*Sigh* my neck still looks like hell

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#121

Hi chewie,

I saw you read what James posted in another thread about insertions, which I’m glad because I was going to quote that here for you.

Now, your electrologist is right for wanting to treat at effective settings but still, I believe it is possible to treat at effective settings without this sort of reaction. Now here is the problem, maybe this electrologist cannot do it. I’m going to guess she is using thermolysis? If so, does she have the ability to use blend? If I were an electrologist with a basic multi functional machine and I could not get the hairs out with thermolysis without causing this kind of reaction, I’d go for blend, especially if the hairs are thick and deeply rooted. It will have its own reaction of swelling, redness, maybe whiteheads but I don’t believe it would be as bad as this or last as long. Again, it depends on the electrologist though.

If this electrologist has no other avenue to try other than what she started with, then my suggestion is that you need to keep looking for someone who has the ability (because of their tech or otherwise) to do the work without leaving you looking like this.
If you want to stay with her, you can suggest the Laurer IBP to her. You can show her the info on how it works and some of the testimonials e.g. Caith’s. Explain that you understand that higher settings are required to get the hairs out and you believe that this probe can allow her to do that with less reaction. You can offer to buy them if she’s willing to give them a try.

I know no one likes to be told how to do their job. However, I think, if there is room for improvement one should be open to it. Caith’s electrologist was not offended by the suggestion.

#122

Hey stoppit! My electrologist only uses thermolysis, as she states that from personal experience she has not found any other method to work as well. I’ve heard another electrologist make the same statement before and I wonder why? I suppose every electrologist has their own thoughts and opinions or maybe they are able to effectively use the other methods as well? I’m unsure. I doubt this electrologist would be too willing to try anything new such as changing her probe, as she seems a bit stuck in her ways, but I will give it a shot. I’m considering trying yet another electrologist which is quite a bit further away from home. I will probably try my best to work with the one I’ve been seeing that I closer to home, but I would like to shop around and see what else is out there. Thank you for the advice! I will keep everyone updated!

#123

Alright, so it has been a while since I’ve posted. Since the last time, I’ve had two more electrolysis treatments and had her clear the whole area. I’m currently still going to the same electrologist that left me with a bunch of scabs on my face. The treatments are a bit better in the sense that I’m getting fewer scabs, but on the downside I’m left with more bumpy redness. I’ve been trying tea tree oil and aloe vera gel as Dee suggested. My skin didn’t tolerate this well the first couple of times, but I’ve learned to use less and after a while my skin has gotten a bit used to it and I do think it helps for aftercare.

Overall, my skin does look pretty bad and not currently presentable to the public. I just had a treatment today about two hours ago and I’m a bumpy mess. It is quite overwhelming and over the course of the past couple of weeks I’ve pretty much locked myself in my room and sulked while the rest of the world was living. It sounds pathetic, but this whole process can turn a person into an emotional roller-coaster ride. How badly I want my life and confidence back.

On a little more positive note, the sides of my face do look a little bit better hair wise. It appears less and thinner, but I almost hate to admit that too early into the game. I don’t want to give anyone else or myself false hope. I will be more eager to express excitement the day I can go a full month without needing treatment… if that is ever possible for me.

As far as concerns, I don’t enjoy that sometimes my electrologist needs to zap a hair up to 4-5 times to treat it and even then it is hard to tell if I’m feeling more of a tug or a pluck. Every once in a while I can definitely tell it is a pluck and other times it feels like maybe more of a tug. It actually feels like that on most hairs. My second concern is the big bumpy reaction I get that lasts days. The bumps usually last a good three days and the color is close to faded by the time my next appointment arrives. That means no uplifting days for me, which sucks, but I hope things get better.

Additional news: I have made yet another appointment with a different electrologist. This one is located further from home (about an hour and a half), but was recommended by someone who has had success with her before. I hope all goes well at this new appointment. It is encouraging to hear that someone else has had success with this one, but I’m not going to get too excited until I can judge for myself. Either way, I will keep everyone updated on this long, fun-filled journey!

