Share feelings here (not questions)

Start here! Share your feelings
#21

I know that both laser and electrolysis work but I can’t afford them yet since I am still unemployed right now. Plus, I heard they both hurt so I am really scared to do them. I just have to use the typical hair removing lotions right now since that is all that I can afford. The areas that bother me the most are my breast hairs(although I don’t have much, just some), some light hairs on my stomach and my armpit hairs(which are not too bad either but really brings my confidence down and I get sick of having to scrub them off). I have some on my legs that bother me too, but once again not much. I also heard that not everyone has breast and stomach hairs and some other women have said it is gross to have hair in those areas. I was mad!! Gosh, it’s not like I want to have hairs there. My mom doesn’t have any at all so I still question why I do…My mom has smooth legs and hardly any armpit hair and she NEVER shaved or used anything in her life. THe hairs on my armpits are not that dark and they are pretty short. They are not really fine either. My leg hairs are really sparse and I don’t have much but some of them are long and dark. There are only some on my breasts and some are really dark while some are really fine… Gosh, I can’t wait until I can afford electrolysis and laser to get rid of them all for good one day…

I also have some on my face on my upper lip, but then again who doesn’t?? Mine are not the dark but I have light skin so it is more visible… That actually bothers me the most since EVERYONE can see it…I just have to use skin removing lotion to remove it for now…

#22

Yes, you can’t do electrolysis or laser if you have no money. With the hair structures you describe, when you can pay for treatments,you should consider electrolysis only. A skilled electrologist can work on several areas at once. You can a least start asking around for recommendations in your area so when the day comes, you will be ready to go full speed ahead.

Hair removal creams can stimulate hair growth on the face when used over time, so be careful with that approach.

#23

I think most of those breast hairs would be removed during the sample treatment phase, as could some of the largest, thickest belly hairs.

#24

What you describe is not only normal, but pretty common on almost every woman. In fact, most women have a lot more than you. A few hairs on your underarms? Many women can’t even simply shave there to due tons of stubble left because the hair is so dark and dense. I don’t know one single woman who has no hair on their underarms. You’re not abnormal in any way. In fact, you have less hair than the average woman.

Electrolysis for so little hair is very cheap. Many electrologists take credit cards too. Electrolysis removes 5-10 hairs per minute when using fastest thermolysis method. And it costs around $60-70 per hour. You’d probably only need 15 min treatments at most for all your hair.

Laser is only for coarse dense dark hair. Doesn’t sound like it’s the right solution for you anyway.

Yes, electrolysis hurts a bit, but it’s not that big of a deal at all. If you really want that hair gone permanently, it’s really nothing much to handle. Your fear is definitely exaggerated. Get a test treatment and see how it goes.

Shaving is the best temporary method for you. Other methods can stimulate more growth.

How old are you btw?

#25

What an awesome discussion board…if only we could all meet! Here is my story. I started electrolysis in June. I had been tweezing for a very long time (since I was like 19, I am 26 now) and I hadn’t realized that this was making the hair coarser. Soon enough of course, I found myself carrying tweezers with me, tweezing multiple times a day. At that point I knew something had to be done. Had my hormones checked…they were fine. Because I knew laser would be inadequate since not all my hairs were coarse, I proceeded to book an electrolysis appointment. And then the worse thing that could happen did, I got burned. I became soooo self-conscious. I let this incident take the best of me, up to the point where I stopped going out, experienced daily anxiety attacks. I couldn’t keep my hands off my face and was literally giving myself breakouts. It took me a while to get myself back together. I opened up to friends and family about my hair problem and my anxiety problem…and most importantly, I WAS HONEST WITH MYSELF. I had to take a step back and answer the question: Who am I doing this for? For me. Only then, had I the courage to resume electrolysis in NYC. See, when one does things to be happy with oneself, the pressure is off. So what if you have facial hair? At least you are doing something about it. But do it for you, not to satisfy ANYONE ELSE. Relax, think about how in a year or two you can be laughing this whole matter off. I visited various electrologist. After my incident, I decided I would ONLY do blend on my face. I have learned that while many modern equipments can make the process faster and more comfortable, in the END, IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THE TECHNIQUE OF THE ELECTROLOGIST. My electrologist now is wonderful and caring. She uses an older equipment but I have seen results. I don’t experience plucking and only slight inflammation that subsides within 36 hours or less (after 2 hour treatments). I don’t get ANY scabbing. Occasionally, like I have posted in this forum I get a few inflamed follicles. To keep me from touching my face I visit an esthetician regularly. She drains everything and unclogs my pores to help with the electrolysis treatment. The pigmentation from my initial burns faded roughly 75% after 6 months or so. it It is now so superficial that after one microdermabrasion treatment it was 90% gone. There was some tiny pitting, but I plan on getting a few deep peels after my electrolysis treatments have spaced out to 1X/month. status? Well, after 3.5 months of electrolysis I HAVE SEEN RESULTS. I can’t really say how clear I am, but I’d guess 25-30% reduction. I go in for 2 hour appointments once a week and 15 minute touch ups in between if I need them. I still get coarse hairs but I went from having a full face of coarse hairs to having way less in between treatments. The only down side is my face gets slightly dry and flaky every now and then, but oh well, I usually visualize a clean hairless complexion and this soothes any worries. If you need info/referrals, feel free to send me a message. I’d love to help anyone as much as I can, as I have received a lot of support and answers from this forum.

