Would you trade one year of your life?

Start here! Share your feelings
#21

I as well have never seen a client need treatment longer than two years on the one area.

Does your practitioner know that you are tweezing?Has she questioned why your treatment is taking this long? Eletrolysis is permanent hair removal and when i work on a client this is what i work so hard to achieve PERMANENT HAIR REMOVAL!!I want to see the results of my hard work.If I had a client that was tweezing/waxing while i was treating her I would refuse to continue to treat. I would tell the client that they are wasting their money.

You have to be strong and make a decision, do you go ahead with electrolysis and do it properly or do you want to tweeze and continue to have this problem forever.

Maybe set a plan have a back up electrologist so if your electtrologist goes on holidays you can make an appointment with the back up.

When you travel three times are year, do some research before you travel to find an electrologist that may be able to work on you in the country you are going, book an appointment ahead. I had a client who was getting electrolysis treatment in the states and she would continue her treatment with me when she came to Australia two to three times a year to visit her family. She kept her treatment up so she would not get tempted to go back to her previous method of temporary hair removal.

#22

Yes, my electrologist knows that I tweeze. She doesn’t recommend this. She recommends trimming the new hair growth with nail scissors, not shaving. (She has actually instructed me “not to shave.”) I am also very afraid of shaving because I think it would make things worse. I think about how I have been shaving my legs since I was 10 years old and how I have way more hair on my legs than I used to and it is much more coarse too. I don’t want the same thing happening to my face.)
I have tried trimming the new hair growth on my face at various times, but I can’t stand walking around with stubble showing on my face. I’m super-sensitive about this and I notice it on other women. (It looks so horrible!) My electrologist certainly knows that I wax because she is the one who does the waxing. I have my upper lip waxed every two weeks and my eyebrows every few months. I tweeze my eyebrow hairs in between waxings. I do not mind that I have to wax my upper lip and eyebrows. I consider this to be normal for a woman. Many woman get their upper lips and eyebrows waxed. It’s the coarse chin, neck and cheek hairs that aren’t normal for most women. You hear women making unkind remarks behind the backs of women who have noticeable chin hair growth (i.e., dark stubble). Chin hair growth is much worse than upper lip hair growth, but that too is an object of ridicule among some women.
I do realize that plucking and tweezing stimulates new hair growth. Over the years I have tried on a number of occasions not to pluck and to trim the new hair growth instead. I stepped up my electrolysis appointments to two and three times a week so I wouldn’t be tempted to pluck in between. However, I found this too stressful, time consuming and expensive and always go back to tweezing.
Since entering my 50s I have many more coarse white hairs that are hard to see but I can certainly feel them. The new hair growth has spread from my lip and chin to my upper neck area and now my cheeks.
My electrologist has told me of another one her client’s who has similar problems. Her new hair growth patterns are similar to mine. She has also been going for electrolysis treatments for many, many years. I also know of another older woman who is a client of hers and she has been going for electrolysis treatments for her lip for over a dozen years at least. The electrologist now visits her at home since she isn’t able to drive anymore.
Whenever I have had appointments with an endocrinologist or dermatologist they have all told me of medical studies that have demonstrated “poor results” regarding permanent hair removal. They all say that electrolysis and laser treatments are only a way to help control the problem, not cure it. Basically they say that THERE IS NO CURE and that I will have this problem for the rest of my life.
I have considered trying to look for another electrologist closer to home. Then I could perhaps go three times a week and get by without plucking and just trimming. This is the option that would be most attractive to me. I don’t really have a problem with waxing my upper lip and eyebrows. Many women get this done and it doesn’t bother nearly as much as my coarse chin, neck and cheek hairs. (I find the new hair growth on my cheeks the most disturbing.)
My GP is in the process of making another appointment for me with an endocrinologist. (I have been to this same endocrinologist twice before and he has had very little encouraging news for me.) I am seeing him again because my problem keeps getting worse as I get older. I want to ask him if there are any new treatments or experimental trials going on.
At each weekly electrolysis session I have about 140 hairs removed in 15 minutes. I’m usually good for about 48 hours and then I find I have to start plucking again. I pluck about 12 hairs a day (sometimes more)up until 48 hours before my appointment. I try not to pluck during this period.
I notice that most of the members of the forums here are quite young (i.e., in their 20s or 30s). I was wondering if there are any other older women who have had a similar experience to mine and if they have found their hair problem worsening as they get older.