#124

Hello Chewbacca

I hope your appointment goes well at the next electrologist. It’ll be worth the long drive if she’s good. I’ve seen 3 electrologists and there is a difference between all of them. With one, I could feel the hair being removed - i’m guessing it must have been plucking, but as you said, sometimes its hard to tell if its a tug or pluck. My reaction was great afterwards - hardly any reddness. The next one, I could feel about 50% being tugged/plucked and my reaction was a little redder. However, with my current electrologist I don’t feel a single hair being removed. The process does seem to be a little more painful than the others and I’m a even redder - but this fades in a few hours, leaving me a bit pink the next day by fine by the second day. When I first started with her though, for half an hour a week, my skin took a week to heel. Its been over 6 months now. I’m still going once a week but for 15 min now. The black, coarse hairs do seem to be fewer and finer. I just thought I’d share this with you. Its a long process but hopefully well worth it in the end! I can see a difference in my hair but I won’t truly believe an end is insight until I can get my appointments down to 15min once a fortnight - I hope I’ll be there by month 8! Fingers crossed! I’m glad your next electrologist has been recommended to you. That should give you some hope. I have not been able to find any reviews of recommendations for mine, so I’m just hoping she’s as good as she seems to be. I’ll look forward to reading your next update.

#125

Marigold - I have also been to three electrologist total and I can agree that each one is very different. It just makes it all the harder to determine what is normal. I’ve watched some electrolysis videos on youtube and based on how I see it being performed, I often wonder why some of us are left with such horrific skin reactions. Unless, those videos are fake representations. I don’t know.

It sounds like you have made quite a bit of progress! Did you say you are on month 6? I hope things continue to get better for you and I pray for the day that the both of us can forget about these weekly appointments!

#126

To what end, someone would represent a farce? All the videos I found on YouTube showing a genuine Electrolysis. Different techniques with their advantages and disadvantages, but all of them valid. In almost all videos hair glides without resistance and this can not be falsified. The spread of these videos is important because it helps tell the difference between a good treatment and one that is not.

#127

Jossie’s are not fake . It is possible to get a large block of electrolysis done and not have a horrific skin reaction. She documents her work and I back her up on this because I can deliver the same thing to my clients, as can many other skilled electrologists around the world. We need more electrologists that can do this, granted! So many hairy people…!

#128

Jossie has videos? Or are you talking about the pictures posted? I’m not saying the youtube videos are fake, but when I watch them it makes me feel like they are because I’ve been to three electrologist and I’ve always come out looking like I’ve been attacked by a dozen bees. It is just hard to fathom that a treatment can go as smoothly as it looks on those videos. And after watching them, it is even harder to understand how some of these electrologist can make us come out looking like a riddled mess! It has been almost day two and the bumps have died down a bit, but there is hyperpigmentation galore. I’m also concerned how safe it is to continue going each week to add to that issue? It is rather embarrassing!

#129

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEUcJkKlhos (Our James (5 stars))

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8vFZZpkdNQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DY-UfCE-uE (Wow!!, Doris Becker is really very, very fast)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvP2PGHuB10 (My dear friend Francisca from Lorca (Murcia))

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAqCjmRcnXg&feature=related (and I)

#130

Great video’s, thanks Josefa!

Heee! I heard James’ voice for the first time.

chewie - My regular electrologist in London and the two others I have tried have all been 1.5-2 hrs distance from my house. You really have to get out there. I also think you should find someone who uses blend (if you cannot find someone who uses the thermolysis modes like Dee and Josefa) and give that a go.

And even then, although the work was fine in terms of skin reaction, I did not feel we were getting value for money in terms of hair removal. So now my sister flew 2hrs to Josefa in May and we hope to go again in a few months, with me joining her.

It’s not easy, but when you find the right electrologist, everything falls into place.

#131

Jossie – Those are much better than most of the videos I found myself on youtube. I did see the second one and that was the video that got me wondering why so many of us are left with such bad skin reactions, as it doesn’t look like the process should be all that damaging to the skin. These videos are amazing and I think they should be posted as a main sticky thread post for others to view. The interviews with James’ clients were great to watch. I enjoyed watching the video of the client Amber who was born intersexed. I remember seeing a before and after picture of this client on his website and in the up close shots in the video I noticed her skin actually appeared smoother in the areas that were treated versus the areas that weren’t treated. I wish that were the case for me! Makes me so jealous! There has got to be someone in this state that can do better work.

