Hello all,
I’m new here so I thought I would post some of my feelings at the moment. I’m 32 years old with fair skin and natural red hair. My mother is Italian while my Dad is German. While my Mother has dark hair, she has never had a hair growth issues and members of her family are very fair – they are from a northern region of Italy. While my hair is red, it is best described as dark auburn and I don’t have any freckles at all.
About the time I was 16 I started getting a couple hairs on my chin area. They really stood out since I didn’t have any other dark hair on my face. I used to tweeze them since they were so few in number. In my early 20’s I tried electrolysis to get rid of those hairs. Ironically while I could only see a few visible hairs, I was amazed at how long my sessions were as the electrologist was clearing a large area on my chin. Unfortunately I was in school and couldn’t afford to continue the electrolysis so I never did see any improvement. However, directly afterwards I started to see a dramatic worsening of my condition, I had coarse hairs popping up all over my chin.
This was a really hard time for me because I couldn’t afford any treatments but I couldn’t keep up on the tweezing. Finally about four years ago a clinic opened up near my home offering laser hair removal. I thought I would try it out since I finally had some funds and I wanted their opinion on whether my hair was dark enough to be effective for laser. They told me that I was a good candidate and I underwent six treatments and didn’t see any improvement at all. I gave up extremely frustrated and about $1000 poorer.
A couple years later I went to a dermatologist to see if they could find the cause of my problem and give me objective advice on the best course of treatment. They found nothing wrong with my hormone levels, and they just recommended that I start receiving treatment with their laser technician. I drilled her again on the efficacy with red heads and I was told that they had a new machine and felt I was a good candidate. Sadly I decided to try it again and sure enough no improvement.
Finally this fall I found a certified electrologist who also operates laser out of her clinic. It was great talking with someone who was certified in both procedures and she told me that in her opinion electrolysis was the best choice. I just started treatments with her and while I’ve had a little irritation after my first clear, she wants me to stay in close touch with her after treatments so that she can adjust settings and make sure my aftercare is appropriate.
I guess I should get to my feelings which is why I decided to write this long post! It’s hard to describe my roller coaster ride of emotions. At the moment I’m just feeling down and worn out. I feel great that I’ve found a competent practitioner who seems to be taking my case seriously, but I’m also feeling down about my chances for a clear face. I hate having my husband touch my face and I find myself constantly hiding it from him or other people. It’s amazing how I can deal with other issues, but having coarse hair grow on my face has been absolutely devastating, I feel so unattractive and now I have new hairs popping up on my chest just below my neck line, below my belly button and along my arms…will it ever end?