best of luck to all in 2010,
M

#26

I have some pitted scars too. Where have you heard that peels will help with those?

#27

What bothers me most is not having enough money right now to get rid of all the hair. I wish I had started when I was a teenager and then I could have been done by now probably. If I ever have a daughter I hope to have enough money to start her treatments early or at least I would encourage her to start working as soon as possible to get this done.

And it sucks to have new hairs pop out just a few days after my last treatment. I really have made a lot of progress in keeping my face clear, but my chin never lets up. However, it was around this time last year that I started to think to myself that I couldn’t keep going through life plucking 30 minutes every morning, and 3 months later I read this forum and stopped plucking completely. So I told myself this morning that I may have a bunch of hair until this March, but after that I will see the results of treatment and hopefully they’ll be good. It sucks though to have so much growth so near the end.

#28

Thanks so much for your advice!! Yea, one day when I do have money I will definately try electrolysis. I think I will come here and ask you all for some advice when I am ready to do it.But for now, I don’t have any money yet.

I think I will try to pluck my hairs on my upperlip, but gosh does it hurt… Luckily it isn’t that dark or dense.

#29

Really? That’s good to hear but I guess my confidence is so low that those hairs really bother me. The fact that I don’t have much hair may partially be genetics since my parents both did not have much. I don’t know anyone who has no hair on their armpits either. My brother’s wife and her sister thought it was gross and called me hairy just because I had some breast hairs and some stomach hairs. I was sooo mad. They claim that they don’t have any… I wonder if they are even telling the truth??

I am glad to hear that electrolysis will not be that bad for me. But I am really broke right now that even if I don’t have much hair, I still cannot afford it. I will definately do it when I work and have money since I want those hairs gone forever.

Yea, laser does not seem like something that would work for me because my hair is not thick or dense. Have you done electrolysis?? Did you use anything for the pain??? The pain really isn’t that bad?? How much does it hurt on a scale of 1-10?? I will definately test it first to see how it goes when I have money. By the way, are the doctor male or female?? I would feel strange to have a male doctor see my breasts…

I am 30, but I look a lot younger than my age(I wonder if it is an Asian thing??).

#30

Really?? I think those hairs would be good to remove during the testing session… I can’t wait until I have money to do it.

#31

Candela,

PCA peels are wonderful. They come in all grades, are good for all skin types and can only be administered by medical estheticians. My esthetician showed me before and after pics, wonderful.

M

#32

I am not a big fan of having the hair in between treatments either, but whatever. I stopped caring what others may think. All I care about is what I think. And I have faith than in a year I will be close to done if I don’t pluck and stick it out. Patience is very important. You can’t let those little hairs bother you, just don’t stare in the mirror or keep your mind busy with something else.

#33

I am not a big fan of having the hair in between treatments either, but whatever. I stopped caring what others may think. All I care about is what I think. And I have faith than in a year I will be close to done if I don’t pluck and stick it out. Patience is very important. You can’t let those little hairs bother you, just don’t stare in the mirror or keep your mind busy with something else. Before my first treatment I let my hair grow out for almost 2 months. I had thick and coarse dense hair on my cheeks and chin. I wasn’t comfortable going outside but I knew it’d be perfect to go out for a full cleaning like this.

#34

Please don’t pluck those hairs!

We have a saying, pluck only the hairs you want to keep!

You see, plucking them makes them unavailable for treatment, and furthermore, can lead to them getting deeper, darker, thicker, and could even stimulate more hairs to grow in that area. All these are things you don’t want to happen.

Take a deep breath, and decide on shaving or clipping them. This is the best temporary thing to do until you get some permanent hair removal going.

