Hi all. It’s been a couple of years since my last visit here, and I decided to stop by and give an update on my current situation.
I began my quest of body hair eradication in much the same way as many of you. I started with home waxing & sugaring products, which as many of you have discovered, is a nightmare. My next trial was laser, which completely fried my skin, caused a couple of my moles to look like melanomas, and didn’t have any more impact on my body hair problem then if I had merely shaved the hair off. Oh yeah, and at only $1500, what a steal!
Not too long after my disasterous laser interlude, I discovered this website and began lurking about these forums. I read all I could about each method of hair removal, and became convinced (as I believe is the general consensus here)that professional electrolysis is the best method available today. I asked a few questions, the same ones I’ve seen many a newbie here ask; mainly though, I wanted to know how much.
How much money will it cost me to have_____area cleared permanently?
Well, after 1 1/2 years of weekly electrolysis treatments, I can honestly tell you there is no difinitive answer to that question. You see, each of us is different, and will respond differently to electro. And success also depends on the quality of your treatments, as well as the regularity of your treatments. And when you get right down to it, body hair is damn resilient stuff. It just wants to hang around.
So you see, there is no way to really give you an estimated price, even a general ballpark figure.
Heres the best I can do: My problem areas are upper arms, shoulders, & back. Prior to treatment I had ALOT of hair on my upper arms/shoulders, and a pretty fair amount on my back. My situation was such that I NEVER took my shirt off in public, EVER! It began to effect my self esteem to the point that I stopped dating. If a pretty girl gave me the look, I would stop and think: yeah, once she sees me shirtless it’s over, so what’s the point?
I began searching for an electrologist in my area (Southern Cal/Inland Empire Area) that used thermolysis, because it was the general concensus at the time that this was the fastest method. Once I found my electrologist, we began doing marathon 5 hour treatments (once a week) on my upper arms for initial clearance. Over time, my upper arms (from the elbows to the shoulders) were completely cleared. After the initial clearance of my arms, we went on to clear my shoulders and back. We are now down to 2 hours a week total (for arms, shoulders AND back), to maintain clear appearance.
How much money have I spent? Hell, who knows… I quit trying to keep track some time ago. I just maintain that this is one of my monthly expenses. I don’t drive a new car, I drive a '93 honda. This is my sacrifice, in the name of vanity. Crazy, you might say, To me it’s worth it.
Today I have absolutely no problem whatsoever taking my shirt off in public. My electrologist is very proud of the work she has done on my arms. I really wish that I had taken some ‘before’ pics, then you could see for yourselves. A picture tells a much more accurate story than these words.
I do still require my weekly maintenance, but my sessions are slowly getting shorter and shorter. Will I ever be done? Probably not, as I get older, more and more I notice hair popping up in places it never grew before. Oh well, this is my ongoing saga.
In closing I will say merely this, if you are concerned with excessive body hair you have really only two options; You either learn to accept it, or you decide how much money you can set aside each month to pay for electro., and begin a weekly program.
I would like to thank Andrea for putting together what is in my opinion, the most informative site on hair growth/removal, bar none. I would like to also thank everyone who answered my questions and offered advice. It would probably be pointless to reply to this post or to message me, as I doubt I will be back any time soon. I wish you all the best of luck.
If anyone is interested, my providers name is Mary Albrecht, RE. She is based in Riverside, CA. She is very laid back, and provides excellent service. Her rates are reasonable, and her schedule is flexible. She uses thermolysis, and is quite fast. She is willing to work on male genital area, and is tranny friendly (for those of you who are interested). Her website is www.2muchhair.com. I highly recommend her. Tell her William sent you. 
Even though the poster will probably not see this, since he said he won’t be back, I will publically thank him for his great follow-up, not to meantion his unselfishness in recommending a skilled electrologist.
This is how it is done. This is how successful electrolysis works. One and half years of steady commitment on the clients’s part together with a skilled electrologist using thermolysis.
The cost part is not exactly predicatable, true, but I feel the beginning consumer needs to have a ballpark figure of some sort. The only help I can give my clients on the cost side of doing a man’s back, shoulders and upper arms, is to tell them what it has cost other men I have worked on with similar hair patterns, but to always emphasized the uniqueness of each person that walks through my office door. No, we can not give exact costs in this business, but many are satisfied just to have a round about idea so they can plan their budget accordingly. I keep records of what people pay and how many treatments they had and many times my clients keep their own records. I like to say when we reached the end of facial treatments for a woman with PCOS, “Was it worth 14 months of treatments and $1,636.00 to have your beard PERMANENTLY removed?” and to the young woman with the upper lip hair, “Was it worth $340.00 to PERMANENTLY remove the hairs on your lip in 10 months?” And so on and so forth. The answer is always a very thankful, relief-filled “YES!” (Kind of like the “YES!” Megan Ryan says to Billy Crystal in the movie “When Harry met Sally”)
Forgive my redundancy:
Here I go again - permanent hair removal is a process. There is no quick and easy way down, but there is a way down that truly works for any size hair, any color of hair on any color of skin. If one is willing to invest 1 1/2 years for permanent hair removal via electrolysis to be smooth and shirtless for the rest of their life, you have got to do it like this man. That is, until something is developed in the future at the cellular level.
I’m sorry you don’t have before, middle and after pictures, too. They could tell the whole story with very few words.
I’m sure many appreciate you taking the effort to actually come back and pay forward with news of your outcome. A big kiss for you!
Dee
That was great follow up. I agree about estimating the price and total cost of the work that is supposed to be done. Its impossible to say. I havent even bothered asking my electrologist that question when i started. I just decided to commit to it, and look upon it as a short term loan that i need to pay off, even though there is ton of stuff that in someone elses eyes may seem like a bigger priority. I wanted to comment on what you said about the price of 340.00 for having upper lip done. I wish it was around that price. That would be great. For me, after 5 hours at 65 dollars each it makes 325 bucks, and i am nowhere near done. Didnt even have that first clearance. What i mean to say, my upper lip was never hair free, even though its drastically reduced. Now they growing back again, black as they can be. So me personally, i dont think 340 can be enough to have it done.
You are correct,sanny. That is why I describe everybody as unique because each presents with a different amount of hair. Medication history matters. Temporary hair removal measures matter. Genetics matter. Sneakily plucking on the side while having electrolysis matters.
I can’t comment on your situation because I can’t see you and I have little information about other things that would help explain no clearance after five full hours. My average client finishes her upper lip for under $500 in 9-12 months, but I have had several 20 year plus, hard core pluckers that took a little longer.
My advice is stay smart about the process and if things don’t seem right, then ask your electrologist questions. You can keep asking here as well. I need to go back and re-read your posts. This sounds extended, but again, I’m not in a position to know.
Dee
Awesome follow up. Hope to be in the same boat one day too!