Hi!
I’ve finally made a visit to an electrologist! She is only 5 minutes away from me, and uses a Fischer machine. I’m not sure of the spelling. Is this a good machine? I had a sample done, and the reaction is very minimal. She has been doing this for 10 years, and is a vice-chair person of the electrolysis association FCEA - Ontario Chapter. I’m pretty pleased with the experience, so I think I’ll stay with her. But I was just wondering if this machine is good or not!
I’m new to this site & glory for it. I’ve been an off & on practicing tech for 4 yrs. A proud graduate of the Alabama school of Electrology. Just a comment on the Fisher or Fischer machine you were curious about. I noticed several of those around the lab at the school & some being used from Huntsville to Birmingham. One was used on me during my time as a volunteer for other students. It seemed to work well & I thought I could mimic it’s personality easily with my Instatron ss-99. The setting was about 30ma with a short time rise which made for pretty warm feelings on my neck area but not intloerable. For a client I would go for a longer rise time with less current. High currents do scar as I’ve discovered with gas pocket eruptions on myself which will leave tiny holes especially if the aftercare is laxing. If it scabs keep it soft with antibiotic ointment & hope the scab falls away by itself. My how this site is going to be a godsend to my idle time. I hope to open another salon soon in Newnan, Ga. Unisex of course as I’ve never seen hair no matter where I wouldn’t go after with a vengence. Pearl
Hello Pearl!
Please take the time to fill out your profile so people see your location and will know that a good electrologist who is willing to work on men is near them.
I think you will agree with me that one would choose a Fischer CBX over an Instantron Tronco 4 SS-69 any day (if for no reason other than the fact that the Fischer can do galvanic, thermolysis and blend and the SS-69 can only do thermolysis).
Fischer and Hinkel are now a unified company, and the machines are well serviced by both the unified company and Texas Electrolysis Supply and the Mary Evangelista School’s repair department.
The comfort level of the Fischers is very close to the Apilus and Silhouet-Tone models (Apilus Platinum excluded of course)
Okay, thanks! That sounds good. I also want to ask about aftercare. My electrologist said all I need is ice and polysporin , or hydrocortisone. But I’m reading about people needing witch hazel, or tea tree oil. The reaction I’ve had so far is minimal, but this is only with a sample treatment with stainless steel probes and the Fischer. I used polysporin, and my skin is still a little pink. What would you recommend?
What type of electrolysis is being used on you? Blend, thermolysis?
Polysporin is too oily and clogs pores. Hydrocortisone can thin skin over time. Witch hazel is cheaper and better for the skin. That alone should be fine for you.
Fischer is a wonderful epilator. I believe that it is as good as the Platinum. I’ve used Instantron, also, and the comfort level of the Fischer is so much better than Instantron.
Polysporin and hydrocortisone are not products that are needed for every client. In fact, I do not recommend them for any of my clients, besides, polysporin is something that many people are highly allergic to. lagirl has given you accurate info on this. I will add that you can add a little bit of wintergreen alcohol to witch hazel in increase it’s antiseptic level, since witch hazel’s alcohol content is fairly low.
I would also like to ask about Pearl’s statement about gas pocket eruptions. It sounds like you might be describing “high frequency blowout.” Please explain more if you are describing something else.
Do you know where I can get witch hazel? And wintergreen alcohol? Also, why is witch hazel supposed to be good for aftercare of electrolysis?
Any drugstore in the US will have witch hazel, and many should have the wintergreen alcohol next to the regular isopropyl alcohol. In fact, witch hazel and isopropyl alcohol are usually sold next to each other, look in the first aid section.
Witch Hazel acts as an astringent, which helps to coagulate blood or push blood away. (I can’t remember which one the official definition says.) Since witch hazel has some alcohol, then it also has some antiseptic abilities. It is a product that doesn’t have a lot of added chemicals - and that adds to it’s appeal, IMHO.
I just want to continue updating this experience, as a diary-reference type thing.
Sooo I went for a full 30minute session of electrolysis. She used blend for me. I spent about half the time on my upper lip and the other half on the cheeks near my upper lip. For some reason, it hurt soo much more than the sample treatment! Why is this? Anyways, only the edges of my upper lip were treated, but I can’t really tell the difference because I bleach those areas. My lip got reallly swollen and red, but it seems to be going down now! 
Overall, I am happy since I am sans 110 hairs, although she did miss a few important ones. I DO have a lot of hair though, especially for a Chinese girl, as she pointed out. lol! I’ll be going back next week, same time! Yay!
Do you drink caffeine products such as coffee, tea, soft drinks, energy drinks? Eat too much chocolate? Were you hydrated?
You should avoid caffeine a couple days before a treatment and drink enough water appropriate for your body size. These things may help or you can just talk to her about your discomfort and maybe she can adjust levels. Can she try another modality like flash or microflash? Keep an eye on your healing and give her feedback about that as well.
Dee
I don’t drink anything but water, and lots of it and eat very little chocolate. Would it be okay to take tylenol before a treatment? Would it even help?
Also, is flash or microflash less painful than blend? My electrologist says microflash has a higher chance of scabbing than blend.
Another reason for lower tolerance may be PMS. Some women are more sensitive a few days before their periods.
For me, I’m more sensitive on days my allergies are bothering me or if I didn’t sleep well the night before.
Thanks for all the input!
I had another 30 minute session today, but I took a tylenol half an hour before. This time, it hurt MUCH less. I’m assuming blend is slower, which is we only cleared some of the upper lip hair, which I am okay with. I still haven’t reached my first full clearance yet but I am happy with that.
