I have been having electrolysis on my upper lip and between my eyebrows for 5 weeks now. The hair had never been removed before by plucking or anything, I only bleached it, so it was not coarse. My hair is naturally dark, and would be coarse if I removed it however. Treatment has been going fine, with only redness afterwards lasting about half an hour and disappearing completely. My electrolysist seemed extremely capable, and I didnt suffer any scabbing or afteraffects which I was very pleased with. However when I went a few days ago, the area after treatment felt like it was on fire, and though she applied aloe vera, the swelling and redness did not go down. In fact I noticed tiny blisters where she had removed each hair. When I got home, a couple were weeping a yellow fluid, so I cleaned the area and reapplied aloe vera. A few days later and some of these have now turned into scabs, not the tiny red ones, but larger in area, and not seeming to heal very quickly! I am terrified that one area where there are three scabs near togtether will turn into one giant pit! I am wondering why this would have happened when it has been absoluteley fine til now?
You might have experienced a bit of overtreatment that second time. It is essential that you communicate your experience with the electrologist. Redness and swelling that does not go away and blisters are not a good sign - however they might also be from other things, such as an allergy to aloe, too much sun or excessive touching of the area.
You wrote: “…so it was not coarse. My hair is naturally dark, and would be coarse if I removed it however.”
I ask: I don’t understand those statements, can you elaborate?
Is this on the upper lip area? It sounds like a bit of overtreatment. You’ll be fine. Just let your electrologist know so she can adjust timing and setting next time.
thanks for the advice, I was also wondering if it would be ok to put aqueous cream on the scabs? aloe vera seems to be just sitting there and drying up…and the area feels quite dry…it has been 4 days since treatment and its the upper lip area.
The biggest thing to know is DO NOT DISLODGE THE SCAB. A skin wound heals from the bottom up and the scab acts like a band-aid until all has healed. Did she change her probe size or type? Tell her something was different. Overtreatment one time will not necessarily result in scarring. No more treatments until your skin has totally healed. If she must reduce the amount of time she is treating hairs on your upper lip, then so be it. Older machines especially dictate no more than 15 minutes in this area. Always give feedback about the last treatment even if the electrologist doesn’t ask, for those beginning treatments. Go in with a clean face and pamper your skin for the first 24-48 hours after a treatment.
I am not a proponent of creams after electrolysis. A good quality aloe vera gel that you refrigerate, even a pure aloe vera plant is always my top choice regardless of how it it feels on your skin. Aloe Vera is a moisturizer. It soothes the skin. Don’t use the green or blue aloe vera gel. Wash your hands and always apply anything you use with the cleanliness of a surgeon. Keep ingredients as pure as possible and again, REFRIGERATE the aloe. Some of the medicants that clients put on their skin interfers with healing, so be wise and don’t apply all kinds of junk. You can put tea tree oil on first (just small dabs on the affected areas and then slather on the aloe. DO this at nightime.
If you use other ingredients anyway, keep in mind that if the skin looks worse, then it may be the the stuff you are putting on your wounds to make it heal. Definitely, do not use any Neosporin cream or oitnment.
So to summarize this, we established that this is overtreatment and you must tell your electrologist not to do this again. It will heal. Do not pick at the scabs. Simple, pure aftercare is very helpful.
Dee
I would just apply either tea tree oil at night or witch hazel several times a day. You should do one of those regardless. Both are better than aloe.