#23

Let me tell you something your electrologist tells you she does not want you to shave because it will make the area worse, yet she is happy to wax your face. This does not make sense.

Waxing /tweezing in hormonal areas can make your hair problem worse.Shaving and cutting he hair back does not interfere with the follicle. Shaving does not change the structure of the hair,it may seem the hair is thicker , this is because you are cutting the pointy tip of the hair and the middle point of the hair is thick. Follicle is not interefered with.


Here is a diagram I drew, hope it makes it clearer to you.
Diagram A s a unshaven hair Diagram B is a hair that has been cut/ shaved notice how the tapered end is off and where the arrow is pointing is the thickest part of the hair.

Sorry guys about my shocking drawing. I just was experimenting again to see if uploading pictures would work. Good electroligist, bad artist. I think!

#24

Thank you for your explanation with the diagram. I do understand. I believe my electrologist tells me not to shave because she wants to spare me the humiliation and indignity of having to shave my face. That’s why she tells me to trim the hairs instead. (Perhaps some of her other clients have shaved and they got a lot of ingrown hairs or some other problems.) However, I found that I can’t get close enough when I trim with nail scissors and I often end up tearing the skin because I try to get a close as possible.
In any event I am absolutely terrified about using a razor on my face. I am just too worried it will stimulate more hair growth and make the hair coarser than it already is.
Some of the most bothersome facial hairs I have are the pure white wiry ones and stiff ones. I have been getting more of these white hairs as I get older.
I would be interested in hearing from other women who used to pluck but then switched to shaving (or trimming). How can you stand walking around in public with all the stubble showing? Do you use coverup to mask the stubble?
I feel I might be able to trim my hairs and stay on a regular course of electrolysis if I didn’t have to go out in public. I’m just really self-conscious about the stubble showing. I already use coverup. When I’ve tried trimming I’ve continued to use cover up, but the stubble presents a bumpy appearance which I don’t like.
The original question in this forum was “Would you give up a year of your life to be free of hair?” (In my case, it’s facial hair.) I replied that I would.
I would love to enter a protected environment where I could shut myself away for a year and just concentrate on getting rid of my facial hair permanently. Something like a monastery for women with facial hair problems. You could grow your hair freely and not even have to shave or trim the hair because you’d be among other women with the same problem and be living in a sheltered environment where you wouldn’t have to go out in public. (Although outings to doctors, etc. could be arranged on the few days immediately after electrolysis treatments so you could go out in public without any stubble showing.) It would also be good at this “monastery” to have exercise classes and calorie controlled meals to assist women with weight loss at the same time. (I’m about 30-40 pounds overweight and I know that many women with PCOS also have weight issues as do other women with facial hair problems.) If there was someplace offered like this I would be the first one to sign up.

#25

“I am also very afraid of shaving because I think it would make things worse. I think about how I have been shaving my legs since I was 10 years old and how I have way more hair on my legs than I used to and it is much more coarse too. I don’t want the same thing happening to my face.”

Indeed, “seeing is believing.” Problem is, “seeing” does not therefore make it true! As the old story goes, the rooster crowed each morning, and the sun came up. He started to worry that if he missed his crowing one morning, the sun would fail to rise.”

The “shaving causes increased hair growth” tale will never go away; but it still does manage to make me a little sick.

Consider: if a balding guy were to start shaving his pate, would the hair grow back? I think we have a lot of bald dudes that tried it. Damn, it didn’t work!

The hair on your legs was coming in anyway. Just as a young man is warned not to shave or the beard will increase … guess what, the beard comes in anyway; no matter what you do.

People certainly love their myths. Sadly, most of the world’s population still follows doctrines and beliefs set down during the Bronze Age. Yeah, progress is slow! People will continue to hold onto the “shaving” myth, because that’s what they experience. The “seeing” is wrong.

If you ever want to see how really whacked things can get, visit the “Creationist Museum.” Dinosaurs living with humans in “the garden.” Seriously, it’s hopeless.

#26

:smiley:

#27

Michael - Thanks for your comments re: shaving. I know you’re most likely correct. However, this still doesn’t take away my fear of using a razor on my face. The thought of doing it just horrifies me.