Stoppit – I’m still on my search. I’ve made an appointment with someone an hour and a half away. I complain mostly because money can become an issue at times and this is a weekly dedication at the moment. I would love to get on a plane a fly to someone who does a good job on a biweekly basis if I could, but that just doesn’t look like it could happen, lol. I have the appointment with the new person in two weeks. From what I know, they were able to clear a male client with a beard in a span of a little over two years with no scarring (told to me by the client). So hopefully this works out. I’m crossing my fingers.

#132

Hi chewy, I’m not saying you should have to get on a plane. I just wanted to point out that you may have to look further afield for a good electrologist. Also, in that case, you shouldn’t have to go so often, providing you can let a good amount of the hair come through and keep trimming it for a few weeks.

Seeing Josefa once every three months seems to be fine, as long as the client can deal with the hair in between.

If an electrologist was a few hrs drive away, I’d go once a month or something.

#133

Stoppit – I know you didn’t intend to say I should get on a plane. I just wish I had the money to do something like that to assure that I was going to someone who knows what they are doing. I have a decent amount of options within a two hour driving distance, but it seems like such a hard search, which it really shouldn’t have to be. Once a month or every couple of months is not much of an option for me right now, because I know I wouldn’t be able to resist the urge to pluck. Blah! Okie, enough of my moping and ranting for the day!

#134

Man, the thoughts that were going through my head as I watched the different approaches to electrolysis. If I get a moment’s peace tomorrow, I may come back and share my observations. No wonder consumers have a lot of questions about electrolysis care. Long live hairtell.

Great job putting those links together, Miss Jossie.

#135

Hi chewbacca,
Could you tell me the names of the places you have been and the new one you were recommended to go to? I am in SE michigan too. Thanks!

#136

Alright, so it has been a while since I have updated. I had given my skin a two week break that was much needed. It definitely helped and some of the spots lightened up a bit more, but I’m afraid I would need a much longer break in order to see the desired improvement, which I can’t yet aim for because two weeks left me with a lot of hair that needed to be treated.

Since I last posted, I’ve went to a new electrologist twice that was recommended by someone that had cleared a whole male beard in a two year time span. Knowing that another person was successful with her treatments gave me a bit more hope, but there is one thing that bothered me that I will get to shortly.

The pros: very clean office setup and clean with her work. Has taken a concern with how my skin reacts and tries to aim for lower settings and is careful with her work (unfortunately, I’m still left with redness and bumps that last for a couple of days), she uses the Apilus machine (finally found someone with newer equipment! Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean good treatment). Each hair that was treated didn’t feel like they were being plucked at all and very rarely did she have to reinsert the needle to retreat it. Reasonable pricing and also offers samples of tend skin in her office.

The cons: Distance is problematic because I’m driving about an hour and a half again. It could be worse, but I’m hoping that for as much that I’m paying out in gas and treatments that I’m actually getting effective treatments. The next major thing that bothered me is that she doesn’t use any type of magnification. I’m wondering how effective my treatments are going to be with someone who doesn’t use anything?! I mean, I don’t feel any plucking, which is good, but there are some finer hairs left behind. I really hope I’m not wasting my money…

#137

No magnification? Perhaps she is wearing magnification glasses that you don’t recognize as magnification???

Walking in my office, you would not notice mine…

#138

Well, she wears glasses, but they look like your typical everyday glasses and she doesn’t put them on or take them off after each session. So I’m assuming they are her normal everyday glasses.

#139

Updating everyone on my journey. I took a three week break from treatments to give my skin a break, but I could have at least used one somewhere in the mix. On the plus side, my skin was starting to look somewhat normal and that built confidence. On the downside, there was a ton of hair as usual. I went back for a treatment today for my usual 40 minutes. Skin reaction still the same, which is depressing, because I know it is going to take a while to get it looking normal again, which is why I scheduled an appointment for another three weeks from now. I’m not sure if that is a good or bad thing to do, considering it may get me a little behind. On the other hand, I don’t see significant progress being made with as many hours as I’ve logged in over the past year. Sometime next month will be my year marking point, minus the three month break I took. I’m still going at it, but I have to admit that I’ve been pretty depressed with the results. It sucks putting the time, energy, and money into something and coming out exhausted and hopeless in the end. I’ve been going on a pretty regular basis and the whole area has been cleared with each treatment. I would have thought to be much further into the game at this point.

#140

Can you remind us of the frequency and duration of sessions at the beginning, compared to now. Is regrowth very straight and finer?