Thanks cathi…
I am having electrolysis on my face for the 2nd time, though the first go round was 20 years ago. This time I am having a terrible time with breakouts around my chin line. Not small pimples or white heads but big, inflamed cystic pimples. I rarely get any pimples at all and am struggling to deal with them. Is this a normal reaction to electrolysis? I didn’t breakout much, if at all, the last time I had it done. is it something my electrologist is doing or not doing?
Thanks
No, this is not a usual side effect with electrolysis. What did your electrologist think about this when you asked her?
Did she give you aftercare instructions? If so, what was her advice? Are you seeing full hair structures when the hair is lifted out? Ask her to see some hairs. She can’t show you every hair she removes, of course, but maybe it will give some indication if you are not seeing full structures, complete with root sheaths. If part of the hair structure is left behind, that can induce the inflammatory response and infection may follow.
Hi Dfahey…I had few queries.I am getting thermolysis modality done on my face…After The procedure…my chin area and lip area does not scab but neck,sideburns do scab…most of them are very tiny scabs visible only on close inspection…a few are a little larger …although its my second session and first session didnt cause any damage to my skin.Now the question is–Is scabbing always there on these areas specially after thermolysis?Is it a normal part of my defence?My electrologist is very skill…I saw all the hairs removed…I saw their roots and sheath too…I never felt plucking.
Madhu,
More or less. As long as it’s not over-treatment, you should hopefully see results. Initially, I had a lot of redness, swelling & scabbing (these last two took a week to get reduce to ‘acceptable’/normal appearance). In subsequent treatments in the same areas, the reaction hasn’t been as severe - only a bit of redness and the smallest amount of swelling (not noticeable enough for other people to think you’ve had anything other than an eyebrow wax).
Hi everybody…yesterday i had electrolysis neck and i noticed a circular bruise like area…is it normal or I have to worry …i am really scared…
hi everybody…today i got second clearance of my face …it took total of 3.5 hours…yup it includes a few minutes of talk with my electrologist…my pics are here;
LEFT SIDE OF FACE;
RIGHT SIDE OF MY FACE;
the scabs on my left side of neck are little bigger in size…the hairs there were very fine and shallow i think so.Yup i am little worried about the bruise in center of neck…but my
electrologist said it will subside of its soon and nothing serious.
I am not a regular poster on here these days, but I have had a lot of electrolysis done on my face, and in every case, I’ve been able to go to work the next day. The scabs I have developed have been mostly on my abdomen - and I don’t touch them or itch them or scratch them (they will fall off on their own), and I apply aftercare solutions (in my case tea tree oil and aloe vera, and I followed my electrologist’s recommendations).
There have been great pictures posted of what a “normal” reaction might look like and what overtreatment might look like. In reality, it will vary from one person to the next. Know your own “normal”.
If you go to a new electrologist and you look like a dalmatian the following day, it may be that you’ve been overtreated - you can post pictures here for expert eyes to see.
Whatever you do, make sure there is constant feedback between you and your electrologist - you must show her (or him) any pictures of abnormal scabs right away (don’t wait on it!) and (if necessary) adjust treatment accordingly. In some cases, it may just be your body’s natural reaction, but I have seen some pictures where it might be too much treatment energy. When I finished my very first 4-hour session, I sent a panicked e-mail (complete with pictures) to my electrologist because I got some scabs - not large ones, but they were certainly there.
Be vigilant. If you’ve had many sessions without incident and you suddenly develop some odd reaction, don’t let it go away. A few months ago, after many sessions without any incident, I had one big “scab” on my chin. It looked like a pus-filled wound. I noticed it because I was paying attention to the skin’s reaction. It turns out it was a big ingrown that eventually came out. More than anything else, you should keep in mind that many people out there are having (and have had) electrolysis without having to wear a burqa the next day.
I am now convinced more than ever that if I have been able to remove the tough, banana-shaped hairs that I had with my skin emerging more-or-less intact, then you, too, should not have to resemble a dalmatian just because you’re getting electrolysis.
Good luck!
thanks orangecode…
I went to my job immediately after electrolysis…and regularly going…scabs are pinpoint…my skin reacts to electrolysis in this way only…forming scabs which eventually shed by 7 day app.
I am thinking of getting electrolysis done on my upper lip since I am sick of bleaching the area every week or so. I have never shaved or waxed that area before, just bleached.
I have a few questions.
Will I be able to bleach my upper lip in between sessions?
After sessions will there be some sort of growth of hair? I am not sure what to expect…will it look like I shaved?
