Time needed for each insertion?

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
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I got the following note from Jenny in May:
</font><blockquote><font size=“1” face=“Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif”>quote:</font><hr /><font size=“2” face=“Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif”> Is it true that the needle must be delivering a current to the follicle for 6 seconds for the blend method to be effective?
My friend who does electrolysis says the above is true and that for the galvanic method to be effective the current must be delivered for 19 seconds to kill each hair.
All I know is that I have spent a fortune on electrolysis over the last 25 years and not one practitioner inserted the needle for anywhere near 6 seconds, it was always 1 or 2 at the most.
Whatever is true the treatment has never worked and I basically feel really ripped off. No information is ever provided about how it should be done and there is no overseeing body to govern all those practitioners out there who are doing it wrong and ripping people off.
What is the truth in this matter and where can I find the right information </font><hr /></blockquote><font size=“2” face=“Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif”>If you were getting thermolysis, the treatment time can be pretty short (especially with flash thermolysis). However, your friend is right if you’re getting blend done— it takes a little longer, especially on heavier hairs.

There are several variables that affect how long a hair needs to be treated. The prevalent working equation used by electrologists using galvanic and blend is the concept of “lye units.” In other words, it takes X units of lye to treat a given hair. As you might imagine, the thicker and deeper the hair, the more lye units are needed to kill it.

In his excellent book, electrologist Mike Bono categorizes hairs by the following units:
15 unit (fine vellus hairs)
30 unit (small terminal hairs on upper lip, face, arms)
45 unit (medium terminal hairs on face, chin, arm, stomach)
60 unit (large terminal hairs on chin, legs, back, shoulders, bikini)
80 unit (very coarse hairs on men’s beard and back)
Bono (1994) p. 143

So, the equation is: energy level x time = lye units.

If you want to treat a 60 unit hair at 0.3 milliamperes of power, it would take about 20 seconds with galvanic only. (3 x 20 seconds = 60 lye units)

The example your friend gave is based on a common standard that blend takes about one-third the time of galvanic alone, when at the same energy level. Below is a quote from Richards’ and Meharg’s authoritative book:

“For example, if you needed 18 seconds of galvanic current intensity at 0.4 milliamperes to remove hair using galvanic electrolysis alone, then you would need only 6 seconds (one-third of 18 seconds) of galvanic intensity current at 0.4 milliamperes in using the blend.”
Richards & Meharg (1991) p. 130

Unfortunately, finding a good electrologist is difficult in the U.S. as well. Regulations aren’t even in place in many states here. Your best bet is to go to someone recommended by a client who is done and happy. Easier said than done, I know!

[ May 05, 2002, 02:48 AM: Message edited by: Andrea ]

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Andrea, a thank you goes out to everyone who submits their time for this BB and hfacts site. It is invaluable to interact with people trying to achieve the same goal. I am in the lengthy process of removing hair from basically the upper torso, so in addition to my practioner attacking areas I can’t reach, I have a gentronics 16 probe unit that I use to reach areas i can do. Here’s my question. Since I literally have thousand’s of follicles to insert into, I want to maximize the time needed to efficiently to do the job per insertion. So the units of lye chart is useful to know that we are supplying enough lye to cause permanent damage to the area intended, which makes me think of this question. If 80 units of lye will take care of the “toughest” of hairs, which I use significantly more, lately I have been using 200ma for 5 minutes (600UoL) overkill i guess but, here’s what I am wondering. Does the hair have to slide out effortlessly to know you have done the job on that one, because even at the level of 600 units i would say 1 out of 4 hairs do not come out easy and they don’t have the ever presence white gelatin shaft , sheath or whatever that is at end of shaft, does this mean that I have wasted my time on that follicle?? Thank you for any feedback and also even though I don’t have a choice because my practioner is the only availble multiprobe electrolysist in my area, what’s your opinion of $85/hr, supply and demand is one thing, but it’s still gonna cost (very rough estimate of course) around 15-20 thousand for her to complete what i can’t do. I already spent 4 grand on laser i could have applied on this, just wondering what you think a national average is per hour? Thanks David

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My practitioner charges $30 per half and $60 per full hour. She has several years experience. She also does laser hair removal. I have never had electrolysis but I am considering having it done on the few white hairs that are left on my chest after laser treatments. I feel like I have wires growing out of my chest if I let them grow out. For some reason the white hairs are very coarse.

I didn’t really notice the white hairs until most of the dark hairs were eliminated. The less hair you have, the more you notice what’s left. At this point I don’t want to stop at anything short of total hairlessness. Like someone else said in a recent post, once you go smooth you don’t want to go back.

RJC2001

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specbid, sometimes a hair will not slide out because the bulb is fatter than the follicle. You don’t always get the gel sheath to come off with the hair.

The main thing it to make sure your insertion is deep enough and placed properly. This take some skill to avoid skin damage. You don’t want to over treat your skin, to you can cause scarring.

I’d say the average is at about $75 an hour for electrolysis nationally, give or take $40 depending on the area and the clientele/reputation of the practitioner.

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Andrea, what is the significance of the gel sheath coming out with the hair? Does that mean the follicle is dead? If I pluck an ingrown hair or the singed hair after a laser treatment I will sometimes get the gel sheath too.

If the follicle is bigger than the hair shaft, does that mean the hair will always be there? How does this apply to laser treatments, if it even does?

RJC2001

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This post string is VERY OLD, and RJC2001 got his answer long ago, but I thought this would be a good one to bump up for the newbies who need this info.