The hair of my chinny chin chin

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
1

I had my first session today with an electrologist. I am a 30-year-old female and have been battling the dark hair sprouting from my chin for probably 10 years. At first it was just a couple here and there, which I plucked maybe once a week. In the last 4-5 years I have been plucking every day, and in the last 9 months sometimes twice daily.

Since finding this forum a month and a half ago I haven’t touched my tweezers and have begun shaving each morning (and sometimes evening). The obsessive plucking has really damaged my skin. My chin was constantly red and irritated. It is better now that I am shaving rather than digging into my skin every day, but my chin is still red compared to rest of my jaw line and the skin feels thick.

My choices are limited as there are only two studios close to where I live. The woman I visited today gave me a trial session—11 free minutes. She worked on one side of my chin and did maybe 50 hairs total? I am not sure, I lost count! I don’t know what the method she used is called, but I had to hold something wetted with salt water in my hand-- she said the pulse creates lye in the follicle, which kills the hair and helps it slip out. I was so nervous I didn’t get a chance to see what machine she used. We talked for a couple minutes about how she inserts the needle, the electric pulse, the pain intensity, and then she went at it. I expected her to explain a bit more before she started, but since I have read so much on this forum I already knew what was going on.

She started out very low to let me get used to what it felt like, then upped the intensity. It gave me a metallic taste in my mouth. She inserted the needle and I felt a little pinprick as the machine beeped out 3 or 4 seconds. Then she would grasp the hair and pull it out. I know from reading the forum that it shouldn’t feel like she’s plucking the hair out. It was hard for me to tell. I could feel the hair as it slid out—she didn’t have to yank on them, but I did feel it as it pulled through my skin. I felt sometimes a resistance when she would try to grasp them and then have to try a second time if she didn’t get it the first. She showed me one hair and the little sheath around it was rather long—she commented that the hairs are growing from deep in my skin. I realize now that in the last several months of plucking, less than half the time could I pull entire hairs with the bulb and sheath attached. I always had to yank on each hair a few times before it would budge. Perhaps they were breaking off all the time and that was why I was plucking stray ones later in the day?

When she was done my skin looked a bit red, she said this would subside in an hour (which it did). She said not to touch it at all for an hour afterwards or put any lotion on, as the skin is sensitive to absorbing everything at the moment. She said that I could put make-up on later today however. As for using anything special to care for the skin she suggested baking soda with water for cleansing. When I asked about tea tree oil she said not to bother.

I am feeling so relieved to finally be doing something about this problem I went ahead and made an appointment for next Wednesday, she said she would spend about 30 minutes the next time and that I need to come in every week for a while until it starts to thin out. Even though the growth is concentrated just in two spots on either side of my chin, she says I have many hairs to deal with. She could feel and see many more that will sprout soon.

I am sorry for such a long post, but I wanted to get it all down even just for myself so I can remember the details later. I just hope that the hairs aren’t being undertreated, that is my big worry. The pain was not that intense and the pulse was only a few seconds each time and also my confusion over whether she was plucking them out or not. I just want it to work, so I am not wasting time/money. It is already heartbreaking enough to deal with; I don’t want to have to start all over again with someone else in a few months.

Any comments from those more experienced than me would be great!

2

We don’t mind long posts here. Feel free to tell us everything on your mind (on the subject of hair removal anyway).

You would know if she were plucking, because it would feel like it felt when you were spending hours pulling untreated hairs. Since you say they slid out, you were only feeling the bulbs “popping” though the skin like a pimple.

It sounds like she was using blend or galvanic. By the short amount of time, I would guess blend.

It would seem that you only have to find enough time with her to get to full clearance, and you will have calm, smooth, even colored skin again.

3

The first clearance after tweezing is the most difficult, as the hairs are at their strongest, and most resistant. In approximately six weeks when regrowth begins, the hairs will slide out really easily and you will no longer feel the popping sensation.

4

If she was in the follicle for 3-4 seconds, that would be blend electrolysis, however, that is a short time to be in the follicle for blend for the hairs you described. THe big advantage of blend is the lye keeps working in the follicle for perhaps up to a couple hours.

Tea tree oil is very helpful for most. I do not like makeup to be applied for 24 hours, but 48 hours would be better.

Tweezed chin hair can be a be-ooch, but no hair can escape the electrologists deadly probe if all is performed very well. Keep us posted on your progress!

Dee

5

Thank you James, Christine, and Dee for your helpful words. I’m not sure how I could figure all this out without having this forum to turn to!

Looking at my chin today I can’t even figure out where she did the work anymore. I am glad that there is no major irritation (beyond the usual seemingly permanent redness I have), but I am also a bit discouraged that I can’t notice even a tiny difference after she zapped so many hairs. She seemed to have weeded a bit and not cleared any one spot. As I lay on the table I kind of thought/hoped she had cleared one whole side. I guess I have more hair than I think. I just want her to concentrate on the dark ones, though. Is it okay to ask her if I can see the hairs when she is done? I am curious what they look like-- darker/lighter, thicker/thinner.