How many sessions do people have for the upper lip? I know if ranges from case to case, but on average. Also how often show I go to get it done? I am really busy with work and I am not sure how often I can travel to get it done.
If you go to the right person, you won’t have to bleach in between sessions, as there will be no hair to bleach, as long as you get to first clearance as fast as you can and get full clearances each and every time you go in after that. If so, you can look bare lipped for up to 3 weeks in between treatments.
I’m still so confused what is a normal reaction to electrolysis even though I’ve been doing it for years.
I have an electrologist who is working on my face and I pretty much have no scabbing and my face is just pink for 3 days max. The problem is she doesn’t use magnification much and she can’t see even when she uses it and sometimes I think she goes slow on purpose so she can tell me I need more time, so I’m looking for a new electrologist.
I have yet to find someone else who can give me the same results, as in very little reaction and no scabbing. Is it possible she is under treating my hairs? My hair is now fine to medium density and she said my hair comes out easily. My old electrologist does have a newer digital machine, all of the others don’t if that makes a difference at all.
I saw someone else and my face is pretty lumpy and bumpy looking with a lot of scabs. Is this necessary to kill the hair or is it possible to be treated properly without scabbing and bumpiness?? Like I said my hairs are fairly fine to medium on my face now. Oh and the lady said she treated me 12 but she was thinking of treating me at 14 but she didn’t. I’m not sure what that means intensity wise. I can’t imagine if she did do it at that setting because I can tell I’ll probably be scabbed and bumpy for two weeks now even at the lower setting she chose.
So if anyone can clear up my confusion. Thanks
For most people the normal reaction to electrolysis is a minor amount of redness for an hour or two, which does subside.
Most electrologists require the assistance of one form of magnification or another, it is difficult to see the follicle without it, even if someone’s eyesight is very good. If I were having electrolysis and there was no magnification I would be concerned about the accuracy of the insertions.
I suggest that you book a a consultation with another one or two electrologists in your community.
During a consultation a true professional with review your medical history, explain the electrolysis process, assess the treatment area and provide a sample treatment. A consultation gives you the opportunity to interview the electrologist and determine if they are professional and if the individual is serious about their practice. Good luck!
Hmmm ok well I’m seeing that I’ve been over treated then because it’s been 4 days and I have scabs in almost every insertion point on my face or I’m not sure if it’s due to poor technique? I guess I will have to keep looking even though I’ve already tried three in my area, so I’m running out of options.
Hi everyone,
I had my upper lip done with the S.I.M.P.L.E method for 15 minutes yesterday morning and today I have these pimples on my upper lip, along with 1 odd colored pimple that looks orange to me. After electrolysis, I initially had mild erythema that went away. I was just wondering if this a normal reaction, or if she is over-treating it, etc?
She also suggested that I only get 15 minute treatments for the upper lip, as any longer than that might be too much for the skin, and told me to come back in 3 weeks. But judging by the comments here, it seems that it’s much better to clear out all the hair in one treatment.
Would appreciate some help, and I can post a picture of it if necessary.
Also, I haven’t really done any after care as I am unsure as to what I can and can’t do. I have oily skin and I don’t know if I can use my cleanser to clean the area, so instead I’ve just left it alone.
Thank you in advance for any help.
If you have, say, 357 hairs to be removed and the total time to remove these hairs ends up being … for example … 4 hours, why is it any “better or not better” to clear the hairs, scatter the hairs, wait 2 weeks, or 3 weeks, etc.
The hair count is fixed; the treatment duration is also going to be about the same anyway. The arguments about “strategy” (“clear or not to clear,” etc.) seem more like ritual than technique. I really don’t see why this is such a big deal?
If I zap you in three 1-hour treatments … or in one 3-hour treatment, you end up with the same thing. For me this is a non-issue and certainly not worth serious consideration. It’s mostly a choice of the person doing the work. Sometimes I’m super-cautious and other times it’s “balls to the wind!”
Yeah, there are “many ways to skin a cat!” And,I have skinned quite a few.
What is the S.I.M.P.LE. method?
S.I.M.P.L.E. stands for Sequential Inverted Micro-Pulsed Led Energy
I found a page about it here: http://www.arizonaelectrolysis.com/simple.html
That’s the method my electrologist told me she uses.
Does it look any good?
Of course, S.I.M.P.L.E is a good technique! I wouldn’t worry at all!
Just know that, like Michael said, there are many ways to achieve permanency (makes me too sad to say “skin a cat”), so your practitioner is using a great technique that she is comfortable with, it appears.
Feel free to post a picture. We love pictures here. You can never offer too much detail.