabs in the area? Are they for every follicle removed? And how long until they’re gone?
    That is, if I get treated on Thursday, will the scab wear off by Sunday?

  10. Whom do you mostly treat? Men or women?

  11. Can you treat almost any facial area with electrolysis?
    Can I treat the nose? Can I treat the ears (lobe + outer ear and maybe the targi as well)?
    Can I treat that small area on the forehead that have a few barely visible black hairs?

  12. I have read many horror stories on the Internet of people who claimed that treatment caused hair to become thicker and more prominent, or the density of hair increased, or they got permanent scars.
    I’m sure that for every problematic case there might be tens of people that had a successful treatment, but I want to make sure that I won’t end up being in the problematic group.
    How can we plan my treatment as to minimize any potential damage in case the treatment won’t work for me? Maybe we can start in a place that I shave anyway (the lower neck region), so that in case the hair keeps growing I will just continue shaving it?
    [Note: I was thinking of asking for a free “test treatment” on a small area, but I’m not sure if that is OK to ask or not]

That is all. Sorry for the wall of text!

Edit: By the way, from my registration date you can see that I’ve been thinking of seeking treatment and posting here a long time ago ;-).

#2

Dear Frustrated,

Let me throw a “red flag” out on your query and explain a couple items.

Men (and women) grow hairs in predictable (healthy/normal) patterns. Men with too much hair will typically complain about back hair, beard hair on the neck or cheeks and other areas as well. These hairs are unwanted, but nearly all “hairy people” present normal growth patterns; and this is seldom anything more than a cosmetic nuisance. This is not the case with what you are describing!

If you are actually developing “large” (?) hairs on your forehead and (somewhat) on your nose … in a short period of time … this is an issue that needs to be examined by a physician that specializes in “hormones.” You need to see an endocrinologist. I hope you are able to see such a professional. (I don’t know in which country you live; however some countries have few of these specialists.)

It’s tremendously important that you do NOT have electrolysis on these (abnormal) areas until a physician can examine these areas. Do not shave or tweeze the hairs either. At this point, your hair growth is a “diagnostic indicator” and, again, you must get this looked at as soon as possible.

#3

Hey Michael,

The hairs on the nose and ears have been developing for years. The hairs on the forehead have appeared only recently, but they are not large (at least not yet) – they’re barely visible, but seem to be slowly growing.

Maybe I’ve exaggerated a bit on the size of these hairs, but I do believe that I’m hairier than most. I have a little cheek hair, and on the back of the neck as well… but my whole back is pretty much hairless.

I will take your advice though, and seek an endocrinologist first. Although from a quick Google search it seems that mostly women get hormonal treatment and men don’t.

By the way, any chance to get my questions answered anyway? At some point I will probably visit an electrologist so I would like to know this information!

Thanks!

#4

Can you submit a quality picture with no shadows or fuzziness?

#5

Hey Dee,

I only have a crappy phone camera. I took a shot of my neck and nose. Unfortunately, it seems like the nose is a little out of focus. You can make out some of the hairs, but for others, the only thing visible is their “root”, but not the hair itself.

I also haven’t shaved for about 4 days, so you can see my stubble.

Neck: http://i.imgur.com/sI4GdIf.jpg
Nose: http://i.imgur.com/zqr7PT4.jpg

I didn’t bother doing the ears since it’s going to be hard to take a stable picture. The forehead will also be pointless since I’d need good magnification and a stable camera for anything to be seen over there.

#6

Okay … the neck (beard) is normal and so is the nose. Notice that you mostly have enlarged “blackheads” on the nose? Again completely normal on a young person. Your skin is beautiful. I will trade you my “prune-out” face in a heartbeat!

No need to see a physician about this.

Let me guess … the hairs that you see on your nose form little “bundles” of hairs? I mean not ONE hair sticking out, but a bunch of them in a tiny stuck-together pile? Furthermore, these can be easily “tweezed out” (lifted out really) and almost look like a blackhead? (I’ll expand if this is what you’re seeing.)

