Worried about some info

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

Hey everyone. Long time no see. My electrolysis is doing fine, or so I think. Yesterday I was searching for some topics related to itchiness (I get some in the area the first week after the session) and I found some info that worried me quite a bit:

“Scars do not show up until 6 months to a year or more later due to the fact that inflammation can take 6-8 months to recede and the scar tissue 2-3 months to contract. So, looking at your face the week after treatment does not tell you if you are being scarred.”

This is basically a horror story for any client that thinks they are healing well. I searched around and it’s from this site: http://www.tsroadmap.com/physical/hair/zapefx.html

I do have the usual redness, got two infected pimples (on different sessions, could be ingrowns, not sure) and a few spots have hypopigmentation (my skin is creamy white, I have whiter spots in some places).

I’ll post a pic of my progress eventually, got no time now. I just wanted to know if that info is accurate. My doctor had already warned me against electrolysis, saying it leaves such scars but I thought with some control amd management (doing the same area biweekly only with medium current and tending to the skin) it could be avoidable.

I’ll definitely ask my electrologist about this. I’m only seeing her in a month, though, cuz I’m going on vacation, all these hairs be damned :slight_smile:

#2

I saw that too. I was also wondering about it. Hope it’s not true though.

#3

I’m not trying to be invidious, but I don’t “mince words” as you all know. So, here’s my take on the ubiquitous SCAR ISSUE. (This post is not directed at ANYONE, and certainly not the OP!)

However, your doctor is an idiot! Did he mention that more people die from medical procedures and prescription drugs than from war or traffic accidents? The number of American deaths from “hospital accidents” alone is 98,000 per year! If you want a serious infection … go to the hospital!

From my decades of doing electrolysis I can tell you that scars from electrolysis are so rare as to be nearly nonexistent. But let me tell you another detail about the scaring issue: it’s usually something that a patient with NO HAIR is worried about. If the patient is already seeing skin damage before starting a procedure (and actually has perfect skin), I won’t even take them because it’s only “trouble ahead!”

Seriously, if you have been reading Hairtell for any period of time, you will see that the patients that are “going nuts” about “skin damage” actually have no damage at all! (No hair either.) They almost always have perfect skin and have “lost it” over a tiny temporary bump or redness that lasts longer than expected. And EVERYTHING is always a SCAR! Neurotics!

I swim in the ocean every morning with my “team.” Some people won’t do this because they are afraid of sharks! I’ve been at this for years. The only creatures that “got me” were: once a dolphin rammed me, a sea lion harassed me and a cormorant bit me. I have been swimming with sharks a couple times. But if you look at the statistics, the most dangerous thing I’m doing is the half-mile drive to the beach.

Your electrologist knows which post-treatment manifestation will cause a potential scar. But, for God’s sake, don’t immediately go to SCAR SCAR SCAR when you think of electrolysis!

I won’t fly in an airplane because they CRASH! I won’t go to the dentist because somebody got AIDS from their dentist! You can easily get neurotic about anything. Don’t! You are not going to get SCARS from electrolysis. Stop worrying about nothing!

Still, if you ARE worried about scars from electrolysis, don’t do it!

#4

Thank you for your input. You really know how to put things into perspective, I guess. Yes, I can get really paranoid about things at times. Especially because here electrolysis is nigh unheard of and the few people I speak to about it (usually of the medical field) see it as something out of the Dark Ages I suppose…

#5

Michael-

“You are not going to get SCARS from electrolysis.” This is a pretty big statement. Am I a professional? No, but I have seen some truly awful photos of individuals post-electrolysis and I find it really hard to believe that these individuals will not develop scars.

Maria

#6

I received Electrolyis on my upper lip almost 3 mo ago and I still have hard pouches at the sides of my lips that have remained the same for 2 months and have showed 0 improvement. I have 4 holes and indentation and redness that have not improved either. I see more wrinkles in those areas as well. 2 different Dermatologists have told me it was scar tissue and only time will tell how it will play out. The pros here have told me it will go away and I am still hoping for this…but there is 0 improvement and I believe it’s permanent. My new Electrologist says she cooked me (her words) says she has seen this before and it will not go away. I am hoping this is not the case. Anyway, my point is scarring and issues from Electrology does happen…and in my opinion it’s more frequent than people think. I guess I am one of the rare ones. :frowning:

#7

I am sorry to hear about your outcome, Mtricha. I also have a small area on the right side of my face that was a test area for a younger electrologyst back in early January. What seems like acne there has been permanent these last few months and if I look closely I can see a few of the pocki marks. I can only hope it heals with time.

