I’ve had eight thermolysis sessions to date. 30-45 minutes each. I know hair will still grow, but why is there so much redness/ingrowns between treatment? What can I do? I’m so embarrassed by this - just as much as the ugly hair embarrasses me!
I use witch hazel and tea tree oil nightly. I don’t shave my face. I stopped plucking right as I began treatment in September. This, to me, is so unsightly. I figured I’d see improvement, but I haven’t yet.
Any advice? Insight?
You have had 6 hours of electrolysis so far. This is hard, but it will work, providing you are with a skilled electrologist and I assume you are.
I would not use the tea tree oil beyond three nights after a treatment. Witch hazel is fine and the best aloe vera gel available is nice and can be used as much as you want.
I see a huge ingrown hair on your neck snaking side ways. I bet your Electrologist can’t wait to get that one!
I don’t think your skin reaction is unnatural or scary. For facial work, we all do our very best to minimize skin reactions, but frankly, in these early treatments, you should set you expectations to the level where you know there will be some skin reaction. Those hairs are big and toughly rooted and are just asking for more energy to “disturb” their peaceful living quarters.
Keep moving forward and visualize a better day for your face when the hair is gone for good. These early stages of treatment are trying times for your soul, but better day is ahead. Make sure you are not feeling any tugging. Stay on schedule to get cleared and stay cleared. No tweezing or waxing in between. If you have weight issues with your PCOS, do your very best to reduce. Eating nutritious food helps heal the skin. It’s a plan you can’t do without if you want the hair gone for good. Keep positive .
You’re so encouraging, Dee. 
My first advice would be to stop using tea tree oil and then go from there.
Post treatment, you should clean the area with soap (something like Hibiclens) and water then apply some Aloe.
Witch hazel water is also good for later on and there’s no harm in using it daily.
Honestly though, the hair does not look like the hair growing through post electrolysis. Have you trimmed it any time since starting your appointments?
Give it another week, and then show us another picture. I guaratee you will see a huge difference in the skin condition.
Red, always goes away.
You did 8 sessions since september? Tht tells me you are going about once a week. It takes about 1 week -2 weeks for the evidence to completely disappear.So your options are pretty much to reduce frequency in half, in order to have a day or two’s clear skin, only to do it again, or just stick with it.The skin reaction will get better and as you continue there will be less hair to remove so less reaction. I can already see a difference versus your first pictures.
Seana
I agree with stopit, we need to know if these hairs are being trimmed.
If she has trimmed, wouldn’t it be because she doesn’t want people to see that she has a beard?!
Dee, as always…thank you. Your words are always so, so kind.
Seana, I don’t see a difference from the above photos to past ones. I trust that you do and maybe I’m just paranoid and don’t see it as you do because the little hairs are so ugly! I don’t like to look at my own face.
As far as cleaning, why is tea tree oil not recommended? I use witch hazel about 3 times a day and I feel like it does nothing except keep my face clean. It has no affect on my redness/bumps.
Lastly, I do trim the hairs. I tried cutting them with scissors as recommended, but it’s sooooo hard. I use a Finishing Touch shaver 90% of the time. Are you all saying this isn’t normal post electrolysis?
We have different opinions here and that is perfectly fine!
I personally like tea tree oil, just dabs, for three nights only. Right over top of the tea tree oil, I then like my clients to apply some aloe vera gel. You shouldn’t need the tea tree after three bedtime applications. Dabs only. Dabs only. Dabs only. Just enough to prevent pustule formation or to dissolve any pustules that develop.
Not all skin types need tea tree, but looking at your picture, I would recommend it (dabs only for three nights only, at bedtime).
I’m guessing you used too much for too long?
I used it nightly at first. It was soothing. I use it now just occasionally, but I put a decent amount on. I have 4-5 drops on a cotton round and I rub it in. Maybe this isn’t the best idea. I guess I’m just a bit confused. Am I causing my own problem here?
the shaver could be irritting the folicles. I would avoid much more than scissors but that’s just a guess.
Seana
I don’t see how. It’s not a close shave. It just clips them when they’re long. It’s hard to get scissors around this area without clipping skin or sitting in front of my bathroom mirror for hours. I HATE FACIAL HAIR!!!
Okay. You are probably in tears now and you don’t need to be. WHAT DOES YOUR ELECTROLOGIST WANT YOU TO DO IN BETWEEN TREATMENTS?
