I apologize for the length of this post, but I want to share my experiences to try to help others. Two other lovely ladies from this forum have emailed me regularly and we felt it would be nice to share our experiences so other consumers have a realistic account of electrolysis. Between the three of us we have had many hours and experience. All of us can say that electrolysis is not what it is cracked up to be and often electrologists are leading you down the wrong path. I recently tried a clinic that did not leave me with scabs, as I know that scarring and skin damage occurs frequently from electrolysis. Well, low and behold, here I am 6 months later and my once fine, black, longer hair is growing in darker than ever and coarse. I have been paying a lot of money to be tweezed. One a side note, I have had every blood test and there are no hormone imbalances, I have been to dermatologists for recommendations of good electrologists. Also, the three of us have followed every recommendation for finding someone good and for aftercare as recommended by this site and after many hard earned dollars spent and endless hours of trying to find someone good, none of us are satisfied. It seems as though you end up tweezed or scabbed, or worse yet scarred or possibly pitted. It has been a bad experience for each of us and we want others to be aware of real experiences. I wish others would have warned me before I began this long, tiring process. I finally talked to an electrologist with over 30 years of experience and she was the most honest person I met. She told me and showed me an article that indicated that you always get scar tissue from electrolysis by nature of the process and that the hope is that it is imperceptible. Huh, that is horrible to me. She also said that the damage takes time to appear, from 6-18 months so there is no way to know if you are being scarred until it is too late. I went to another consultation where this woman bragged about how great electrolysis was and how she treated her own legs and arms, you should have seen the scars and damage. She admitted, well, “I have some pits from the heat of thermolysis but no hair”. Not the best trade off, huh? All three of us have been a great support to each other, but we just wanted to help others to hear the story and then decide for yourself if electrolysis is for you. You need to consider the possbible life-long damage and potential years of frustration. This is not to offend anyone but rather to help somebody, looking at it from our/the consumers perspective. If others disagree, that is your right, but honestly, unless there is this miracle electrologist out there (believe me between the 3 of us, we have had consults from over 35) be careful. Personally, we would love to see a good electrologist with a proven track record and satisfied consumers, looking like they did before treatment. We would love to hear of this person. Good luck to all in your journey. We will soon be setting up a small web site to try and help others going through this. Also, don’t be afraid to report a bad electrologist if your state has licensing, sometimes it is the only way to stop bad treatment to others. The last electrologist I went to told me she is aware of one electrologist that is being sued for the scarring she caused. All things aside, I must say, this is a great web site for consumers to share experiences and help each other out.
I’m really sorry to hear about you experience. Nightmare. I read in one of your posts that you have dark hair and “porcelain” skin. Is their a reason you did not get Laser treatments? Obviously there is no needle going into your skin, and so many of the females on this Forum seem happy with the Laser treatments they are getting on their face.
Would it be possible for the three of you to submit quality pictures to this hair site so we can see your damage? Between the three of you, having had many hours of electrolysis, not to mention the $$$$$ spent, it would be very helpful for us to see your skin to understand what you describe as horrible. Out of 35 electrologists between the three of you that were consulted and gave treatment, not even one could satisfy your expectations about electrolysis outcome? Perhaps, your other friends could speak for themselves and join the discussion.
If any of you are candidates for laser, maybe you should give that your consideration,like redhead kindly suggested.
Hi,
I applaude you diligence in finding a good electrologist. But if you say that you’ve followed every suggestion, how in the world have you allowed yourself to be tweezed? Isn’t this a number one thing to watch out for?
From your share of 10-15 electrologists you’ve gone to, how many actually were involved in treating you long term? Probably very few (maybe even one or two). As can be seen from your post, you’ve been warned that it’s a forest out there, and obviously you landed on the wrong person. It could have been helpful to you if you had posted here about your experiences as you went along.