#28

Neily,

the thought of it horrified me too. I saw it as an admission that I must be less of a woman somehow.

Then a few months ago I went into an office full of people and the boss, a woman, sported a fully grown out mustache same as that of most men. Nobody seemed to think anything of it and I think it was because of her attitude.

They say attitude is everything and it’s true.

When I started growing mine out for elecrolysis and it was much easier than I thought it would be. As long as I didn’t care nobody seemed to notice but the moment I became self-conscious it felt like everyone was watching.

I still hate shaving and clipping but knowing for sure it will not be forever is a big motivator.

Besides, when my first electrologist messed up I quickly learned there are worst things than hair.

An electrical shaver should help avoid ingrowns and other issues related to wet razors.

#29

Thanks so much for your comments, Impossable. Your words do make a lot of sense and I do find them reassuring.
What do you mean by:
>>Besides, when my first electrologist messed up I quickly learned there are worst things than hair.<<
How did your first electrologist mess up? I do realize there are worse things than hair, but it qualifies as a serious “downer.” (At least psychologically and physically.)
One of many concerns I have about shaving – and I would definitely consider an electric shaver over a regular razor – is that the skin under my chin is in very poor condition (as is my right cheek at the moment). I have inflicted 30 years of damage by tweezing. My skin is bumpy, hyperpigmented and I also have a number of small scabs and open sores. I mask this area with cover-up makeup every day, but it clings to the sores and scabs with the result that I’m constantly picking off the scabbed skin and opening up the sores again. (I do this so that the skin under my chin will have a smoother appearance after I apply the cover-up.) The skin under my chin always feel tight, sore and itchy. I also now have two lumpy area on my right cheek. (Most likely due to tweezing too deeply into the soft tissue there.) These are two of the problem areas on my right cheek where I’ve also had electrolysis. I’m now very self-conscious of it right now, so I’m trying not to touch the areas and let them heal. (I’ve had this happen before to areas under my chin.) I have also had some tweezing nightmares with in-grown hairs. Consequently, I’m worried about starting to shave when my skin is in such rough condition to begin with. Won’t shaving irritate this already tender area? I think I need to focus on not tweezing that deeply and tearing off the small scabs and loose skin so that it can heal.
Is it possible to have more frequent electrolysis treatments rather than shaving and clipping? What would happen if I went for electrolysis appointments twice or three times a week? Wouldn’t that speed up the process by having more intensive treatments? (I do realize that it takes a certain length of time for the growth of an individual hair to complete its cycle.)
I am seriously going to discuss the shaving option with my endocrinologist during my upcoming appointment. I have to do something. I am so sick and tired of the constant plucking day in and day out, as well as all of the skin irritations I get from doing it.
I received the results of my most recent blood test from my family doctor today and my hormone level is normal. That’s what I thought. When I went to the endocrinologist the first time many years ago he diagnosed my condition as Idiopathic Hirsutism (IH), meaning that my hormone level does not indicate PCOS or anything like that. There is no specific cause – just links to hereditary reasons and my particular ethnic group.
My friend’s cousin sports a full grown mustache. I don’t see her that frequently, but I definitely noticed it the last few times I saw her. She acts as if it’s not important, so I presume she has a positive attitude. However, that didn’t prevent me from trying not to focus too much attention on her upper lip. I kept trying to avert my gaze because the sight of it made me uncomfortable. It just looked too freaky. I looked at her and wondered how she could walk around like that. My husband also noticed it and remarked on it.
Is anyone familiar with Jennifer Miller? She a fully bearded lady who has run Circus Amok for many years. I admire her courage to grow her mustache and beard, but feel she’s still relegated to side-show status by working outside the mainstream and in a circus environment. I can remember going to side-shows at carnivals when I was a child. A bearded woman was always included among the freaks. That’s an image that has always stayed very strong throughout my life, so it’s consequently made me feel very self-conscious about my hair problem. I just can’t get over that image, or of seeing my grandmother growing a beard on her deathbed many years ago. Below is a link to a fairly recent interview with Jennifer Miller.
http://www.voxmagazine.com/stories/2011/09/29/interview-jennifer-miller-bearded-lady/

#30

Well, I never thought I’d say this but for me, having marks on the skin qualifies as a more serious downer than just hair. Regardless if those marks came from acne, temporary or permanent hair removal.