Many of us hate facial hair. The trimmer (I looked it up) may well shake the hair a bit as it’s cutting. That COULD be enough to irritate the skin and make it red. Looking at the pictures though except for a few erupted ingrowns most of the redness seems to e at treatment sites. I probably don’t have enough experience to hazard a guess.
Sometimes there are tears. Not lately, though, because I know this is best for me. I just thought it would be easier and more exciting than this…
My electrolysis lady recommends doing “whatever you’re comfortable with.” She usually recommends witch hazel, aloe vera, and a dab of Neosporin occasionally. She even recommends a product that combines witch hazel and aloe vera called witch vera. She doesn’t really see tea tree oil as an option, but says other clients use it.
Seana, these red bumps are tiny ingrowns and not treatment sites. I’m almost sure if it. If you look closely, there is hair coming out of most of them.
Tea tree oil is the natural alternative to man made Neosporin. I like natural best.
What does she tell you to do, as far as controlling the hair, in between sessions?
She told me to throw my tweezers away, so I did. She says to lightly graze the hairs with a razor or cut the hairs with scissors. I don’t like shaving as I get a rash quite easily it seems, and using scissors on your chin/neck isn’t exactly easy. That’s why I’m using a Finishing Touch shaving tool. It’s quick and easy and seems to be gentle on my skin.
This is just my opinion on the matter but I feel quite strongly about it because I myself ended up developing contact dermatitis to tea tree oil.
Tea tree oil has pretty much one function post electrolysis and that is to prevent whiteheads. It does work. However it is also drying (you want moist skin before, during and after electrolysis) and can be an irritant hence my suggestion to give it a break for a bit to see if it is contributing. When it is used, it should be one drop (diluted - preferably purchased this way) on a cotton pad and dabbed. Once a day for about two days is more than sufficient.
There are other ways to keep whiteheads to a minimum and these all revolve around cleanliness. Having just last week had 10 hours of facial electrolysis over 4 days, this year I didn’t get a single whitehead. Last year, after the same treatment, I had a few. When I used to have electrolysis locally and it was only 15 minutes on my face (alcohol to clean the area first, tea tree immediately after), I’d always develop a few small whiteheads. Small whiteheads are probably the least evil post-electrolysis manifestation because they just last a few days and disappear on their own.
Aloe-vera will moisturise, cool and form a protective layer. The best whitehead prevention is to clean the area immediately after electrolysis with surgical soap and water. It should be verrrry gently dried with cotton and then a layer of aloe applied, again using cotton.
I do love witch hazel water and use it as a daily toner… it’s not essential post electrolysis but it is soothing.
My own experience with TToil - I used it religiously after appointments when I was seeing a local electrologist; once per day for about two days after treatment. 6 months into upper lip treatment I started to develop dryness and pigmentation in the area where one would have laugh-lines. It was actually my electrologist who alerted me to the fact that it might be caused by the TToil and recommended I stop using it. I did so for a while. Some months later I thought I would go back to it and a single use caused the most horrible skin reaction - swelling, redness and blistering. I was left with wrinkling and pigmentation in the laugh line area. This was 4 years ago, and it’s only this year that my upper lip (laugh line area) has started to show a full recovery, probably speeded along by my use of Retin-A this year. The pigmentation has gone and the lines have smoothed out.
http://www.consultant360.com/content/allergic-contact-dermatitis-tea-tree-oil
I completely accept that I am an individual case. My point is just to highlight that it is a strong chemical which I personally don’t feel is necessary in electrolysis after-care.
In regards to the shaving question, I wanted to make sure that the blunt hairs that are visible have absolutely nothing to do with the electrolysis.
If you are shaving or doing a close trim, this will irritate the skin. Post-electrolysis, the skin tampering should be kept to a minimum. I wouldn’t do anything except very gently wash it twice a day for the first two days after treatment, along with recommended aftercare. The hairs should then be trimmed with scissors so that you don’t come into contact with the skin. Since you are having weekly treatments, it’s best that the hairs are left for the electrologist to treat them. If they are too short, it makes the job much more difficult.
Thank you for the long and insightful reply, stoppit&tidyup! I appreciate you taking the time to write all of that.
I will probably lay off of the tea tree oil for a while and see if that helps. I could be using too much. I will stick with witch hazel and aloe vera post treatment.