About scarring: I would be interested to see the article (and sourse). But I know for a fact that having good treatment, there will be no visible long term side effect. That lady’s “honesty” makes me suspect that she knows that she is bad and she wants your consent for doing bad work on you without you complaining later. I may be wrong, but having 30 years experience she shouldn’t have had cases of scarring. If she had, and she’s promising the same to you to protect herself, then she is bad. And surely having many years of experience doing bad work does not count for much. That’s why looking for 20, 30, or 50 years of experience is not one of the criteria for finding a good electrologist. By the way, light scabbing does not mean bad treatment. It can be the result of older equipment, which left people hair free and skin damage free for many decades.
About laser: The advantage of laser is not how thorough it will clear your skin, but it is rather speed of clearance. So even if you have very dark coarse hair and very light skin, and you can clear your face in a couple of hours of electrolysis, I see really no point in trying laser for you.
[ July 15, 2004, 12:41 PM: Message edited by: yb ]
There is a point where an electrologist attempts to explain things without being too technical and in that attempt leaves a person with the wrong idea. It is a sure way to know just enough to have the wrong idea.
Electrolysis always causes scarring in the same way Lasic Eye Surgery always burns your corneas. Although Galvanic and Blend utilize a natural chemical process, and Thermolysis applies heat energy via the vibratory properties of the FM frequency, the end result is the body sealing off the follicle walls, and shutting off the link to the blood supply, thus making hair growth in that follicle impossible in the future. LASER attempts to apply this heat to many follicles simultaneously over a large area.
Good electrolysis creates “scar tissue” in the lower layers of the skin while not touching the upper layers. Bad electrolysis allows the natural scar tissue formed in electrology to extend to the upper layers, and the worst of electrology leaves the upper layer marked, discolored, and even pitted. This is why most good electrologists won’t think of doing work on themselves.
She may have been honest, but you did not get the best understanding of what was supposed to be learned about what it is we propose to do in electrology.
I have lots of happy clients. Some have alabaster skin that would show the slightest slip up. Perhaps some of them will post pics, but I can not. That is up to them to do if it is to be done.
Of course, most people here have seen Tina Marie’s pics, and she did not experience any scarring from my work, and the pics on her site show a 3 year span of time. For those who are of a mind to do so, if you right click on the pics, and save them to your computer, and then maximize them, you will see the follicles up close. The pics are very high resolution and will show you high detail.
There are good electrologists out there, and many happy former clients who send their mothers, sisters, brothers and friends to get the same work done.
Keep up the sharing.
Just wanted to respond. YB, I did not knowingly allow myself to be tweezed, I researched on this forum and elsewhere and there were different opinions on tweezing vs a “tug” between everything I read and research, and what my electrologist was telling me, it was supposedly normal to feel a tug. Obviously not, you should feel nothing when the hair is removed. I have learned this the hard way. ALso, I did not go to the lady that said scarring always occurs, she just gave me a consult. She had great, new equipment and spectacular eye equipment, it almost looked like what a surgeon may wear. Anyway, I would never have laser done, if you really read the research and talk to people that have had it done, it is not ever permanent and the in between phases of growth are horrible with the danger of stimulating additional follicles. I do not have the equipment to post pictures, but when we establish our web site, we hope to include these. I don’t mean to sound sarcastic, but I noticed that all but one response, swearing to the ability to provide electrolysis without scarring or long healing times, are from electrologists, who stand to support their livelihood (not that I blame you). But interestingly no consumer posted anything that contradicted what I said from their own wonderful experiences. Kinda proves my point. I just hope others are educated and aware of the reality and not given skewed and candy-coated accounts. I would love to see people treated with success with no skin marks/scars or scabbing or tweezing. I personally would be thrilled and get treatment from that person myself. This is a long road and a discouraging one for many. I have encouraged the other ladies to add their experiences to help others. Again, I wish others knowledge and luck and thanks for the web site, consumers of this service need some advocacy.
What part of your body are these scars occuring and how noticable are they? As an example if you had all your underarm hair removed and then lifed your arm, would people stare and ask how you got those scar or would we need a magnifying glass.The face may be different.but I can’t imagine that it would be a problem in most other areas.
