What to expect?

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

Hi everyone, i’ ve just started my electrolysis treatments and my goal is to remove facial hair from chin, cheeks and sideburns. It’s not a huge amount, and they are mostly light, but long, some of them are darker and i want clear, hairless face as much as possible. I’m reading topics on this forum and sometimes, they depress me even more, even though i thought i couldn’t be any more depressed. I realise that electrolysis is a long process, and i’m ready to commit, but i’m not sure that i can take everything that goes along if i don’t see any results at all after every treatmant.

Should i expect anything after first treatmant? I know everything about hair cycles, but i’ve read many stories here where people don’t see any improvement for several months…How is that possible, assuming that the electrologist is skilled and the equipment is good? I just want to clear my face as soon as possible, but after that happens, i’m not sure what to expect…I think i can get full clearance soon (by that i mean my hole face treated once, if i’m using the term correctly) and i would be the happiest woman in the world if i see that hairs are actually growing less.

If, for example, i get full clearance on my second treatmant, why do i have to go every week for several months (first of all i don’t have that amount of money) if growth after full clearance won’t be as it was before? What percentage of regrowth to expect after the first full clearance? I’m sorry if some of the questions are already answered somewhere else, but i guess i’m a bit impatient although i know that impatience is my enemy number 1 in process of electrolysis, and thanks for any further explanation.

P.S sorry for my lousy english…

#2

Hi,

If you get full clearance from your second session, you should be able to not have another session for a few weeks.

Yes, a week later some hairs might start to come through but it’s usually a while before there are enough to justify a proper session again. OR some people just like to tackle anything as soon as it comes up. So maybe just a 10min session after a week to catch those few hairs that have come up since clearance and keep going like this.

Everyone has different requirements, so you need to figure out what is best for you.

If you want my advice, I would start with just one area and see how it goes for a few weeks or even a few months. If the hair is lessening and coming back slower and if the electrologist maintains your skin, it will give you more confidence in the process (and your electrologist) and then you can shell out more for quick clearance of the rest.

Has your electrologist estimated how many hours you will need for clearance?

#3

She only told me that in the beginnig i would have to come more often, and then less and less often, until we get to the satisfying point. I was exaggerating when i said i can get my full clearance on my second session(she works until she is done with an area, has no time limit), i mean i could, but then my whole face would be swollen for days, and i think that she wants to go step by step so there is no much skin trauma… so i will probably take your advice about treating one area at the time…I just want so bad to get to the point where i know we’re done with face at least once…

Thanks a lot for replying, i’m aware that some of the questions were answered millions of times, but i’m just too desperate in trying to bring my life back to normal, i guess i’ll have to wait and see for myself, since everyone reacts differently…

#4

I know how you feel but I think it’s best to err on the side of caution. Reading some of the stories here, I’m glad I started off slowly.

I would pick the area that bothers you the most (for me it was sideburns and a handful of coarse chin hairs) and work on those. Once the area starts looking ‘clear’ you should notice that it’s quite some weeks before it starts looking how it did prior to treatment. And if you are going back regularly and clearing up regrowth as soon as it appears (before you can even begin to notice it), then you will never be in that position again. It only gets better, which is something to be positive about.

People have other things to consider as well, one of them being travel. Someone who lives close to their electrologist and can go whenever they want for 15mins to mop some regrowth is going to go about it differently to someone else who has to travel 2hours and can therefore only go once a month.

I’m not sure if you have seen my electrolysis thread. I have some pictures of my sister up. You do start to see a difference very quickly if you can put in the time (or are just working on a small area).

#5

The way this works is that you go in often and for long treatments up front to get your clearance. After that, you only come in every 2-3 weeks to clear the area again (i.e. kill any new hairs that popped up). You’ll continue doing this for about 12 months after your first clearance. By the end, you may not need to go in more than once every 3-4 weeks.

Btw, do you know the reason behind your growth?