#35

Hello wonderful ladies and gents,

I need a place to share my feelings. Luckily, I have a partner who is understanding but you can only share so much with someone who cannot begin to understand how you feel. For me, it makes me feel insecure, weak, a complainer, freakish, unattractive…
I could go on but I won’t. Don’t get me wrong. I have my good days but lately those days have become numbered. The thing that irritates me the most is the insecurity. For instance, there are things I don’t do because I am so worried about the looks I will get. The problem has gotten worst over the years as I knew they would. It is frustrating when you see something coming and feel helpless. Oh…and I’ve tried everything under the sun but all of those things cost $$. I’m one of those gals who hasn’t been technically diagnoised but has ALL of the signs. I’m sure some of you can relate. I really need a place to vent. It is all a vicious cycle that I desperately want to break. Right now, there is a job that I want to apply to and probably would have a good chance of getting but I’m too insecure. I have already played out in my head what will happen. This problem has done a number on my self esteem. So much so, that I don’t recognize myself.
I just want to be normal or perhaps find a way to deal and accept myself the way that I am.~thanks for reading

#36

It may help you to read The Diet Cure by Julia Ross, and possibly her follow up, The Mood Cure. They have extensive information on hormonal interactions that cause excessive hair growth, PMS, and unstable brain chemistry. The book, dispite its title is not about how to lose weight, although one may do that as well as a result of following the fixes for the problems explored in the text.

Good Luck

#37

I am also a big fan of this book. I often recomend it too. It has great information that could have relivance for many of our clients.

#38

I am SOOO frustrated. This problem has plagued me for many years and seems to be getting worse as times goes on. I have a ton of dark facial hair and it makes me sooo depressed. I hide it (or try to) from everyone. I can’t even stay overnight anywhere but home because I can’t let anyone find out. I have gone to the doctor numerous times and all my blood work is normal…I don’t know what to do anymore. I have tried laser hair removal and it did nothing. I stayed on the recommended schedule and the reduction I initially had all came back. Then I tried electrolysis and I had scabs all over my face. It was horrifying to have people ask me what was wrong with my face. This wasn’t a good option for me because I can’t even let anyone know about my problem because I am soooo ashamed and embarrassed. I then tried IPL for a year which did temporarily rid me of my problem, but once again IT ALL came back. I am so consumed with this all of the time. I want my life back and my freedom! HELP!

#39

Hi there!

Really need to share with you…

I have always been a bit hairy and it was never a problem to me. E.g. hairy arms, hair on lower back, lower stomach and upper lip. It didn’t bother me at all.

Now, hair is everywhere… Somewhere in January I started noticing hair all over my body including back and whole breasts. My facial hair has gotten worse, too. At first, I tried not to panic and get used to it, like the other hair. But it is impossible. There is a huge amount, and at first they were light… Now, I don’t know if it is because I panic or really, they are turning black.

I have a wonderful family and boyfriend, and many friends. Moreover,I have a great body and find myself pretty. I go to University and have great marks. I had a perfect life till recently.

I can’t get used to that I have to cover my body and not being able to wear clothes I want. This change came so suddenly, I keep on thinking back on past summer when everything was so perfect. I can’t even imagine this summer and all the stress waiting for me. I can’t sleep well, I can’t study, which reflects on my marks and I’ve drastically changed. Everyone noticed I am not casual, smiling and happy as I used to be. I am rational, so tried everything to convince myself to keep on living my life as nothing has changed. I really can’t.

What hurts most is that I will have to live with this forever, and can’t even imagine what will happen to hair in the future… They will get worse, for sure. I know I mustn’t let this ruin my life, but my self-confidence is down, I am thinking about crazy things such as splitting up with my boyfriend, so he can find a pretty girl, which is nonsense because our relationship is wonderful. Sometimes I think about wedding dress and how gross will I look, or feeding a baby with a hairy breast… Really can’t deal with this.

Sometimes, I think it is not so bad and I will not let it get me down, but in a few hours I am depressed again. Electrolysis is not an option, I will never be able to find a good person and never be able to afford treating the whole body, and it will look funny if there is no hair just in one place, and others are bush…

Sorry for writing too much, but I really needed to tell this to someone.

#40

How old are you? Have you seen an endocrinologist to determine the reason for the growth?

Have you had changes in hormones lately such as pregnancy? Changes in eating habits?

There are usually reasons for the growth.

Why is electrolysis not an option?

Some hair on all those areas are pretty normal for women to have, it’s just not something that’s talked about or featured on magazines. Some women’s hair is just darker and more noticeable than others’.