those will resolve quickly. They are from some type of contamination,and given it’s upper lip, the nose is a likely source.Keeping the area clean is your best bet but the tea tree oil will definitely help.
Don’t worry. It is on a good way.
Again, i would tend to longer pulses (around 0.2 secs), accordingly half the intensity level and use a probe as thick as possible (i.e size 6) which seems to be used only by very few colleagues here in Europe. But these are details of how the treatments might be improved a bit. It is basically nothing to worry about.
But never mind - all You see here is in the range of a normal and actually relatively mild skin reaction.
Your skin reaction always shows a mix of the healing reaction which takes really long underneath the skin and some inflammation due to hairs that develop freshly and have to find their way through the skin. In i partially epilated face this can often be seen quite well. It was similar in my face.
On the long run it will come out fine.
Thank you both for your opinions. 
Quick question:
I’ve got a red spot on my upper lip [photo link removed per request] that still hasn’t healed after 4-5 months (I’ve got this on one of the first sessions). Sometimes it’s less red, sometimes more. From time to time I can also feel “tingling” sensation beneath the skin surface (like the feeling you get when you apply disinfectant on a little wound, except for I’m not applying anything). Will it fade with time? Is there anything that could speed up the process?
My guess is that you have been worrying and tampering with this little red spot since it appeared. Stop whatever you are doing and let the skin heal. You are making it worse.
What have you put on it or done to treat it?
I have not done anything to that particular spot since like 2-3 months.
Right now, I’m only wiping the whole face with Witch Hazel. Like 2 months ago I was also using Tea Tree Oil.
If I punched you in the eye, you would expect to get “a black eye?”
Electrolysis is a full-depth skin injury (think burn) and lots of “things” take place before you are left with perfect skin; which will happen …
I don’t see anything untoward in any of your photos. I think you are over-fussing (is that a word?). And, nearly all (face work) clients do. Nicely the skin can even withstand the “over-fussing” and will heal anyway … even after all the unnecessary crap you put on the skin in a vain attempt to speed-up the healing process.
I have not done anything to that particular spot since like 2-3 months.
Right now, I’m only wiping the whole face with Witch Hazel. Like 2 months ago I was also using Tea Tree Oil. [/quote]
You do not need tea tree oil at this point. Tea tree oil is used sparenly for the first three nights after electrolysis. I like it for certain skin types and I put aloe vera gel right over top of that, to boot! Prolonged use of tea tree oil can cause prolonged redness and flakiness. It sounds like you interfered with the natural healing process, so leave it alone and let natural healing take place.
Electrolysis gets blamed for every pimple and dent. Very unfair.
Thank you for the response.
Maybe you’re right. But I’m just that type of person, I think. I easily get stressed and worry a lot. But I also think it’s better to be safe than sorry - that’s why I’m asking frequently.
Yes, I’m aware that TTO should only be used sparingly and that’s what I did. I’m not using it on daily basis. Two months ago I admit that I have used it on that spot but only once or twice…
Unfortunately, it seems my skin does not tolerate Aloe Vera well - it gets really, really red and itchy after aplication. And I was using the purest form of Aloe Vera - straight from the plant. Also tried pure Aloe Vera gel from the tube (no additives) but the effect was the same. Currently I’m only using Witch Hazel tonic everyday.
We are all used to the “fussing;” no problem. The question I have is why you were using Aloe. I mean, specifically how was that going to speed the healing … what did you hope to accomplish?
When a woman gets pregnant, she would love it if the baby could just pop-out in a few days; but that’s not happening. No matter what she does, the pregnancy is going to take the 9-months or so.
Same with all healing. You can make it feel better initially (and take precautions from real infections) … but there is nothing you can do to make it “go faster.” After a couple days of “fiddling” just keep your “cotton pickin’ fingers off” and let mother nature take her course. You can’t fight it anyway.
Still, we all know the “easily stressed” ARE going to stress over everything for the duration. We have heard it all and that’s “cool.” When it’s all over, you will wonder why you put all the “angst” into it … especially since there will be another “thing” causing stress. (I know, because I’m exactly the SAME!)
I was using Aloe Vera on the whole face (not just specifically for that little red spot) because that’s what my electrologist advised me to do initially. Lots of people on this board also seemed fans of Aloe so I thought “why not?” Of course the intention was to soothe and cool the skin a little which, unfortunately, wasn’t happening in my case so I dumped the idea…
I hope so
Ok, so the “fussing” part of me activated again after the next thermolysis session (which took place 12 hours ago). It was a 2-hour long session spread across the chin, upper lip, lower lip, cheeks, jawline and neck area.