I realized everyone was used to seeing me with upper lip hair, and I didn’t want to go to school and have people notice that I was suddenly hair free, leading them to speculate about waxing and such. So we are gradually thinning out my upper lip. So far, only the edges are pretty much clear.
My skin seems to go back to normal in a couple of hours, so its alll good. Only very few little brown scabs from the first treatment on my cheeks fell off.
I however can’t wait to get full clearance, and then maybe start on my cheeks. I’m so happy that I started this! I think its a good thing that I’m starting pretty early - at seventeen. Don’t want to go through uni with embarassing facial hair - high school is enough. wellll next appointment is in two weeks! I hope it won’t all grow back in that time :S
alrighty. until next time everyone!
Another 30 min session today!
Only a bit more of my upper lip was cleared, and it seems to be moving a bit too slow. However, I think it is blend is her forte, and she says microflash has too much risk of scabbing.
Also, I noticed a some new hairs seem to be growing under my skin! I seriously hope they are not ingrown hairs. Can’t wait for full clearance!
Its been three 30 min sessions already, but my upper lip is still not clear ! I’m starting to have tiny doubts about it because it is taking soo long.
I talked a bit with my electrologist, and it turns out she does this only part time - evenings and weekends. Her qualifications are good; she worked under Liz Mehar(sp). Is anyone familiar with Liz Mehar(sp)? Apparently she wrote an electrology book that is used a lot.
In the past year i found that electrolysis is pretty similar to dieting. Number one enemy of dieting is the scale. Sometimes you weigh yourself week after week, and those pounds arent coming off, and you finally give up and start to eat again. Number one enemy of electrolysis, for me, is the mirror. Closer you look, more likely you are to judge yourself. I noticed that now, when i am upper lip hair free, i m more likely to go and stare in the mirror and be angry about the tiny little blonde hairs that no ne with normal eye sight cant even notice. So my advice is-dump the mirror. If you have trustworthy electrologist that is. I also have a husband who is painfully honest and will fingerpoint even smaller dark hair that grows anew.
I got my full clearance 7 months later, after i sitched from galvanic to thermolysis. I dont know anything about the blend, but dare i say that it could be slower than thermolysis? Also i never scabbed with either method, and i never used anything for aftercare. My electrologist used to put freshly cut aloe from her garden, but soon after i wanted her to stop because it felt sticky. In regards to pain, tylenol will help, but for me two 500 MG aspirin do wonders. I never drink water, i eat tons of chocolate, and always drink coffee right before my appointment, because its a long drive, and i m used to drinking coffee while driving. Only factors that will cause more pain for me, are stress and sleepless nights. And PMS. Definitely.
I hope that helps. Good luck.
Microflash does not have a greater risk of scabbing. That is quite an inaccurate statement and inaccuracies about this great modality usually are spouted by those who have epilators that don’t have the MicroFlash mode. If she were doing microflash thermolysis, she would know that not to be true, unless she was incredibly unskilled and was making shallow insertions. Scabbing can happen with all modalities if not performed expertly.
She is using blend because it is her forte. It is slower than microflash thermolysis. That’s okay. You will still be fine. Blend is a wonderful modality and if that is her comfort zone, no need to worry because you are going to get permanent hair removal. Just relax and flow easy with those hair growth cycles that you or your electrologist have no control over. It would be nice to get that first, full clearance, so keep a weekly schedule as long as you heal well.
Could the name be G.E. Meharg, R.N.??? That’s the closest I can come to the person your electrologist worked under. The book, “Cosmetic and Medical Electrolysis & Temporary Hair Removal” might be the book you referred to. Don’t know anything closer to this to offer you.
Ask her if her epilator has a MicroFlash mode and how many times has she performed MicroFlash on her clients. Tell her you want to try it.
I totally agree with sanny about the aspirin. I’m pretty petite, so one pill works well for me. As for the microflash, I’ll ask her to try it on me next session! It would be great if I get first clearance in the next session.
And Dee, you’re right. Now that I think about it, I remember looking at her certificate, and it read Meharg International School of Electrolysis. So I’m guessing the lady she worked under was Elizabeth Meharg or something. THanks for the clarification! I’m guessing Meharg is a good school/teacher?
Yes, I would say that. Their book is excellent and should be a part of every electrologists libray, but some parts are outdated because technology has changed since the book was written. Not their fault, just the way of the world because newer products and techniques are introduced all the time.I wish they would update their book to match the high tech forms of thermolysis that are truly awesome today.
I like gold probes when doing MicroFlash and the probe size should match the hair size!! Size 2 probes should not be used on very coarse hair or that can set one up for more skin reaction and incomplete destruction of the hair follicle. That’s when we get people coming here complaining about skin side effects and that electrolysis isn’t working for them. I hope she has the set up and skill to offer you MicroFlash thermolysis at least a couple times, so you can understand what we describe here almost daily about this great modality that is truly highly effective for those that educate themselves properly.
Dee
I went for another 30 minute session today, and this time we tried thermolysis! It hurt much less than blend, and 130 hairs were removed this time, which is more than the blend removed in 30 minutes.
From what I’ve read on this site, thermolysis is equally effective as blend. However, my electrologist insists that thermolysis does not work as well as blend! She said that at the meharg school, they only used blend, and thermolysis was practiced as a trial, and not something to be used often. Can anyone elaborate on this? I’m very confused, as I would like to remove hair faster with thermolysis but my electrolygist is discouraging it.