When should hair start to regrow after treatment?

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

How many days after treatment should the hair be regrowing? I just want to be informed on everything I can to know it’s working. Like when will the hair stop regrowing? She has done some spots like 5 times already. It’s just hard to tell I guess how much hair I had to begin with though. I do have a bad facial hair problem. She might be very good at what she does, but I just have trouble trusting because I’ve of all the stuff I read about electrolysis not working because the electrologist was plucking, under treating etc. I just am afraid of wasting money, pain and time.

It’s like I would know if the hairs were treated based on how fast they regrew. When I pluck hairs they regrow in like 2 days. So if hair regrows in 3+ does that mean they were treated correctly?

Thanks for the help.

#2

A plucked hair normally takes about 6 weeks to grow, unless it was broken off during plucking, in which case it can be sooner.

When you pluck a hair, unless it broke, you aren’t seeing that same hair two days later, though you might see one coming through that was very close to that hair and, thus, you think it’s the same hair.

A properly zapped hair will never come back… after ONE SINGLE treatment. Nobody has a 100% kill rate that I know of though, so a few hairs will survive every time, and those could come back anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 months later.

A lot of your hair is currently dormant and it takes about 6 months for every single hair to start growing in at least once. The simple fact is, anyone claiming you can be totally done in under 6 months is lying to you, since you can’t overcome the physiology of the hair growth cycles. You simply have to be patient and expect it to take 12-18 months to complete. If you are a chronic plucker and continue to pluck throughout the process, it’ll take even longer.

So, those hairs you are seeing 2-3 days later are simply hairs that weren’t there when you were treated (or maybe they were visible under the surface of your skin, but they were deep enough that she didn’t want to treat them yet).

#3

I always cut and shave my facial hair. When I did pluck I would pluck a few dark ones. The same hair I plucked would take a few days to regrow, if it took 6 weeks then I would have plucked more of my hair and wouldn’t have even started electrolysis. My facial hair grows in quick. I just know my facial hair well and it seems like hair is regrowing where she has been treating it. My facial is course and there is alot though.

Thanks

#4

Also, is it really possible to kill a hair first time treating it? My facial hair is course and dark, I thought the hair just gets finer? I have a hormonal imbalance could that affect regrowth times?

#5

If you destroy the cells that make the hair grow and the stem cells that can regrow those cells, yes, the hair is dead in one single treatment.

If you were told that the hairs gradually weaken over time, you were misinformed (that’s one of the most common bits of misinformation propagated by a lot of schools).

The hair is completely dead as soon as all of those cells are destroyed, whether that happens the first treatment or the 23rd. To accomplish it in one session, you need a proper insertion, adequate settings and good technique.

If you pluck regularly, every day is another 6 weeks for a hair that you plucked previously… hence, why it can seem like they are regrowing that fast.

#6

Oh and as for hormonal imbalances causing faster regrowth, you probably don’t have more testosterone than average guys… and even in them, it doesn’t regrow that fast.

#7

Well, I don’t pluck, I cut and shave, so the hair I had during my first electrolysis session was all the hair I had.

There are alot of factors for the hair to be killed on the first try.

The hair does seem to be thinner and lighter. I thought each treatment breaks the hair down until it dies? That’s what other electrolysists are saying on this forum.

So, why does it take so long for hair to get killed? Someone on here has been going every week for an hour after 4 months and sees minimal results and people respond saying it’s a long rode and hair weakens and thins out. It goes in stages and most course hair can’t be killed on the first try?

Thanks for your help.

#8

Not everyone here says that it takes multiple treatments to kill a hair… Michael and Josefa are pretty big advocates for the “kill it in one shot” ideology.

Electrologists that say that you can’t kill a hair in one shot either don’t know any better (schools teach lots of misinformation) or are trying to simplify the idea of growth cycles because a lot of clients can’t wrap their head around the fact that there are dormant hairs that will continue to come in, especially in the early stages of having work done.

Simple fact is, if you destroy all of the cells that make the hair grow, that hair is dead. If you destroy the stem cells that can turn into those cells, the follicle is totally dead. If any of those cells live, that hair has the chance to come back - maybe weaker, but eventually, it will probably turn into a full blown terminal hair again.

Thicker hair is more resilient for a couple of reasons - the hair gets in the way and insulates the cells from the heat portion of thermolysis or blend, the follicle is more developed and thus there are probably more cells to kill, and the follicle is deeper, with the terminus of the follicle, where the hair grows from, is separated further from the bulge where the stem cells live, requiring more energy or pulses of energy in both locations to properly destroy all of the cells.

A lot of electrologists that don’t know any better can successfully do this just out of sheer luck, but if you know to target both areas, your ability to kill the hair in a single session grows. For electrologists not destroying all of the cells, the hair can very well grow back, albeit initially weaker.

As far as going every week for 4 months and not seeing results goes, first, we have all of this dormant hair that is continuing to activate and start growing. If it takes 6-8 months for all of the hair you have to cycle on once, it’s going to take 3-4 months just to have HALF of your hair turn on, there’s still another half left. Second, we tend to be pretty harsh on ourselves and often magnify our own problems in our head - a lot of people I see have spent an entire lifetime trying everything they could think of to get rid of their hair, so they’re going to be impatient, magnify the current situation in their head to a worst case scenario, and then convince themselves that it’s not working even if it is, especially if it is somewhere as prominent as the face. Finally, not all of the hair is going to be killed in a single shot since nobody is perfect and we all try to work as reasonably fast as we can while still doing our best, so some of the hair coming in WILL be actual regrowth of undertreated hair.

