*Sigh* my neck still looks like hell

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#41

I hope so, too. It’s an expense on top of an expense to travel. It’s a major effort on top of a major effort, as well. You will need several sessions over 9-18 months, so it is smart to find someone close to home. Just know that there are many electrologists that can fulfill your goal to be hairfree. We are not all the same in our approach, skill, personalities, and equipment, but we all can most likely get you from hairy to smooth. Give all you try a decent chance to prove them self. Communicate with them! Tell this new person about your concerns before you start.

You can use Vaniqa with any hair removal method you are currently using. It is used a lot with laser clients, so I have heard. It is expensive and you have to apply it twice a day. It takes several weeks to kick in and once you stop, the hair is back to it’s original glory. It is mainly for fine hair, not thick hair.

Good luck CHEWY!

#42

sigh Well, it is 3:50 A.M.and like every typical night for the past couple of months, I can’t sleep because this whole issue has been sending me into mini-panic attacks and then I spend about half of the night crying. It sounds pathetic, I know.

The discoloration is still there and slowly fading, but the next major problem is all of the dark, coarse, hair. It is so disgusting and it is sending me into a deep depression.

I’m going to attempt to make an appointment with my primary doctor today and show him just how ridiculous this hair growth is. Even though I’ve had about 5 months of electrolysis done, it feels like I’ve had none, but my hormones have been messed up. I fear going in there and having him tell me I don’t have anything wrong with me when clearly… this is not normal.

Plus, I have my first appointment with a new electrologist on Tuesday. I only made the appointment for 20 minutes even though I could use a good hour and a half to clear this disgusting mess from my face. I’m also having panic attacks about the appointment, because I’m not sure if it is too soon to continue with electrolysis again or if I should wait for some of the pigmentation to clear? My skin has been very sensitive. I’m afraid of letting anyone near me with a needle, yet I feel as though I have no other choice unless I want to live with a beard. Everything is just so frustrating! Sorry everyone, I had to vent, because everything has been getting me down lately. I hope there is a time in life where I can look back and this will be a distant memory and I won’t have to deal with all of this crap!

#43

If it has been a couple months since your last unsuccessful treatment, you should be just fine having mroe treatment. I know it seems counterintuitive, but this next treatment will help clear the PIH (post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation). Why, you ask? So glad you did! (Did you?)

Stirring up a new session of inflammation will cause a nice proliferation of “angry” stimulated macrophages. These “eating cells” go to work on everything in the wound site — including the lingering packets of pigment (melanin). For your next treatment, I would be conservative, but still try to “get it revved up again.” Indeed, in every patient that developed PIH I have seen this phenomenon in 100% of them — again: the next treatment will help clear the “brown spots,” not make it worse.

It would be awesome if you could photo-document this phenomenon for us at Hairtell. Photograph the PIH before the treatment, and then 3 to 4 weeks after. It should be pretty amazing. BTW, if you ask your doctor about continuing treatment, he will tell you to leave it alone. Good idea, but he has not seen what I have for all these years. Chewy … you will be fine, now get some sleep!

#44

It does seem odd that more treatment can help clear the PIH. I’m still scared about tomorrow, but I hope you are right, Michael. I will keep everyone posted on my journey and hopefully I don’t get someone who goes crazy with the needle.

I also just came back from my doctors appointment today. I showed him the area and voiced my concerns about the increase in hair growth as well as the pigmentation and ingrown hairs I’ve been getting. I had all of my hormones tested about a year ago, which came back within the normal range, but I’ve been suspected to have PCOS. My doctor referred me to a dermatologist and stated he would fax over the information on my hormone tests. My next question is… do dermatologist typically treat hirsutism cases? I suspect that the solution they are going to throw at me is to get laser hair removal again, which only created a worse problem in the end.

#45

Sounds odd, but it’s also a relief, Michael. I’m having the same problem and my skin is both sensitive, dry and prone to hyperpigmentation anyway.

#46

Actually, I get (got) PIH severely from electrolysis treatment: large brown patches all over my back and shoulders. They are LONG gone and so is the hair (for more than 25 years now). Yes, electrolysis does work!

#47

Any medical doctor can do an evaluation of women with hirsutism if they are so inclined to. There are protocols at www.uptodate.com that any doctor can pull up and follow. Some will just refer you to an endocrinologist and be done with you. Problem is, there are many under served areas where there are not enough endocrinologists to see you. It may take four to six months to get an appointment. It is important to rule out the serious but rare causes of hirsutism, such as tumors that secrete androgens from the ovaries or the adrenal glands, especially if the hair came on suddenly (typically less than a year) or if the hair becomes progressively worse. So, waiting to get an appointment with an endocrinologist may be a wait for some, so in the meantime, a work up could be started. If something of glaring concern shows up, your doctor can advocate for you and get you pushed to the head of the line, sending the tests onward to the endocrinologist peruse.