#8

Thanks Lyrical! Sorry about your test area. My new Electrologist has been excellent…the areas she is treating are back to normal within a few hours and there is almost no pain involved. I think I was being over treated the entire time…but I didn’t know it. I assumed it should hurt a lot…especially on the upper lip. I now know differently. I have decided it’s not worth the risk to do my upper lip ever again. I will deal with the hair there. :slight_smile: Hope everything goes well for you.

#9

I must have been a one in million case.While I have had professional treatment on my upper lip, I did 95% of it on my own as a DIY’er with no discernible marking.

It’s equally concerning to me that the two of you have decided to not treat the area at all and live with the dysphoria of more hair there, than to treat the problem at all because of what happened to you. I do hope you overcome your concerns.

Seana

#10

Three months of “a hard spot” is possibly not directly related to electrolysis but a rare situation that I encountered only once in my career. Maybe, Tricia, you could have this checked? So, here goes … the story.

My patient, a lovely young woman (bikini area) developed hard “nodules” from my treatment, with no extermal manifeststion ever presenting. I was alarmed, made her stop for a few months and resumed. The hard bumps developed again.

THEN she suddenly “remembered” that she had such problems in the past because she “carried streptococcus.” She said she was even unble to wear contact lenses, because the tiny irritation caused her eyelids to well shut. All of this was horrible for her, because she was advised to not conceive because this condition could kill the baby.

I sent to her to a remarkable “infectious disease expert.” He used several medications and was able to permanently clear the infection (it took almost a year). We finished the treatment. She later had a baby, brought it to my office and we had a LOT of fun. To say, “she was happy,” would be an understatement. I think we both “got tears.”

So, Tricia, you might have a bood test to rule out something “lurking” in your system causing these highly unusual nodudles. At this point, just an observation by a dermatologist might not be sufficient. (Yes, these “strep” nodules last a very long time indeed.)

Furthermore … my saying “you won’t get scars” is in the same category, as “you won’t crash if you fly!” Can you? Yes. Is this likely … NO! But if you are fearful, don’t do it. Lots of people will not step on a plane.

#11

These things are worrying and often put people off I have been having my chin done since August and I do have what looks like small pimples for no more than 1 week after treatment or scabbing but they are tiny and just look like a pimple nothing else its often gone in days but there is sometimes 1 that will last a week. I am also having my nipple area treated and sometimes these show no signs of treatment after a day just a little small bump on the day next day nothing but there is sometimes 1 or 2 around the nipples that will be there for up to a month tiny pin prick mark this is because these were black hairs and not just thin brown ones and I’ve noticed my electrolysis zaps these more than the thin ones and goes down further and sometimes at an angle they don’t always come lose on the first zap and sometimes need up to 3. She tells me I have little brown scab or pin prick marks because my skin is so thin around that area which it is I’ve gone from a UK size 14 to 10 within the last 18 months and unfortunately I lot came off the boob area. within a month though they have healed with using aleo vera. I am booked in later this week and have asked to have my upper lip treated for the 1st time along with the others I am not so worried about this but because I am not needing so much treatment on the other area’s I thought I’d use the same time to get the lip done also. Fingers crossed I don’t end up with any lasting effects in this area ekk I’m also out at the weekend with the family for mothers day

#12

I suppose anything is possible…I appreciate your advice…I will look into it. My hard spots are 100% related to this Electrolysis treatment. I had received Electrolysis on my upper lip before…many times in the last 2 years. It was just this one time I had the issue. I don’t think it would be wise of me to have Electrolysis there again when there are hard pockets…I think it would just cause more trauma. I also have 4 clear holes and an indentation on the side of my lip. My Derm says to give it more time…but it’s probably permanent too. She is recommending fillers if things don’t improve. I have never done anything like that and am not sure I will.