At the end of the day, I’ll give you the same advice I give to everyone that walks through my door… don’t just settle for what I (or in your case, your current electrologist) am doing, try out other people and go to the best one… if that’s me, great, if not, that’s ok, I’m glad you find someone better. I tell every one of my clients what to expect and that, if I’m not doing a good enough job on any particular day, I want them to call me out on it. I don’t want anyone that just settles on me out of convenience/laziness and I don’t want to ever get to the point where I’m complacent in the work I do.

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#9

I’m always so happy when emancipated takes on a question here, because she is always so dead on with her answers.

It comes down to killing those germination cells, whatever the method. The percentage of time this is done successfully, becomes the “kill rate” and different techniques combined with operator skill will determine what the kill rate is.

Seana

#10

These are no the same hairs in only 5 days if you were treated correctly no pulling. If you left your hair untreated and left to go in for at least 6 months prior to the treatment didn’t remove any from the root then I’d suggest your electrolysis is not doing it properly.

If you did remove hairs and didn’t leave the hairs unattented for several months prior to the treatment then these are new hairs growing in and taking turns. Its only when you start electrolysis that you see the truth of your condition and amout of hairs.

I started with 6 hairs or so I thought under my chin black I would pluck 2-3 every 2 weeks and I thought it was 6 hairs pupping up in the same places under my chin I’d pluck as they came up. just gone 2 years and I am fully treated but hey guess what those 6 hairs turned out to be a hell of a lot more taking turns.

Once you remove a hair from the root it takes at least 3 months for that hair to shoot out again kill by electrolysis it will never shoot out again only if plucked or not treated correct and even then it will be 3 months for you to see that same hair.

Do more research on this forum and online on hair growth cycles your electrolysis should have explained all this too you. Mine did actually states it takes 8-12 weeks for it to regrow but leaving for 12 weeks is recommended for longer sessions clearances, those of us that don’t want to walk around with hairs on our face to get full clearance from the get go have to go in every week or 2 in the beginning eventually it will be 3-4 weeks then 4-6 weeks when you get to 6 weeks you’ll see it suddently jump to 12 weeks which is the sessions I go in now but I do clarify that any that I have cleared now are blonde and not something I would have bothered to had treated prior to starting this process.
I continue to go because I know she will kill them hairs and for £15 I go for 10 minutes its money well spent for my own vaniety I openly admit, follow exactly as your electrolysis says for 9 months and you will never look back.

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#11

I have been to 5 15 minute sessions and 2 30 minute sessions on my face. I have alot of course dark facial hair (pretty much a beard) I started on Nov 6, but I missed a week then I missed three weeks due to work. Now I have been going every week for 30 minutes. Sometimes the sessions are more painful then others. The hairs slide out when the settings are higher and painful, when it’s not as painful some hairs feel like they’re being pulled.

I know every hair on my face because when I went originally all my hair was grown out because all I have ever did was shave/cut/makeup.

Now she has treated certain sections, however I see some hairs still about to pop up on those areas. It’s reduced, but she only just treated them Tuesday. Hairs she treated over a week ago are popping up again, but are finer/lighter. I see some tiny dark hair dots in those sections.

The skin looks a little discolored, so it looks like there is a shadow with hairs underneath the skin.

So, do some hairs just need to be treated multiple times and it takes awhile for an area to be cleared for 3 months?

Thanks for advice!

#12

GH…they are NOT the same hairs! they are hairs that were out of cycle of growth when she treated. It is IMPOSSIBLE to know all of them because they are microns apart and their hair cycles, are not synched together! You have many more active follicles than you can see at any given time. It takes anywhere from 6-12 weeks for a hair to regenerate. These…are not, the same hairs she treated! There is no concievable way they can grow back in a weeks time, and you would FEEL it if they were broken hairs.

Relax, let your electrologist work, and have faith in the process. It works!

Seana

#13

Ditto (Seana) … sigh!

#14

In this regard, the key is in your explanation. The pulled hairs are growing again. There is a famous phrase in electrology: “If you don’t feel anything, nothing is happening” … unless, of course, the area is anesthetized.

No, all of your hairs will never be present at the same time. Even if you never touch them, the hairs fall out during the shedding phase. The hairs on your scalp for example, are hairs that you do not usually pluck, however, there is always a percentage of them which fall out every day. The hair that fell out yesterday or the day before is not present today, therefore, you will never have 100% of the hairs present on the surface of the skin. That is the reason why you need at least 2 clearances to be 100% hair free.

I do believe that poorly treated hairs can take a week to return. Do not forget that electrolysis brings extra blood to the area (making it all happen faster), and therefore, the time it takes a hair to return is not the same as when the hair is removed with tweezers.

#15

Thanks for the advice and help Seana and depila. I really appreciate all the advice and help I can get.

Electrolysis is painful and expensive, so I just want to stay on top of the process and make sure it works.

So, when I get home and see an area cleared should that area remain clear until my next session or will hairs start popping up through out the week?

Do hairs have to be treated during only certain phases to remain gone for more than a week?

Thanks again for the help. I just come home from electrolysis and see all these areas cleared, then within days hairs come back and now the area just looks lessened.