Really Itchy!

I’ve been getting treatments every 10 days on my upper lip and chin for 2 1/2 months (getting cleared each time, but the hair grows back). The last 2 times, my skin has gotten incredibly itchy the day after treatment and stayed like that for days. The itch is so bad I can’t sleep at night.

Nothing has changed, so does anyone know what might be causing this all of a sudden? I’m doing all the same aftercare (tea tree at night x3 nights, 99% pure aloe, witch hazel). After the irritation subsides I use my fragrance free moisturizer (Clinique) a couple times a day. Are there any other products I could use to soothe my skin, like calamine or hydrocortisone? (I know it thins the skin after a while but I’m desperate). I’ve already been feeling pretty down about the treatments - I’ve spent hundreds of dollars, my skin is hyper-pigmented, I haven’t seen any results and now this itch! I’m thinking of stopping electrolysis because of this.

Has anyone else gone through this? Some advice would be much appreciated!

Ugh. Is your skin flaky as well? Maybe if you eliminate the tea tree oil for now and just dab with witch hazel and aloe. How is your healing? Is your skin back to normal before you have another appointment? Were you tweezing your upper lip and chin before you started treatments?

It’s not flaky right now, I guess because I’ve been moisturizing so much, but it has gotten really dry. As for healing, the initial redness goes down within a couple hours, but it seems to take about 5 days or so before the skin goes back to normal - always by the next appointment though. I was tweezing daily for a couple years before electrolysis, but I let the hair grow out for 3 weeks before starting (there was a lot there!)

Could the itchiness be caused by being too aggressive with the tea tree oil or something? I’m using the pure stuff.

If you are using too much tea tree oil, you will get dry flaky skin with white cracking lines all over. It is sloughing off the dead skin after all.

This is why we tell you to go easy on the tea tree oil, and to use it only once a day at night before bed.

Stepping up use of the Aloe Vera will help you recover from the over use of the tea tree oil.

Take Care

Thanks very much for the responses. I’ve been pretty diligent about using just a dab of the tea tree, but I’m going to try again without using it at all and see what happens.

In case I have the same reaction, is it ok to put a bit of hydrocortisone or calamine on the area? And should I be waiting more time in between treatments, considering that my skin seems pretty unhappy?