#6

Thank you both for encouraging words, i really needed those :slight_smile:

@stoppit&tidyup - i think i saw some of the pictures, but i will check them again just to add some hope into whole process :slight_smile:

@LAgirl - yes i’ve checked everything, and everything came up normal, which is good in so many ways, but in one way it makes no sense to me why i’m this way, and not ‘‘normal’’… I guess it has something to do with receptor sensitivity, or genetics, my mother is also hairy, but only in regular places - arms and legs, while my situation is way worse and it spreads all over my body…But i decided to take every possible measure to get rid off this silly problem, that caused me so much frustration.

Also i would like to mention that i would be satisfied even with reduction, meaning it’s not absolutely necessary to be completely hairless, cause it’s normal to have some amount of hair everywhere, so i hope that won’t be that hard to achieve…

Thanks again, it really means a lot to hear succes stories, makes the journey easier to bare.

#7

Mary Jane, if what you have is something similar to this case:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB8HtlrgtDw&feature=channel

The second clearance should not occur until 12 weeks after the first clearance.
If the hair has been shaved never (as in the case of this young woman), the time for the second clearance should be 20% of the amount invested in the first clearance.

#8

My main problem is that i have a lot of light but long hairs all over my cheeks, and then some darker on my lower cheeks and sideburns that are coarser, and also mostly light with couple of dark hairs on my chin. It’s like a peach fuzz but longer than it was before and it makes my face appear abnormally fuzzy. So i can’t really compare with this case, because i don’t see much fuzz here…

But to give u some idea, if i take a picture, you can’t really tell, unless you zoom it, and then those darker hairs are visible only. If it wasn’t for the freakish lenght i probablly wouldn’t care that much. Also i’ve never shaved or remove any of the hairs except for the couple ugly ones on my chin. This interval between the two clearances sounds great (if by that u mean that there is no need for any work during that time)…

Maybe i could start with wierdest and longest ones, since i have impression that if i go for entire face, that would take ages, and not all of them are that strange…I don’t know, i’m going tomorrow to work on that ugly hairs between my chest all the way down bellow my belly button (those are dark and some of them are coarse, but i think there is less of them there, than on my face, since i can count them; on face there is just a lot, one next to another…), so i’ll ask my electrologyst what strategy is the best in my case. I’m affraid if we go too much in one session, it would make a big mess on my skin since the folicules are so close one to another…

#9

Dont underestimate how long it will take to get to first clearance on your face. If you want all hairs removed it will take long for first clearance because there are so many little hairs right next to each other. I think we have similar hair except mines are all dark peach fuzz over my entire cheeks.I have done 4 1/2 hours so far and still have not reached 1st clearance. My electrologist is great and works fast, but there is just so much peach fuzz all over my face.

#10

Hey jezebel17 :), i know that it’s gonna be a long process, and i’m trying to be realistic, so i’m not expecting hairfree face even after my whole treatment is done because, as i said before, some of the hairs are shorter and lighter, so i won’t treat those… I think i’m just gonna focus on the long ones, in order not to traumatise skin too much, while getting rid off the hairs.

Can you tell me are you at least anywhere near the first clearance, and does it look better even without the clearance?

#11

Most electrologists focus on getting rid of the most noticeable hair first. So don’t worry too much. You’ll see a difference pretty fast.

#12

Hi Mary Jane,

It seems like your aim is the same as mine. Personally, I don’t talk about clearance when it comes to my face as I’ve never ‘cleared’ anything on it.

Take for example my upper lip, which I started last year in April. I started off using 20mins of my session every 3 weeks on the upper lip. My electrologist would just go with the most obvious hairs she could do in 20mins. This 20mins became 15mins, then 10mins and now it’s just a few mins every 4 weeks.

I just had an appointment yesterday and I asked her what she thought and she said there was not much there that she felt needed treatment. I still have lots of very short, very fine hairs on my upper lip (that I bleach otherwise it would make my skin look grey); I never wanted those treated and there’s not much more left to be honest.

The overall time scale for treatment would be the same but I imagine a different way to do it would be to get all the obvious hairs gone in one session and then not have another appointment for 6 weeks. For myself, I preferred my way because it wasn’t traumatic on my skin and an hour after treatment, no one would be able to tell I had anything done.