Guys I need urgent help. I got electrolysis done on part of my shaft two days ago with local anesthesia. My swelling on shaft skin has gone down but I noticed a lump last night on the base of my penis. I been trying to get a hold of my electrologist all day today but was not able to get a hold of him. I think the lump has gotten bigger and it feels hard. I needed u r suggestion as what to do or is it bad? Is it normal? May not be I feel! What is bad form of swelling? I heard there is certain forms of swelling which can restrict blood flow. I want to be careful and go to e r if needed!
Chill out dude! Spoke to this guy and all is well so no worries. (I was at the Natural History Museum in LA today … wonderful place to visit.)
Sorry to hear about your shaft bump. Bumps go away and I’m sure all will be well. Perhaps some moist heat would resolve it sooner. I would not be concerned about this. Give it time to absorb. It will.
The bump will go away. The “thing” is that if a patient does not expect to get a particular (normal) post-treatment manifestation … well, it “freaks them out.” And rightly so!
I went over a TON of issues with this guy, but didn’t talk about the “lump” that always seems to form (on this area). (I mostly talked about PIH which I am certain is going to happen!)
So, really this was all MY fault! Poor guy. Hey, I don’t want a lump on my “Gulliver” either … damn!
And, of course, I was playing with dinosaurs yesterday … not thinking about hairs at all. (I should have brought my cell phone! OH, I forgot, I don’t have one!)
Me, the “dinosaur electrologist” and almost extinct too! I feel it coming! Grrrrrrr … ROAR!
Bono I am chill. This post was written bef I talked to since u had mentioned some forms of swellings can be bad and will needed to be taken care of right away or it ll cause damage. It’s importamt to keep in mind that I am not a vet elecrtologist and simply a customer who was trying to get the right help after u had warned me about the danger of some swelling and after I Was unable to get a hold of u. I did not mention u r name in here so I hope u did not take it personally. … I would not be freaked had I gotten a hold of u earlier but u were out so I decided to take right precautions. Thanks for u r help Bono for treating me well and kindness. Really good to know u.
Dafhey, thanks for u r feedback. I don t know if u are using bump and lump as same but I would consider it a lump. It’s about half inch long and feels hard. I been sitting in hot tub as per Bono suggestion. Hope it goes away
I’m fine with open discussions, although it always takes you a bit off guard to see your own clients on Hairtell … especially being fearful. Still, it’s good for Hairtell readers to hear patient’s experiences in honest terms. All “out in the open” is my conviction.
Anywhoooo, for those wondering about this “episode,” here’s what my intention was. You see, far too many clients want to go “full steam ahead” and will sometimes succeed in getting you to do more work than you know is appropriate. I won’t.
This is all VERY difficult when a client has made a big effort and traveled many miles for one “short” treatment! From their perspective this is horrible. (This fellow drove 4 hours to see me in one direction! Yes, 8 hours of driving for one hour of treatment!) I get it.
However, my belief is “safety first.” Indeed, I did discuss some of the negatives of too much treatment in a small area and why I will not exceed certain limitations. One of these is excess swelling. Perhaps I might have exaggerated the dangers of too aggressive a treatment so I could get a good “handle” (control) on the treatment protocol. (Well, yes I did actually.) Consequently, normal swelling set-off the client’s “alarm system.”
Trying to work with anxious and impatient clients (all of them are to varying degrees) is vexing for all of us. By contrast, there is little “emotional” difficulty with legs, backs and so forth. But the face (upper lip!) and “personal areas” always brings out a client’s extreme worry … and I think we see this over-and-over here on this website; I understand. We deal with it as best we can.
Some weeks ago, an antagonist accused me of only taking clients that “make me look good.” In a sense I’m guilty of this allegation (although nobody knows my clients so there’s no point to it). Still, after 40 years of doing electrolysis I DO pick clients that I know will experience extreme success from my treatments, and will present the least amount of difficulty and worry on my part.
Sleepless nights worrying about upset clients? Haven’t we all done that?
And, I don’t want to do it any more. After 40 years of doing electrolysis, I think I’ve earned this right. Don’t you?
I spoke last night to my client and everything is nominal. This, of course, got me thinking: sometimes you can give a new client too much information and make things WORSE. As you can imagine, I tend to go overboard in the “information department.”
I started considering our colleagues that say, “Hairs have to be treated several times before they ‘die’.” And, “We can only kill hairs in anagen.”
Although these statements aren’t true, I understand the rationale … these statements are EASIER, and clients immediately get hold of the ideas.
Clients never seem to grasp this whole “shedding cycle” thing. I have photos and drawings and point out hairs in various growth stages: mostly to no avail. Impossible really, because no matter what, they always say, “THAT hair came back AGAIN!”
The “anagen only” nonsense would certainly keep patients “running” back for repeated treatments … so again, there is a Machiavellian rationale here, of sorts.
This latest client … well, I seriously dumped too much information on the guy and the result was a LOT of unnecessary fear. I caused it! Still, I’m never going to be able to utilize the mundane explanations, because I know they aren’t factual.
(To the woman asking about “dormant hairs” and the 3 - 4 clearances … the answer below your post is correct. If you find someone that performs this protocol, then just “go with it” and don’t worry about the biology.)