Any doctor can do a history and physical exam. They can order lab tests for serum androgens, testosterone, DHEA-S, serum prolactin. They can order a pelvic ultrasound. There is so much more to say, but my point is, there are guidelines for evaluating why women may have too much hair so a general practitioner, nurse practitioner, gynecologist, dermatologist can begin the process and refer as necessary. Most women who are hairy are very healthy.

If the dermatologist recommends laser hair reduction, do not be shy. Tell them about your experience. How else are they going to learn that for some people, laser is not going to give them relief?

#48

Michael – I had my first treatment today with the new clinic. I haven’t noticed any changes in the hyperpigmentation yet, but it may be too soon. I will keep everyone updated, though.

Dee – Thanks for the information. I hope that this dermatologist can do something for me. It seems like a lot of these doctors just don’t know how to think outside the box! I had my first appointment today. I wrote a long e-mail to another gal I’ve been communicating with from Michigan about my experience, so I will copy and paste that.

"My experiences with the clinic went well. I was extremely nervous going in, as I didn’t want to worsen my skin situation. When I got there they had a receptionist lady that gave me a bunch of information I had to fill out and then some information about after care, treatment, etc. All three electrologist that are posted on the website were there. I ask the girl that treated me how long she had been doing electrolysis and she said about 20 years. I don’t know the type of machine that they used, as I am not too experienced with the various types and I did not ask. It looked like an older model, though. She used the blend method on me. One thing I liked is when I first got in the room she went over a little bit of my history with me – prior treatments, health conditions, etc. and informed me that she would be able to treat the area, but I would need to get my hormones in balance in order to see the results I would like. The other electrologist I went to never went the extra yard to educate, so I appreciated that.

I voiced my concern about my sensitive skin and hyperpigmentation issues and she looked at the area and said that further treatment shouldn’t aggravate the area and it looked like some of the discoloration was being caused from plucking, shaving, and some of the hairs coming through, which I can agree with. She had one of the other electrologist there look at the area to voice her opinion as well and she agreed and said that the skin discoloration I’m having now will fade with time.

She used a halo magnified lamp with a pretty bright light. I could feel the insertions, but they weren’t bad and she was able to clear a decent amount of hair in the matter of ten minutes. There were a couple of times that it felt like she may have been plucking, but it can be so hard to tell after feeling the needle sensation in the area.

After the treatment, the area was pretty red, which was likely due to my skin being so sensitive. She applied aloe vera gel afterward and within about two hours the area calmed down considerably. As of now, the area does have a little bit of redness, but not bad. It looks pretty close to the way my skin looked before treatment. I haven’t experienced any bumps or scabbing, which is good. I’m just really happy that the area didn’t worsen with more treatment. I think I will continue to go to them for a while to see if I get results. Everyone there seemed friendly and it looked like they had a moderate client load, as I saw a few people going in and out. Unfortunately, I don’t have too much to compare to considering I’ve only been to one other electrologist, but I can say that my post skin reaction has been 100 times better than what it use to be."

#49

Hi Chewbacca.

I have been following your thread. I’m afraid I don’t have any advice to offer but I am really pleased that your experience with the new electrologist seemed positive!

#50

When people who experience hyperpigmentation as a response to tissue trauma come in for aggressive skin care treatments, we ask them to use hydroquinone for a week prior to skin peels (for example). This might be a good option. I think that hydroquinone is often incorrectly described as a lighting cream but it is not a lightning or bleaching cream. Hydroquinone suppresses the melanocytes that are activated in our skin when our skin is stressed. So, no melanocyte activity, no hyperpigmentation. The thing is, once you start using this, you need to use sunblock big time!

#51

Hi Arlene,

I attempted to use an over the counter product with hydroquinone and it ended up burning my skin pretty badly and causing more issues. Everyone reacts to it differently, but I would recommend doing a test spot before applying it all over. My dermatologist prescribed Azelex and stated that it was probably a better solution for the hyperpigmentation because you wouldn’t have to dab it on each spot. She had also stated using any type of bleaching product could cause the risk of bleaching the normal skin areas. I’m not sure how accurate that is, but figured I’d throw my personal experiences and information out there for everyone too!

#52

Your posts about the way the body reacts - even down to our immune system and how it aids healing to further ‘damage’ - is a real education. Thank you. :slight_smile:

#53

Arlene, how would you recommend the use of hydroquinone if you’re having weekly treatments? How long before treatment should you discontinue use of the hydroquinone? Thanks!

#54

The AHA can help too. I know that Neostrata provides glycolic acid cream containing hydroquinone.

Always recommend to my clients using RETIRIDES (0025%). It’s amazing how accelerates healing, although it should be applied with caution to avoid the temporary side effects. Read before applying!!!

