Update on what I decided to do

I just wanted to update for a few people that helped me out when I first got on here and share my story with people in hopes that it might help or give insight to someone. So I’ll give you a quick version of my story…
I’m a female getting the bikini area done and started last September going once a month after that and each session getting a full clearing of the area. Well in April of this year my electroligist decided to stop her practice to work full time with her husband so I had to make a decision of what I wanted to do. At first I thought laser would be the way to go because I wanted to get more removed than what I was getting done, so I went for one treament with the lightsheer and had decent results. I know that you can’t tell what’s going to happen with just one treament but i wanted a full clearing and getting that much electrology work done scared me. I knew it would take a long time and alot of pain in certain areas. So I decided to bite the bullet and try laser. I’d say my biggest disapointment was that there were areas that were definately missed or she turned it down too low to make sure she didn’t burn the sensitive area. But over all it was a good experience alot of my hair came out and some of the areas are still pretty low on hair amount and it’s been 7 weeks. It was a hard decision to make but my final decision to continue with electrolysis instead of laser was because of 2 reasons, I wanted to continue getting hair removed but can’t tan while doing laser and because laser just hasn’t been proven to provide the results that I want at this time. Especially after the last treatment where the hairs I wanted gone the most didn’t even fall out. They might be too light in colour.
So I went for my first appointment with a new electroligist just this last friday and it was great. She cleared the area that I use to get done and I didn’t have to feel most of it. Emla never really worked for me so I would just use ice to dumb for more sensitive area. But the new lady I am going to does the numbing with a shot to the area so that you don’t feel the whole process at all(except the shots to numb the area…lol) I would recommend if you have someone in your area doing this go try it out. She use to be a nurse so she knows what she’s doing and i had no problems with the area after except some small bruises from the machine she uses to inject the numbing agent. I go back on Monday to get more of the area done to work up to my goal of getting it all removed.

P.S. Andrea I hope this post is ok on this side if not I won’t be shocked to see it moved to the mature side. But I wanted everyone to have a chance to read my experience. Thanks for the great site. :grin:

With this kind of anesthesia it’s hard to tell if you are getting overtreated. Watch out and good luck!
PS. How many times are you going to clear the area. I hear that 3 times is usually enough.

The first half of the treatment we didn’t use the anethesia…we wanted to make sure it wasn’t too hot. I know what it’s suppose to feel like so after we did 3/4 of one side and it wasn’t burning or the hairs being pulled out we decided to give it a try. But definately you have to be careful when using the anethesia. I was wondering what you mean about only needing to be cleared 3 times? you have many growth cycles and each hair might need to be treated more than one time…at least that my understanding. Maybe i’m wrong, but I can’t see 3 clearings being all you need.

I am a female interested in getting hair removal for the bikini area, so your post caught my eye. I was leaning towards getting laser over electrolysis, but after reading your post, I am now unsure of which method to use. You mentioned that you chose electrolysis over laser because you can’t tan when you do laser. But do you think that electrolysis is more effective than laser? Which one do you think is “riskier?” I just started reading up on hair removal methods, so this is all pretty new to me. I’d appreciate if anyone could fill me in, and maybe suggest any electrolygists in the L.A./Orange County area.

i8washabe: If you are near the Fullerton area in orange County, I would recommend for electrolysis Janice at (714)526-0313. She also has a daughter in the same business; so if you want to speed things up and have the money both can work on you at the same time. Both will also treat men in the pubic area.If you want other names that I have used let me know.What area are you most interested in getting done and how quickly do you want to finish that area.

looking 2b:
A dead follicle does not grow hair ever again.
About the three clearings: This is Mike Bono’s suggestion for body – 3 mo after 1st clearing about 50% of hair is back (new, untreated hair). It takes half the time to remove. In another 3 mo some new hair grows, and after that is cleared, you’re basically done! Mike Bono uses blend, and I think that blend is better with destroying follicles in any growth stage than thermo.

There are only a certain number of active follicles on your body. So when you get cleared, all visible follicles are destroyed. But there are more active follicles than you see, because hair grows and is shed on a constant basis. Then, in 3 mo the other untreated follicles grow hair and you destroy them too. Then a 3rd clearance is needed in 3 mo to get what ever still remained from before.

I think I understand your difficulty with 3 clearings. A lot of electrologists do not wait for all the hair to grow before the next clearing and this way you get many short clearings. This looks better and is just as effective. I think, that the reason why Mike Bono prefers to wait, is because he wants the skin to totally heal in between to avoid permanent skin damage.