Hi everyone,
Last Friday I tried out my third electrologist. We did one full hour of thermolysis on the upper lip. (I have A TON of hair there.) My lip blew up like a blimp afterwards. All redness went away in 24 hours, but my upper lip is still a little swollen. Is this a sign of overtreatment/a bad electro or is it just me?
Also–how much time should you allow between sessions?
Thank you again to everyone
Susie 
Hello VespaSusie.
A hour of treatment on the upper lip is too long for such a small area with hair follicles so close to each other. This is overtreatment and if I were you you, I would not let it happen again. When I work on an upper lip, I do no more than 20 - 30 minutes. Even with the use of ballet gold probes and with a fabulous epilator such as my VMC Silhouet-tone, I wouldn’t dare go beyond that window of time.
If you have scabs, leave them alone and do use aloe vera. Make sure your upper lip is back to normal before you have electrolysis again. If you’re so inclined, discuss the prolonged swelling with your electrologist. Did she/he give you an ice pack after treatment?? I routinely give my clients an ice pack for the drive home along after applying a nice cool application of aloe vera right from the refrigerator. It feels great and starts the healing process immediately.
I usually see my upper lip clients every two weeks, however, a healing time of one week is just fine.
You are in the drivers seat and can dictate the time of the treatment session and the interval of treatments. After a treatment, your skin should be back to normal within a few hours. Some very sensitive clients may need a day, but swelling on day four means the treatment was too aggressive and shouldn’t be repeated. Talk with your electrologist.
Even though you “have a ton of hair” be patient and consistent with your appointments and you will start to see a nice improvement within 6 weeks or so.
Dee
Dee,
Thanks so much. The advice here is always so solid…I wish I could hug all of you for your help!
This was my third treatment ever, each time with a different electrologist. So I won’t bother to go back to this person, since the first two people seemed to follow the guidelines you mention.
What everyone says on here is right—try out different people before choosing one. It means you might have a bad experience, but how else will you recognize good treatment? Just think of this electrologist’s regular clients–they’re being overtreated without knowing that it doesn’t have to be this way. I would be one of them too if it wasn’t for all of you!
Susie
Your very welcome VespaSusie.
I think I can speak for all the electrologists that contribute here by saying how great it feels to be appreciated by posters like yourself. We all try very hard to be helpful and honest, so that you the consumer can be well informed. Keep up your good work in searching for the best standards of electrolysis care you can find. PLEASE keep sharing your experience with this board so we can all keep learning from your feedback.
Dee