Both are recommended by Michael in his book.

#55

Hydroquinone is NOT an exfoliant and I do not know of any contraindications regarding electrolysis.

AHA’s will exfoliate and therefore it is probably not a great idea to use strong concentrations of it while undergoing electrolysis. Once there is no longer any pin-point scabbing, it is okay to use the AHA’s again.

Retin A and its family, makes the skin a bit more sensitive to electrolysis in all aspects but I do not know of any reason to discontinue its use.

#56

Hydroquinone is banned in some European countries, including France and the UK. Be careful if you’re considering buying over-the-counter products. There are a lot of horror stories out there.

#57

Hydroquinone is banned in some countries because it is used to prevent one from developing pigment and therefore it is used to prevent hyperpigmentation.

It was used excessively in countries where lighter skin is thought of as more attractive than darker skin. This is why sunblock is a must.

#58

Update: So it has been a while since I last posted, but that is because nothing new has really advanced with my issue until now.

I took a little vacation and spent a couple of days in Arizona and resorted to shaving as my temporary method. My skin continues to improve little by little but new hair coming through is causing irritation around the follicles and shaving is also irritating some areas. On my days off I try to refrain from shaving as much in order to allow my skin a break and it has helped.

Today I had an appointment with a new dermatologist about my hair issue. At first, I was a bit skeptical because I had looked her name up on google and found a bunch of negative reviews. When I got there I found her staff friendly and she was helpful.

I told her that I had initially had laser hair removal, which made the situation ten times worse. She thought it was strange and said that isn’t usually suppose to happen and asked if I had the procedure done at a doctors office, which I had and it was given by an RN. It still amazes me that all of these places that offer laser hair removal are shocked to hear about laser induced hair growth. You would think they would know about it considering they work with it on a daily basis. Sometimes I wonder if they play dumb.

Anyways, I had told them that I was receiving electrolysis treatments, which they didn’t advise me against, but stated that they may want to try laser on me at a later time and said they may have a different laser than the last place and it might be more effective. Of course I know better, but I kept my mouth shut for the sake of not wanting to cause an argument.

Anyways, I left the office three prescriptions. Vaniqa and two creams to deal with the discoloration and also with some acne I have been getting on my forehead. She insisted I use the Vaniqa for now and to wax for the time being and gave me a number to a local place that does good waxing. I’m continuing with electrolysis for the time being , but I didn’t tell her that. I inquired about spironolactone and she insisted I get the ultrasound of my ovaries to confirm my PCOS before being put on any type of medication. I’m planning on calling tomorrow for that appointment.

Also, tomorrow will be my second appointment with my new electrolysis and I booked for a full hour so I will be back to update everyone on how that goes.

#59

I am convinced that most dermatologists don’t know anything about electrolysis. The prescription pad is the best they can do for their hirsute patients. I just finished a young lady tonight that told me that was the solution her derm used for her when she complained about coarse hair on her face. Vaniqa and spiro. They did not ease her hair problems. She has already had three clearances with me and is super psyched! She will get permanent hair removal because I always win (Charlie Sheen is my cousin).

#60

Haha, Dee Sheen to the rescue! Yeah, that is the third person who I’ve mentioned about my laser induced hair growth to that does laser in their office. All of them have looked at me oddly and at the end of the appointment suggested laser and stated that their equipment may be different and may do the job differently. I think they should teach that in laser school! It is very unfair to the patient, although beneficial for their pocketbook!

My experiences with all of these damn products and procedures have left me skeptical about electrolysis, but seeing some success stories on here has kept me going! I will be happy if I get to the point where I have to go for maintenance treatments for the rest of my life as long I’m seeing LESS hair from the procedure over time. And as long as it isn’t in a schedule that is too draining to the pocketbook. I’ve come to terms that I have a hormonal problem (although my numbers do not show it!). The proof is in the hairs on my chest that have continued to sprout up over the past couple of years.

I went to the pharmacy today to fill my script for the vaniqa, which the insurance doesn’t cover, which I think is utter bullcrap. They had to order it, so it will be a while until I start that. Eighty bucks for one tube and I’m not sure how big that tube is or how long it will last me. I’ve read that for some people it can last them a couple of months, which would be awesome! I doubt at that price it will be anything I use long term, but I would like to see if it works in the next couple of months while I wait to be able to be put on other medication. It is nice to be aware of what options work and what doesn’t. If I ever decide I want to try and become pregnant I am going to have to come off of the medication and find ways to deal with the hair growth. Then again, I’m not sure if vaniqa can be used while your pregnant anyways?

Anyways, curious question: I know that areas of the face can be challenging to treat, considering they are very hormonally sensitive areas. How is it treating other areas of the body with a person with PCOS?