Without quality pictures to see the damage all of you have incurred from electrolysis, I guess we all just have to take you at your word for now. In turn, is it fair enough to ask all of you to take James and YB’s word about their accomplishments even though they are electrologists?
I’ll make a note to keep an eye open for your new website that will contain pictures of your skin damage. Will you have something up in the next month? Please post here on hairtell so we may know where we can find you.
If it would mean anything to you, I could contact at least a dozen of my clients (more if you like, but not more than 35) to post here on hairtell who have been finished for quite awhile and have verbally told me they are very glad they ‘did it’. I ask your permission because, as an electrologist, I don’t want to be accused of molding clients to come on here to make candy-coated, skewed comments to counter what you have observed. So I’m being up front, hands on the table with you and your other two friends. It will take my precious little time, but I’d be happy to do this.
On the other side things, I will say, there isn’t an electrologist dead or alive that will tell you that they have never encountered an unhappy client. We all have had our own episodes where a client has voiced a disatisfaction about a treatment. Sometimes it is warranted, sometimes it is not warranted. We take our punches like any other business person would when dealing with the public. Just ask anyone who works in a Customer Service department how difficult and accusingly unfair some people can be. I would say that 99% of my clients are just wonderful to work with. They follow pre and post electrolysis instructions, they show up on time and on a regular schedule. We’re a great team together and because of this, success happens.
Are the three of you truly scarred or are you just in fear of being scarred by electrolysis?
Again, I’ll be looking for the pictures on your new website. Do you know when it will be up and running???
Dee
Hi Annieme,
I am so sorry to hear about the ordeal you and your friends are having (had?). As a consumer, I know the deal from your side of the fence—the frustration with the hair, the blind trust you have to place in a total stranger to stick needles into your face and zap electricity to the most delicate places!, the money it costs, the fear of this being a huge mistake. But one of your comments made me want to post:
</font><blockquote><font size=“1” face=“Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif”>quote:</font><hr /><font size=“2” face=“Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif”>But interestingly no consumer posted anything that contradicted what I said from their own wonderful experiences. Kinda proves my point. </font><hr /></blockquote><font size=“2” face=“Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif”>I wouldn’t say that the fact that none of us consumers posted proves your point that electrolysis doesn’t work or is always a terrible ordeal. I’ve had mostly good days so far, some bad. But I can see progress. Most people on this site are in treatment, so they don’t know yet how it will turn out. People who are “done and happy” never think about this anymore and stop logging on. A friend and a coworker had electrolysis with no scarring. Also, my electrologist had it done to her face and I see no pits or scars there, so some people get a successful outcome. The rest of us follow them into the treatment rooms, hoping for the same. Unfortunately, every person’s hairs, body reactions, and experiences—and the skills of their electrologists—are different.
If electrolysis really was so horrible for everyone, there is no way so many electrologists would exist. After so many decades, word would have gotten around that it didn’t work.
I think any procedure that alters the body’s function is necessarily damaging the body on some level, like Lasik. Chemical peels and microdermabrasion damages the skin and some people are left looking so horrible they can’t leave the house. If a procedure works for most people, that means that some people have to be the ones who didn’t have a good experience. Too bad none of us knows which one we’ll be before we get on a treatment table.
What really stinks about electrolysis is that it is so unregulated that I feel like I can’t even trust my own electrologist’s advice that something is “normal” unless I come back here and have her comments confirmed by various other people on this board. That is just wrong. (A little break here to give a shout out to everyone here who volunteers their time to help–pros and consumers alike.)
