We have some extra vicodin in the house (my dad got a bunch but since switched to taking percocet for a shoulder fracture.) Since we have so much extra, I thought it might help with electrolysis pain, but I was wondering if such a strong narcotic would actually help the pain? I’ve been on vicodin before after ankle surgery and it helped the pain a lot. If I plan accordingly, and if I like the electrologist I’m seeing on Tuesday, she will let me do a 5-6 session (about the time until Vicodin wears off.) Until more electrologists start working with doctors to give lidocaine injections in my area, we’re stuck finding ways to reduce the pain. Obviously, this is kind of an extreme measure, but I’m getting desperate lol.
Has your pain been that bad?? What area are you getting treated?
Yea it has :(. Perhaps the electrologist I see on Tuesday will be less painful? Who knows! I’ve been doing my shoulders/upper back/nape of neck with one electrologists, and then the one I’m seeing on Tuesday will be doing the beard. Actually, the upper lip has been one of the least painful areas for me ironically.
Oh, yes, indeed Vicodin will work, but I would never tell you to take it. You need to consult your doctor and have a driver on hand after the session . The electrologist should definitely know if you took something for pain.
Oh thank God it will work!!! I’ll talk to Johanne when I see her on Tuesday to see her thoughts about it. She’ll also get to see my low pain tolerance lol
I’m someone who took Vicodin during my initial treatments. I can tell you it’s an extremely powerful drug, and you should never drive while under its influence. It’s also a potentially habit-forming drug. There are two different strengths, 5 mg and 7.5 mg. With either, I’d suggest you break the tablets in half and use only one portion, 30 minutes before your scheduled appointment. You’ll still feel things, only more dully and less intense.
As Dee pointed out, have someone to drive you home afterwards. Your coordination and response times are both drastically impacted by hydrocodone, and you should NOT be driving.
I’m curious… How much did the vicodin help the pain? (Even half a pill?) I’m well aware of the side effects, so I’d probably nap in my car until the hydrocodone wears off. To my understanding, the effect shouldn’t last more than 6 hours, which is how long I can do an appointment for.
As I mentioned, it dulled the pain, but did not eliminate it. I was having my upper lip treated and it helped.
How much did the IBP help with the pain Caith ?
The IBP definitely reduced the surface reactions, Mike. It also focused the electrolysis energy at the bottom of the follicle, rather than radiating up the length of the probe. It was infinitely more comfortable using your probe, once Margaret adjusted to using it (about 15 to 20 minutes).
Do you think it was worth it? Ironically, my upper lip was the least painful area. The jawline/chin hurt WAY more.
Everyone’s reaction and sensitivity is uniquely their own. In my case, I can definitely say it helped me. Some visits were better for me than others, probably owing to my varying stress levels at work.
So I guess from what I heard, top level electrolysis ranges from painful to easily tolerable depending on the areas. Just to add my questions, how painful is it on the front and back of the neck, and upper arms and hands?
Let me explain to you…
1.Facial area…the most painful areas are jaw line and upper lip.Because these areas have dense nerve supply.Jaw area has madibular nerve supplying them which is a big nerve.So it hurts more.Upper lip has facial nerve supplying there and the nerve network here is very dense .So Its going to hurt.
2.Neck area…its also supplied partly by trigeminal nerve…so hurts but its very less when we compare it to other areas.
3.Upper arms owing to less dense nerve supply hurts much less.
Overall,it depends on your pain sensitivity and pain threshold too.It varies from person to person…some are hypersensitive,some are moderately sensitive and some are less sensitive.If someone is insensitive in certain areas,it means he/she has a problem with nerves.I hope it will help you.
Maybe I’ll try a Vicodin one time. I saw a new electrologist today and it was a lot less painful than what I was expecting (some pulses definitely hurt but overall it was less painful.)
I want to add that hair on the cheek near the eye also hurts a lot. I must be one of the few people that have hair that far up the cheek though
You can try Vicodin (people have had it prescribed for electrolysis), but I think that a topical like EMLA or LMX5 will be more effective and safer.
Safer I believe. I’ve heard that topicals have limited effects from one electrologist, but then a bunch of others I know use them because they think it’s really effective, so I keep getting mixed messages. The good news is that the electrologists I saw yesterday… I felt substantially less pain than I expected (still a bit of discomfort that if I could get rid of, I’d be thrilled), but overall a lot less. I’m going to try and see one more (trained by the one I saw yesterday) who’s a lot closer to me, and if she’s at around the same pain level, I think I have a good plan.
Regular lidocaine, or worse, benzocaine, are not very effective for electrolysis. But EMLA and LMX4/5 are made to penetrate deeper into the skin and are effective when used properly. If you have medical insurance, EMLA will only cost you the copay.
I tried LMX4 once and I don’t recall much of a difference (it’s possible I didn’t use enough of it since my leftover bottle was almost empty – and it was a few years old.) One electrologist did send me something to give a doctor to get a prescription:
It’s a “Benzocaine 20%/Lldocaine 8%/Tetracaine 4% in a gel or ointment base (Compounded).” I think I can get 60 grams of it for about $70 (probably depends on the pharmacy, but one in LA will do it for $69)
I can also buy something called Dr. Numb which I think is 13% Lidocaine and Prilocaine (although then I found somewhere else that said the active ingredient is only 5% lidocaie?)
You probably didn’t use the LMX right. You need to put on a thick layer and occlude it with plastic wrap for an hour.
LMX4 is 4% lidocaine. EMLA is 2.5% lidocaine, 2.5% prilocaine. It’s not how much lidocaine they pack into it, but how well it penetrates deep into the skin. You can get 4% OTC lidocaine ointment for much cheaper, but it won’t help that much for deeper in the skin.