The term for these hairs is “Bundelhaar.” I’m always happy when a righteous German word gets into our flagging American vocabulary!

Funny thing, the physician asked me yesterday if the radiation treatment I’m getting for skin cancer is causing any side-effects. I told him that, “Already now, in the first place, I am beginning to speak ‘mit a German axxent’!” He said I’m “crazy!” This could be?

#7

No, I don’t see them as bundles. If you look toward the top-left side of the nose you see a couple of hairs a few millimeters long. Because of the low quality of the photo the same type of hairs are not visible on the front side of the nose, and you can only see a black spot from which the hair grows. I’ve actually used scissors to trim down the hairs when they got a little longer.
Also note the sides of the nose. You can see very little black hairs growing there as well, but these seem to stay at the same length for some reason.

Btw, I do have oily skin.

I thought you were joking, Herr Bono, but I didn’t realize that this was a real thing: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8186915/Foreign-accent-syndrome-who-it-can-affect.html :stuck_out_tongue:

I do wish you all the best in your radiation treatments, and once again thank you very much for helping me (and other people) on these forums.

#8

1. How many years of experience doing Electrolysis do you have?

This does not mean much, there are professionals who have spent years doing plucking under the pseudonym of Electrolysis. The right question is:

  1. How many cases have you finished? Can you provide real evidence of this?

2. What technology do you use?

Nor does it provide lots of light. The question is:

What method you use to get the best results in the shortest possible time and with less risk to my skin?

3. Do I get a private needle for the whole treatment period? [Do I really need to ask this?]

This question is superfluous, unless he / she seeks to be sued for malpractice.

4. What can I expect after a first treatment/clearance?
Will the just grow back like it usually does after a shave?

Correct question: Can I have a test on any part of my body to check the success of your treatment?

5. On average, how many treatments does it take to treat an area such as the nose/ear and usually how far apart are the appointments?

What kind of strategy do you suggest for my case?

#9

Okay, short dark hairs (espeically) on the sides of the nose? … competely normal. Just leave these alone. When your skin dries-up (like mine), you will have less oil, fewer blackhead and no hairs. It’s all assoicated with an “active sebaceous gland.”

When you get old ALL your glands get worn out! DAMN!

I’m hopeful that the radiation will improve my German grammar … but, I doubt it! I am, however, singing Deutsche Volksleider this morning. “Ich weiß nicht was alles bedeuten … “ So schön!

#10

Glad you posted this, Michael, because I googled the term recently and kept getting hair extensions. Could not remember the spelling, obviously! Wishing you good healing with your treatments…

Regarding the hairs and oil on the nose, there are several things to do about these. Facial treatments by an esthetician can also include extractions. The “pore” size can’t be reduced, but those oil plugs and the hairs can be extracted easily. You do NOT want squeezing extractions - the extractions should be gentle - easily done if the skin is prepared properly. Biore pore strips can also be used - I believe it’s like supergluing a fabric to the skin, then gently pulling it off. Those tiny hairs do not respond to “tweezing” in the same manner as hairs growing in hormonal areas. Yes, some men and women will eventually grow a terminal hair on their nose. Then the solution is electrology treatments.

A second option is to use benzoyl peroxide. This accomplishes two things. One is a bleaching of the hair and keeping the sebum from oxidizing (turning darker). The second is the drying out of follicles. The trick to using benzoyl peroxide is to apply a thin layer (to the affected area only) once a day for 15 minutes, then wash it off. You “can” build up the time it is worn, but this minimal treatment will make a difference within a week or two.

Another very simple thing to do would be to apply hydrogen peroxide to your skin twice a day. Soak a cotton ball and use it as a “toner” to the area on your nose. The action of this should result in “bleaching” out the color of the hair and sebum. No drying effect should occur.

Wishing you the best.