Again, I am sorry to hear about your experience. Have you decided how to resolve your hair problem? We’re all here to learn and help, so let us know if we can help.
susie
Quote. “I have had every blood test and there are no hormone imbalances.” Just because you have no imbalance, does not mean that your hormones are not causing your hair growth. hormones cause hair growth. Your hair follicules could be just sensitive to whatever androgens are running through your body via the blood. Just like some people are sensitive to the sun or foods. Some people have hair folliucles that grow hair without any imbalance. Hopefully in your consultation at least one of the electrologists explained other factors that may contribute to hair growth. They include: stress, overweight, medications, heredity, ethenticity, menopause, pregnancy and puberty. While in electrolysis treatment new hair that is hormonally induced can continue to appear. Hair cycle information elesewhere on this site explains why hair continues to appear. I too have had blood tests and there was no imbalance. Electroloysis has permanently cleared the areas of my concern which included upper lip, chin, eyebrows, abdomen, arms and breasts without a single scab, white pustule or scar. My first treatment was 35 years ago. Now close to 60 years old, scattered chin hairs occassionally need treatment. Electrolysis has been permanently removing hair for over 125 years. Those who have had success do not frequent this board. I look forward to your photos.
I just wanted to respond to some of the posts. First of all, there is definite scars that can been seen from a “converstional distance”, however, I feel this is a silly measure, after all there should be no scars even if you are up close and personal/intimate with someone. It seems that this supports the fact that scarring does occur, whether looking at it with a microscope or not. I apologize if I am wrong, but this is how i interpreted what you said Barrester. Also both a regular doctor and dermatologist confirm the presence of the scar tissue, definitely there, I wish it was only a fear of scarring, then I would have greater faith in the process. The 3 of us would absolutely love to have some of your patients post here that are “happy they did it” and are not scarred or or scabbed or damaged that would be a great support. That would be very sweet and kind of you. Believe me, the three of us would sail the seven seas to have a good electro that did not scar or damage the skin in anyway. It would also help us when we set up our web site. Hairsgone, I am very curious where/with whom you received your treatment from, not a single scab? Unheard of. James, I am curious, you said you treated alabaster skin with absolutely no damage, is there a special method/needle/machine you used to obtain this result, something that could be educated to an electrologist or for consumers to look for. Again, I appreciate everyone’s feed back, we just want others to be realistic and know that skin damage is a frequent occurrence and prevention is the only means to deal, so we intend to help others avoid the pit falls (no pun intended). We are setting up a tag team to find someone good, these ladies are persistent (they seem to have more faith than me), I will say that. Also, thanks suzie for positng as a consumer, but I have never heard of someone not leaving the house after having microdermabrasion and I do recall you voice quite a few concerns. Thanks again, I value the input and it will be helpful as things get rolling with our web site.
On the area I am currently treating with electrolysis, I have little scabs that last about 2-3 days, and redness for longer. This has happened with the other 3 Electrologists I saw before this one. I have confirmed similar reactions with other people on this Forum. I have not gotten any scarring, however.
</font><blockquote><font size=“1” face=“Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif”>quote:</font><hr /><font size=“2” face=“Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif”>Also, thanks suzie for positng as a consumer, but I have never heard of someone not leaving the house after having microdermabrasion and I do recall you voice quite a few concerns. </font><hr /></blockquote><font size=“2” face=“Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif”>Yes, I post when my skin reaction after a treatment is unlike anything I’ve seen so far, but I don’t want to leave the impression that I have scars or pits or something. My skin has always eventually healed, so I don’t see any permanent damage so far. As I posted above, I know of 3 people who look good after being done with their electrolysis, and I hope I’m following in their footsteps.
As far as microdermabrasion, it can cause redness which can last up to 24 hours, sometimes longer depending on the patient’s skin. I hope you can find a way to deal with your hair that works best for you and your skin.
susie
In a previous post in this string I said that I had worked on alabaster skin with no scarring, and that everything heals up to look as if there never was a problem. It occurs to me that one such person is a poster on this site, and has posted on her experience. Although I can not give you any pictures of this person (Only that client can choose to do that) it occurs to me that I can give you a link to her posting here.
Smooth White Skin So Fair
Sorry about the change in the web site burning some of the old links. But here is a new link to Tina Marie’s latest update. She is not the client I was talking about in this post, but she does show what a person with between 250 and 300 hours of thermolysis from ear, to ear, and all down the neck and into the hair line can look like when she is finished.
http://www.geocities.com/tm1298/Bonus_Photos.html?1128876631830