I hope it’s not terrible to shave the area the next day after treatment. I often shave with shaving cream just after a shower, that works best. Sometimes I use an electric razor, but it doesn’t get as close. Today I might use it so I can avoid putting shaving cream on the treated area. I am just so afraid of people noticing the dark hairs and after taking care of this problem for so long, I almost don’t care anymore about what damage my skin might suffer, I just don’t want anyone to see! I almost like when I get a couple pimples in the area then hopefully people just think I have acne. I know this is a terrible attitude that must be changed. I hope very soon I can see some progress so I can stop continuing to torture myself.

At the rate the electrologist worked in the trial session I don’t hope for her to clear me in 30 minutes next week. I hope once a week for 30 minutes is enough to get me clear in a few weeks.

Thank you everyone for your comments.

6

I had my first real session today, 50 minutes. The electrologist zapped every hair she could see on my chin (though I did notice later that about 5 or 6 were left). She showed me the hairs when she was done and it was around 75-100 hairs on each side. I am so pleased that she pretty much cleared me.

She is using an Apilus Senior, I forgot again to ask which method she uses, but I am pretty sure it is blend. It was a much higher level this time, the pain was more acute. I like the pain in a way-- it means work is getting done! Some of the time the hairs just slipped out, sometimes I felt them being pulled out. Some hairs she attacked more than once, but generally she zapped each one for 2-5 seconds/beeps.

My chin was quite red for a few hours after and is still very swollen with a big bump on either side. I look a bit like Kyle Maclachlan.

She scheduled me next week and blocked off an hour. Eeeek! I hope it doesn’t take an hour to clear just one week’s growth! At this rate, my anti-hair fund is going to be quickly depleted.

One clearance down and I am ready for more, if only the weeks could go by faster.

7

Do you mind sharing the contact information of your practitioner? We need help in answering the often assked question, “Who is good in my part of the world?” When someone is on here asking “Who is good in Bergisch Gladbach?” we bet you won’t be reading the forum that day.

But post your practitioner’s info and a nice review, and that info will be searchable here when someone else from your area comes looking for peace from the hair wars.

8

Can I apply an ice pack to the area to reduce swelling? My chin is still very swollen and when I woke it looks red with little white pustules. It feels smooth, but dry and irritated. I used tea tree oil last night and this morning. I don’t think I can leave the house like this… help!

9

Yes, you can use ice. Many people use ice after the treatment for just this reason. You may need to use cold compress on the way home from treatment to lessen the swelling. Another good thing for decreased swelling is 1,200 IU’s of vitamin E throughout the day. You can take 600 IU’s in the morning and another 600 in the evening, or break it up into 3 servings of 400 IU’s per day.

10

The swelling disappeared 2-3 days after treatment. But my skin is still dry and red and irritated. Two days post-treatment my chin was so dry and itchy that I (stupidly) decided to lightly exfoliate. The dry skin sloughed off, but it left a bunch of red pinpoints. Bad idea. I applied tea tree oil and have applied it every day/night since. It looks better than it did, most of the pinpoints are gone, but it is still dry and red especially on my left side. There was also a white head that I initially left alone since it seems that little whiteheads are normal, but it developed into a regular raised pimple/white head. I squeezed it and applied tea tree oil. It looks better. There are still a couple red scabby looking pinpoints and I am trying my hardest to just leave everything alone. I have applied some lotion the last two days to help the dryness.

I have a few dark hairs growing in, but not nearly like it was last week before the treatment. The ones in the treated area seem lighter in color and thickness (or perhaps I am just being hopeful) and the darker ones are in the spots she seemed to miss last week. Just before I went in last week the dark coarse hairs growing close together on my chin felt rough as a scrub brush. It felt like a mass under the skin. It was a sensation I am not used to since I have always tweezed and only dealt with 20-40 hairs at a time. Today it feels more like what I was used to pre-shaving: soft, but with just a few coarser hairs poking through.

I go in again tomorrow. She scheduled an hour, but I don’t think it will take that long; there is not nearly the amount I had last week. I realize after reading some other forum entries that she was probably zapping each hair multiple times. I think many times she would zap a hair then try to pull on it, then zap it again, pull it out successfully, then zap the empty follicle once more. It is so hard to tell what it going when you can’t observe. Has anyone else experienced such multiple zaps?

11

I had another session today, my second so far. It was short, like I expected; only 20 minutes. It seemed like she spent half the time searching for hairs to zap and asked me a couple times to check for ones she might have missed. The area is red, but not inflamed and oozy like last time. I have no pain and don’t expect much swelling.

She said that it looked good today, but to not be surprised when the thick dark hair from last week appears again next week. That didn’t sound exactly right to me, so I asked her if she meant the very same hairs she zapped last time. She indicated that new “reborn” hairs from the follicles will appear, but will be thinner. Should I expect that the dark coarse hairs and/or the follicles from which they come will have to be treated more than once? Is that undertreatment or am I just impatient?

