Starting electrolysis advice please?

After reading this forum I decided to try electrolysis as I got tired of plucking the hair on my chin for half an hour every morning, and I realized that my embarrassment about the hair was holding me back in life. So I stopped tweezing about 3 weeks ago and have been shaving ever since. A lot of hairs have grown in and I realize now that parts of my chin are covered in thick, coarse dark hairs like the pics of women with PCOS here. However, the areas are small. Combined maybe it would be the size of 1 and a half quarters. I also want to remove hairs from a mole and maybe from my upper lip, but I want to wait to see how it goes with my chin first because I don’t want to have scars where everyone can see. I have an appointment this Friday. Hopefully the electrologist is good. She has good reviews online and she told me she does microflash. I have some questions though I hope somebody can help me with.
–How much do you think it will end up costing to remove the hair from these places? Just an idea would be appreciated.
–Do I need to do anything special since I’m on Retin-A Micro?
–Is it ok to exercise Saturday morning if I do electrolysis Friday evening?
–How can I decide whether or not it’s safe to let this electrologist do my upper lip? It’s really important to me not to scar where everyone can see.

Thanks so much for any advice. This forum has been really helpful.

I’m curious about your screen name, candela. Have you tried laser for your chin with Candela’s GentleLASE? I’m not recommending laser for your chin, but wondered about your chosen screen name.

Electrolysis is a good choice for your facial hair no matter where it may be, lip, chin, sides, neck area. A medical check would be helpful to see what is causing this hair. If you have other symptoms that may relate to PCOS, then that will have to be dealt with. All this hair may be natural genetic happening. You just don’t know until you get evaluated.

Get consults from several electrologists. Ask them about the Retin-A. I work on clients who use Retin-A, but I am very careful with the intensity and always use insulated probes and observe the skin closely. I have never had any problems, but other electrologists may feel uncomfortable working on you. Respect them for that.

Cost depends on too many variables and it helps if one can see you close up to even make a very general guess. In my own practice for what I can do and for what I charge, I’m guessing that you might plan on going into this thinking in the $2,000 range, give or take, paying as you go for about a year to 18 months?? I only say this in very general terms based on my own experience and just to give you the idea that we are not talking $10,000 or $20,000 here. So, don’t hold me to this because I’m relating this to what I can do with the modality and tools I work with, only imagining what your facial hair looks like.

It is best to commence exercising about 24 hours after a treatment. Forty-eight hours would be even better. If you do it sooner, then see how you heal. Maybe this won’t bother you, so just experiment a little. Do keep the area clean and use that witch hazel, aloe vera right after (and tea tree oil at bedtime).

Have your electrologist do short appointments until you can see what kind of work she does, then you will have the confidence to start your lip. Most importantly, temporary skin manifestations do NOT EQUAL SCARRING!!! Expect your skin to react in some form as we are destroying tissue that helps hair to grow. You don’t want scabbing on your face that is noticable to everyone, but if you get a few pin size scabs, you will still be fine. Scarring is very rare when you go to a professional electrologist who is highly skilled. You discover that by getting short treatments to see how it feels and heals and above all else by reading the electrolysis section at www.hairfacts.com . Do read as much as you can on this electrolysis forum. You will then know if you have a found the best. Ask your friends, relatives, co-workers if they have ever had electrolysis. See if you get some recommendations. Use your gut instincts. You do need to have a little faith and trust in the person you choose, but above all you need to go into this informed. It will all come together if you study and take notes and use your critical thinking talents.

Good luck, but work hard to make an informed decision. Not all electrologists are the same. There are many that know exactly what to do and then there are some that should retire.

Dee

Thanks so much for your advice Dee. I have learned a lot from reading your posts.

I had a 45 minute session on Friday evening, and I think the electrologist is good. She got rid of all the coarse dark hairs using blend I think. I was so happy to get rid of them but she said that it’ll be back by my appointment next week because I had tweezed for years. Today I did shave again, although it’s nowhere near as bad as the 3 weeks’ growth I had before. I don’t think I’ll be able to afford going every week after this, though, unless it really improves results? Otherwise I’ll probably go in every 2-3 weeks.

I did get a lot of redness and swelling, and I think only one pin prick scab. The swelling is still there, making my normally pointy chin look square. I did exercise the next afternoon. I hadn’t put anything on it except for antibacterial ointment, but now I’m trying witch hazel. The electrologist told me to stop using Retin-A on the chin area until I’m done.

I’m really happy to be doing something about this finally.

And the screen name is just a coincidence, I’ve never done laser.

Temporary and minor side effects are the norm if you want the hair properly “killed” (affected). It is especially so in those first several treatments when the hairs are dense and there are a lot of them. A little correction - the same hair is not back in a week in the sense that it is the same hair that was just treated, but rather it is the next group of hairs cycling in. A tweeze case like yours may require weekly treatments to catch the new hairs that cycle in each week for up to 12-16 weeks. I would think that after the first full clearance is obtained, seeing your electrologist every 2-3 weeks would be desirable and would help with the budget ONLY IF you walk out of the office each and every time fully cleared.

You will truly love this even by month 6. It is so freeing. You will have your moments where it seems the hair never stops coming, but ride above that and have faith. Each appointment brings you closer to the end.