What worried me, is that this time immediately after the treatment I’ve noticed some clear fluid leakage, mostly on the upper lip and several spots on the chin. There was not a lot of it though - just small pinhead-sized wet dots visible in strong light but I remembered from different threads on Hairtell that fluid is a “bad sign”. I went to sleep because I was very tired. I woke up 8 hours later and noticed in the mirror that some thin yellowish “crust” started forming in some places. Some spots are still looking slightly wet from the fluid.
Is that a case of overtreatment? Should I just wait until the crust comes off naturally or should I gently wash it off with clean water? I would appreciate your opinions based on the:
[photo link removed per request]
Okay … truly you are going to “sweat this out” for the duration. That’s fine, happens all the time. I understand because I “fuss” and equivocate about EVERYTHING too.
While all electrologists see the “leaking fluid” as something-less-than desirable, overall, it’s not a problem. When the skin is burned (electrolysis), blood vessels expand to allow healing products to enter the wound site. Along with these elements some blood plasma (the clear to “yellow” liquid) can leak in … not bad, because it carries platelets that close the wound. (Not entirely “lymph” by the way, which is what most schools teach … ugh!).
Just wash off the excess and go about your business. Your photo looks fine. You have beard hairs that require lots of energy. You don’t have “peach fuzz” like a young woman (who will rarely see such a reaction)… it’s a beard and you will get more reaction because, well, your electrologist is removing a beard.
If you don’t want the leaking … go in less often and for much shorter appointments with no “clearance.”
Ok, I’m back again with some questions regarding my thermolysis progress.
I hope they won’t be too annoying for you - I would just like to know more about certain aspects of this process to be a happy customer in the end.
- I have noticed that since December 2017 there was not much progress in removing hairs on my upper lip. I can see a significant reduction on my neck, chin and cheeks but for some reason upper lip area appears to have the same amount of regrowth for the last 5-6 months. I know that patience is the key and that it’s a high density area but at this point of time (around 10 months in) I would expect better results (am I being unreasonable?).
Recently, I did a little test and tried plucking a couple of the hairs on my upper lip a week before planned session just to see how it feels now as I wasn’t sure if my electrologist were plucking on some of the hairs or not during the session. To my amazement, it seemed like the hairs were sliding out with little to no effort even without applying any current! How could that be? Is it possible that the follicles became weaker and/or shallower due to nearly one year of hormone theraphy?
If so, could that be a misleading component in the whole process making my electrologist think that the hairs are sliding out nicely and therefore are dead while they are really not? I’m going to ask her about it soon but in the meantime, I would appreciate your comments.
- Second question is with regard to the upper lip skin itself. I’ve noticed that even 2 or 3 weeks after a single treatment this area is usually kind of wet, like there are really tiny sprinkles of fluid all over the place. I do not see anything similar on the other treated areas (chin, cheeks, neck). The rest of my skin is quite dry, apart from this particular area so it cannot be sweat (or can it?). Also, I sometimes feel itching or very mild burning sensation (it comes and goes) and there is some hyperpigmentation there (quite noticeable since my skin is very light and thin). Is that anything to be worried about?
I looked back a bit on your posts and you said you do 4-hours per month (2-hours every fortnight?) So, at 10-months, as you state, that’s 40-hours total (probably a bit less?)
Average beard takes around 100 hours so you are not quite half done. All the “bumbleschnickels” you are seeing are part of the process.
That’s right. 2 hours of work every 2 weeks. Around 40 hours total as of now.
I’m curious because there is a rather significant contrast between the growth on my chin, neck, and cheeks (very little) and the upper lip (quite a lot). Each area was given roughly the same amount of treatment time.
More follicles per cm2 on the upper lip.
A little update on my current situation:
Due to a number of reasons, I’ve decided to try out another electrologist that was recommended by my friend. Unfortunately, she is located far away from my hometown (takes an entire day to travel there and back!) but the actual experience was much better in my opinion. There was no plucking sensation at all, no leaking follicles, less sizzling sounds, and less swelling. She uses Apilus Platinum (Pico Flash) with insulated probes. I’ll probably come back to her for the next appointments.
The only things that still worry me are:
- The patchy gray-ish/purple-ish spots visible on my upper lip and at the very bottom of my chin. They look somehow different from hyperpigmentation I’ve seen on another users of this board. If they were just slightly red I would be OK with just waiting them out but they are more gray than the rest of my skin and look like a mustache shadow from a distance. It’s more noticeable in real life than on photos but just to give you a general idea - here are my photos taken 2 weeks after last session:
[photo links removed per request]
- Sometimes, I feel a slight stinging sensations on my entire upper lip even 2-3 weeks after a treatment. I try not to put anything on that area (no ointments, no make-up etc.) or otherwise it will immediately get red and even more “stingy”. Why is that? Is it to be expected with electrolysis?
Your commentary is welcome as always.