If you don’t have any from all those years of electrolysis, that in itself is quite great.

However, that didn’t prevent me from trying not to focus too much attention on her upper lip. I kept trying to avert my gaze because the sight of it made me uncomfortable.

The things we hate on our selves we also hate on others.

Just remember, as freaky as we hairy ladies may seem to some people, we are by no means unlovable to all. Some of us are in a relationship and some of us aren’t. Just like non-hairy ladies.

Our conversation could go on like this forever. It all boils down to one thing.

As long as you don’t really believe that electrolysis can help you, every obstacle will seem impossible to overcome.

I experienced permanent hair removal from electrolysis on other parts of the body, so I know it works for sure, which why I remain committed to it even after my bad experience.

#31

Impossable wrote:
>>The things we hate on our selves we also hate on others.

Just remember, as freaky as we hairy ladies may seem to some people, we are by no means unlovable to all. Some of us are in a relationship and some of us aren’t. Just like non-hairy ladies.<<

Yes, I must admit that I had boyfriends steadily from the time I turned 20 years old. (Although my facial hair problems were not as bad then and could be controlled quite easily by tweezing and waxing.) Three of these relationships were long term (one to three years). I’m now happily married to my second husband for the past 11 years. He’s very understanding about my hair issues and knows I’m very sensitive about it. He assured me that if I pre-decease him that he would make sure that I’m shaved while on my deathbed so I won’t horrify my grandchildren. Ditto for my sisters. (Their facial hair problems aren’t nearly as bad as mine.)
Thank you for sharing your story. It does help.
I would also like to hear from people who have had bad as well as good experiences with electrolysis. I feel that once I start shaving I won’t be able to stop. Like I’ve crossed this big line and that my hair situation could possibly get worse and I’ll have to shave for the rest of my life.
I’ve read that electrolysis takes longer for someone who has been plucking and tweezing a long time because the hair follicles are bent out of shape. I’ve been tweezing for 30 years, so I’m wondering how long I should expect treatment to take. I’ve heard somewhere between 1 and 2 years. Would it most likely be 3 years for someone in my situation?
One of my sisters had laser treatments, but she only had very light peach fuzz all over her face. She was happy with the treatment but I don’t really consider that she had a very bad problem to begin with. We have another friend who went through a whole course of 10 monthly laser treatments. All of her hair had grown back after 6 months and she had to start shaving every day again. A girl at work has begun laser treatments. I believe she also goes about once a month. I remember she showed me a burn on her face she received after one visit. She was very upset, but I don’t think she’s had any other burning problems. I told her I’d be interested in hearing how effective it’s been 6 months after her treatment is completed.
I do not know anyone personally who has gone through electrolysis and had successful treatment. I only know of the two other ladies that I see when I go for my electrolysis appointments. They’ve both been going for years and years, just like I have. (Perhaps not quite so long, though.)
I really do want to have a positive attitude regarding the shaving/treatment. I’m just not there yet, but I’m trying to be more open to the possibility.

#32

Shaving can feel like a big deal emotionally that’s why it’s important to know for sure that your electrologist IS effective. Sometimes only that can give you the strength to do what you have to do.

In my case the coarse, deformed hair disappeared first so it was very motivating.

#33

Thank you for your supportive comments. Your experience does seem very positive and motivating. It has made me think more about it.

#34

Only thing that scares me is what if the permanent solution to aging, disease, and hairiness all becomes available the day after you die from said arrangement.

I would decline

#35

I would gladly trade in a year of my life to be hairless in the right places. But if someone where to make an offer like that to me, I would be highly skeptical.

Let’s say you agreed to having all your unwanted hair to magically disappear in exchange for 1 entire year. If I were the magic genie - I would ensure that I get adequately compensated for my 1) Instant and 2) Permanent and 3)complication free hair removal service. Since such a treatment would be highly sought after, I would ensure that I exact my price - which would mean taking the most meaningful, efficient, lucrative, successful year of your life.

That being said, if someone were to ask me to trade one year of my life in return for permanent removal of my unwanted hair - I would think twice, and then respectfully decline, no matter how hairy I was. Unless, of course, my hair problem has left me incapacitated - which I hope is not the case for most of us.