scarring, infections; advice, help, and london referral sought

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

about a year ago, i underwent three months of electrolysis (1 hour a week) on my nipples, chest, neck, and stomach.

i have scarring and ingrowns in all these areas now. in some places (around the nipple), the ingrowns are not infected, but rest under the skin in tiny dark lumps.

have had terrible infections on my stomach and neck, and purple scarring, making that skin tougher, and harder for the hairs to get through. admittedly, i’ve been digging at them, but only because they won’t come out otherwise - i wrestled a 5 inch hair out of my neck the other month (giving myself a nice blunt wound in the process).

doc says am healthy (have had blood tests), i just seem to heal slowly and scar easily.
the hairs are black and coarse. my skin is fair. (i won’t do laser on these areas though, for fear of increased growth.) no hormone dysfunction either, in case that matters.

can anyone recommend skilled london dermatologists, estheticians (who might at least be able to pluck hygienically without causing the damage i’ve seen so far) and/or electrologists?

my gp set up the paperwork for a derm referral eight months ago, and i haven’t heard anything yet. i don’t know who can help me with this - digging out ingrowns on a regular basis. my nhs gp won’t do it. a private doc i saw a while ago invited me to come back, said she’d get any hairs out safely, but at 60 pounds a pop i can’t afford it. am wary of estheticians (am not originally from the uk, don’t have referrals) as experience so far have made me nervous.

(i asked the one i went to most recently what sort of technique and machine she used - the ‘normal’ one, she said.)

i’m afraid of subjecting my skin to further experiment without guidance.

any advice is welcome.

thank you

#2

Hi Nelly:

My electrolygist gets out any ingrowns which develope.

You may want to try an exfoliating scrub though once in a while to remove dead skin layers and help the ingrowns to break through the surface.

Alicia

#3

you should see a good electrologist who will get those out. if you run a search here for “london” or “uk” you might be able to find some recommendations.

btw, if you really have that much hair, you might have a hormonal issue. they’re hard to detect by most doctors unless you see a very good specialist (endocrinologist).

#4

Sorry to hear about your hair trouble. From your description I’m guessing that you have very delicate skin that isn’t excessively greasy or thick, hence the bad ingrowns and infections. I also think you’ve had thermolysis (if you had to hold a bar during the treatment then it was blend electrolysis).

Before you even think about doing anything else PLEASE let your skin heal and rest for a month or two. I know you must be desperate to move on but, really, you must let your skin recover. Use a gentle exfoliating cleanser every day to tackle the ingrowns and redness (something like johnson&johnson skinclear). You are doing so much harm by digging out the ingrowns. Keep the area dry and don’t apply any moisturiser apart from something like E45 or palmers cocoa butter.

If you keep on removing the hairs you’re going to cause more scars, which will then heal over the remaining follicles. And then you really will be in trouble. Just cut any hairs with nail clippers or scissors and let the ingrowns come out naturally.

You’ll have to put up with flaky skin for a bit, but once it’s settled down you can find a blend electrologist at www.electrolysis.co.uk

Regarding finding a derm, the best ones are available via the NHS even though it may be a pain to get through to them. I know this sounds horrible but playing dumb with your doctor and asking for help will get you a referrel quicker than asking for one directly. Or you can ask to see a different doctor. Generally speaking, they don’t respond to being told what to do even if you know better!

#5

thanks all for replying so quickly.

pamd, the private doc I saw said pretty much the same thing - i should leave the things alone so they (and i) could calm down… thanks for appreciating how hard that can be.

the thing is that some of the ingrowns won’t come out naturally; there’s often a red, infected lump over the ingrown, and the 5 incher on my neck was there for a month before i caved and risked going to an esthetician to pluck it out (skin was too raw to disturb electrically).

she did ok, but was freaked out and i think, disgusted, by my ingrowns - went on and on about how she’d never seen anything like that, and advised talking to a doc (who said i should see an esthetician, round and round…). also, she [esthetician] seemed not very knowledgeable about her machine, or was unwilling to share info with me, though to be fair i’m sure i came off as pretty paranoid.

i’ll cross my fingers and hope for the best with the nhs referral. (i wonder though whether s/he’ll want to dirty his/her hands with this stuff… what i’d do for a capable esthetician!) i think you’re right about having to play dumb, will try that, instead of walking in with my back up… thanks too for the link, will give it a try!

could i shave rather than clip, or is that likely to cause ingrowns as well? ah, i know it will. clippity clip.

on the hormonal front: thank you for the suggestion, you’re right, it’s possible that i’ve got a problem. unless other, reproductively important symptoms show up though, i’d prefer not to treat this with synthetic hormones. took diane 35 years ago (on the strength of a guess that i had androgen sensitivity) with terrible side effects and no visible success. am working on lifestyle changes to [minimize stress/testosterone/cortisol levels] generally improve my life - here’s hoping yoga saves!

thanks again, all, for your help, nice to receive such thoughtful support.
n

#6

No probs. Yes shaving is fine, so long as you don’t find it irritating to the skin. What’s important is to break the vicious cycle of ingrowns and infections. I know those massive red swellings all too well unfortunately, but you’ll find mild acne products useful.