She stressed that I need to take better care of my skin. I have done so much damage to it after years of plucking. She suggested I steam my skin and apply warm compresses to draw the bad stuff out. She also said not to use lotion as this clogs up the pores letting impurities get stuck in the skin.

Does anyone have a good suggestion for types of cleansers, especially natural ones? Almost everything I’ve tried makes my skin break-out/irritated.

12

Hi adieutristesse,

I would suggest using products that are labelled as non-comedogenic. I only use non-comedogenic products, and have used La Roche Posay Physiologique gel cleanser for two years, as I have clog prone skin. Hope that helps.

13

“She indicated that new “reborn” hairs from the follicles will appear, but will be thinner. Should I expect that the dark coarse hairs and/or the follicles from which they come will have to be treated more than once? Is that undertreatment or am I just impatient?”

A vast majority of follicles that have been treated should not return to produce hair again.
The reason you see new hair appear is because they are different hairs of a caliber less and invest more time to appear on the skin surface. Many professionals are confused on this point. They believe it is the same hair that has been treated and appears thinner due to the injury they have suffered. But in reality, this is a new set of hairs. In the unlikely event that a damaged follicle by electrolysis, can regenerate hair, take much longer than a week to recover and generate new hair.

14

Thanks Pokka for the suggestion, I will look into the La Roche Posay products. For some reason they are sold only in pharmacies in Germany. I usually like to avoid waiting in line to talk to someone just to buy simple stuff, but I think I will give it a try this time. One can’t even buy witch hazel, rubbing alcohol, or a packet of aspirin without consulting with a pharmacist first! It is very annoying.

Thanks too, depilacionelectr for your response. Though I have read quite a lot here in the forum about how electrolysis works and how hair cycles in, things still take me by surprise as I experience this process. For example how hair growth seems slower or faster on different days. Or how shocking it was to let my plucked hair grow in for 6-7 weeks before starting electrolysis, but then once I got cleared how instantly and dramatically better it was.

I had my third appointment on Wednesday. It was a quick 15 minutes, yet she killed many hairs in that time. Most of the hairs are not as thick as the ones a few weeks ago so they are quicker to zap. It is relieving that the hairs showing up now are lighter and thinner, I don’t feel so self-conscious anymore. She even had time to zap 4-5 annoyingly thick blond hairs at the corners of my mouth. That hurt quite a bit more, but she applied pressure with her fingers as she zapped them and that dulled the pain sensation.

15

Hi adieutristesse,

I had the same problem in other countries in Europe when I ran out of my cleanser or thermal water whilst abroad, but if you ask for specific items after the first time its usually much quicker to get what you need :slight_smile:

16

I had my 4th treatment today and it was a quick 10 minutes. I had about 10-15 hairs on each side; they are thinner and not as noticeable. She is also treating 2-3 hairs under my chin and 2-3 at the corner of my mouth/upper lip. The couple hairs on my upper lip are not dark, but they are thick. The weekly regrowth has been like this since my clearance 3 weeks ago. But I can still see hairs under the skin today that will pop out tomorrow. I will be happy when I can get to a point when I can go a few days without worrying about new hairs popping out each day. I suppose I have several more weeks to wait before I can expect this kind of reduction.

17

You sound like a typical tweezing case. Just ride it through a little longer and this will calm. In the beginning, it is amazing how I can see all these little black dots under the skin for as long as 12 weeks. Pretty soon the dots disappear as we progress and you can go longer between treatments.

18

Hi adieutristesse,

Can you please give me the information regarding your electrolysis from where you are getting your treatment.I am also in Germany and have done with two treatments on my face.

This will be very helpful.

Regards,

Jimmy

19

Hi Jimmy,

I am getting electrolysis in Köln. There are very few studios around here, so I feel lucky the woman who treats me is so great. I am very happy with my treatment so far and would like to post up a nice recommendation and the info for my electrologist, but I want to get her permission first. I will however send you a private message with her details!

20

Today was my 5th treatment. There were not too many hairs on my chin today, just 5 thick, dark ones and a bunch of hairs that are nearly vellus-like in thickness, but have some pigment and some clear/blond hairs that are thick. She finished my chin in a matter of minutes.

Since the appointments are now so quick I want to start on other areas. (I can see how this could get addictive!) She zapped the 5-10 dark/thick hairs around my areolas and zapped a couple of the darker hairs just below the navel. She said that the hairs on my stomach are all old and I should just pull them out. In a couple weeks she will zap the new hairs that will have popped out. Is it that easy just from looking at the hairs to detect that they are old?

Today was the first time that I watched my electrologist work. I have to say it made me feel a little queasy watching how deep the probe goes in the skin. I am glad that I didn’t see that on my first visit or it would have made me really anxious. I am just happy to be making such amazing progress towards being rid of problematic hair!