Browsing about online, I’ve come across many (mostly transgender related) websites that continue to present outdated or flat-out wrong information about thermolysis. I am quite sure that these are actively harmful to people seeking information about electrolysis for the first time. In some cases these websites are the work of people who only perform galvanic electrolysis and thus are biased against thermolysis, but others seem to be the result of experiences with very old-school thermolysis before the advent of modern epilators. Here are a few of the myths I see most frequently:
- “Thermolysis has a very low kill rate. You will need to do up to 30 passes on an area before there is any hair reduction.”
Um, no. Even when I had treatment on the older foot-pedal type machines, after a few treatments I saw a definite reduction; most of the hairs were killed on the first try. When I began treatment with the Apilus, after ONE pass over an area I never had as much hair. After two, the hair was substantially reduced and after three most visible hair was completely gone.
- “Thermolysis can only remove fine, shallow hairs.”
Again, no. I had my entire facial hair removed with it and I had some very, very deep follicles. I’ve had some body work, too, and those follicles were even deeper. Thermolysis worked just fine.
- “Thermolysis scars/destroys your skin.”
Yes and no on this one; bad thermolysis certainly can cause problems. I’ve got some “pebbling” on my upper lip and some texture issues on my chin from poorly done thermolysis where the operator cranked the power way up and used a foot pedal. However, that was operator error and not a problem with the thermolysis itself. The areas I had cleared solely with the Apilus, with a new and different operator, are completely smooth with no skin damage at all. Incidentally, the only real scar I have from electrolysis came from galvanic!
- “During electrolysis treatments the hairs come back finer and finer, and eventually stop growing.”
In my treatment, they didn’t come back “finer;” they didn’t come back at ALL. I think this one sort of follows the “it takes many passes to kill the hair” one above. Maybe a few isolated hairs will regrow in a weakened condition, but most of the hairs, when treated, are gone forever right away.
I’ve become quite interested in electrolysis and may end up trying to go to school for it. I have cosmetology training, but the only hair removal we learned was waxing and plucking. Unfortunately I live in a state where there is no licensing for electrolysis, so I may have to travel elsewhere temporarily if I do decide to seek training.
