First off, thank you to everyone here. A few months ago, I was reminded how nice permanent hair removal would be. I’d always dismissed it because of the possibility of scarring, but this time I decided to look into it a bit more. The information here was, of course, wonderful, and I’m able to go through with this now confident I’ll get what I want from this.
My current plan is to do my throat,nose hair (the outside kind), and unibrow. Of course, once I get clearance on those spots, I’ll probably want more done
Based on a recommendation from a certain top poster, I went to see Rhonda Elmer in Monroe, Wisconsin. I live in Madison, so she’s just over an hour drive away, but if I can get quick, effective treatment, it’s more than worth the drive. While she was treating me, she was talking about how long her sessions usually are, and she mentioned sometimes she works on an electrologist from Buffalo, NY who always wants 4 hour sessions Apparently his post on this forum brings in a lot of referrals, too
The treatment itself hurt much less than I expected. The thermolysis hurt considerably less than plucking, which surprised me. However, overall the treatment was fairly uncomfortable, simply by nature of having a strangers hands all over my throat, and being unable to talk while she was working. However, I’m pleased with the results; my only disappointment is I’m not sure how soon I’ll be able to get enough time off work for a 1.5-2 hour session.
Here’s a picture, after the first half hour of treatment. Note the pimple and ingrown hair. They are what drove me to this. Neck
This looks very good, Zhentar. Yes, try to give her enough time to get the whole neck cleared asap. Let it heal and then get in for any new hairs that show themselves from that day on and you will see gradual permanence over the next several months. I’m thinking that an every three to four week schedule would be good for a while after that first full clearance, however, Rhonda, is the boss on that one.
Thanks for the picture and I will say again, this looks good.
Looks like you don’t have that much hair on your neck, at least compared to other posters here. I would recommend to try to do longer sessions so you can get a full clearance before you leave her office. This will make your treatments finish faster, plus save you some driving and gas money.
p.s. I wouldn’t do this for a unibrow or nose, but in case others are wondering, there is enough hair and it’s coarse enough to be treated quickly and effectively with laser on your neck. it may not make sense for you since you’re already doing the drive for electrolysis.
I would like to second the motion on getting fully clear on that neck. If you give Mrs. Elmer enough time, she will have that all cleared out in one day, and you can get on with a good 3 weeks where you don’t have a problem with it, and it will take less time for her to re-clear it the next time.
Let’s see, good work done quickly, and comfortably. Sounds like a winner! I may also take this time out to point out that Mrs. Elmer is a perfect example of someone who has an older machine (although it be computerized) who does very comfortable work and does nicely without more than a circle lamp. (I just can’t help imagining where she would go with at least a vision upgrade, if not a machine upgrade.
This sounds familiar. My neck is a labyrinth of ingrown hair. Until a few months ago I also dismissed the obvious option - part because of cost and part because of possible scarring. To make matters worse I tried tweezing for several years… which made things a lot worse (double duh! :crazy: )
Well, I finally motivated myself and did a bit of research and found this site - probably the No. 1 resource out there. I still was pretty nervous going to the first few appointments kinda not knowing what to expect… well several weeks later, a number of hours lying still and hundreds of hair gone, I would say between this site in general and the help of the top posters (and maybe a little luck) I seem to be in good hand. And I am still amazed that you feel not much, except for the “tapping” of the short wave pulse.
Looking at your photo I would guess we are making progress at a similar pace. (Thank you for posting the photo - I felt like I was making progress, but when you are new to this it is hard to gauge - so it is nice to see another example.)… Except unfortunately, that amount of hair makes up only a small corner on my neck. So it will take me a little longer.
On the bright side, the area that we treated 7-8 weeks ago so far is staying pretty clear - a few fine hair and just now there are a few dark dots showing up, maybe 1 for every 30-50 hair treated before.
When I asked my dermatologists about ingrown hairs, they both offered the same advice: stop shaving. Thanks a lot, that really helps :crazy:. Everyone around here is much more helpful
Oh, I got that from my doctors as well, all those years ago.
Big help. They offered to write my employers letters stating that I was under doctor’s orders not to shave, but somehow, that never saved my job when they decided that I was in violation of their (adjuticated criminal) appearance standards (but how often do corporations violate the letter of the law and get away with it) and so I just figured I had better either get a job that did not have such a ridgid appearance standard, and/or get all my hair removed.
Oh, yeah, one doctor was helpful enough to offer to help remove my ingrowns, and write me Rx’s for skin sloughing agents, and antibiotics for just $75 per doctor’s visit, and the cost of the drugs for the rest of my life… I chose electrolysis instead.
Well, I’m a bit slow on updating. I had a 2 hour appointment with Rhonda a week ago. Luckily, it was just enough to get clearance on not only my neck, but my brow and nose as well.
I had to pluck a few hairs to even up the brow, but much better. Much much better.
Neck after 2.0:
It doesn’t really show in the picture, but I could tell that the circle lamp is holding her back here; there were definitely some hairs she missed in the redness. Fortunately, since there’s so much less hair now I’ll be able to go longer without shaving before our next appointment, and make sure the hairs are long enough to see easily.
Immediately after treatment, Rhonda applied some aloe vera gel. In the evening, after washing my face I applied an antibiotic gel prescribed for my acne.
I don’t know. Why don’t you try spot dabbing some on a small area and see what happens? I’m thinking that these products are too harsh for most skin types.
Benzoyl peroxide and Reten-A are not electrolysis post treatment products, they are skin sloughing agents, and alpha hydroxy acids. That is why we suggest things like Tea Tree Oil and Aloe Vera, and even Witch Hazel, they all have sanitizing and healing properties.
I had another session yesterday. It went faster, cleared everything again, and a few other spots around my neck, in an hour and ten minutes. We remembered to check the insertion count this time- 779.
So, everything seemed to go pretty well, but today, I woke up to this:
(Click for bigger version)
Whoa Doggy! Better ask her if you can come in and show this outcome or take the picture with you. Please, please inform her and let her comment. Use some cold aloe vera gel carefully applied, since it’s around your eyes. Spot treat with a little tea tree oil at night.
It will heal, just don’t get treatment until it is completely healed. I don’t know if this overtreatment is caused by probe selection, shallow insertions, intensity and timing issues, but she will know since she treated you. She’ll want to correct whatever she thinks got you to this outcome, so do tell her so she can change her strategy. She’ll know what to do. You’ll be fine.
Zhentar- how long does it take the redness on your neck to subside and not look noticable? I am doing my neck as well but most of my hairs are shallow, blonde, vellus hairs. I find the neck the most painful and sensitive area to treat. Also- what kind of antibiotic is topical gel you use that you say helps with the aftercare? Does it help the redness and/or pustules go away?
I would say that especially since this result is in the place between the eyes that it is very likely that what happened was you scratched yourself while you were sleeping due to itching in the treatment area. This is why we say, Tea Tree Oil overnight to speed healing while also protecting from bacteria, virus, fungus and so on. Aloe-Cortisone to stop itching if needed, and Aloe Vera during the day to speed healing and to have something that has no scent working for you during the day.
James- I doubt it was scratching, I’ve never had any itching from treatment areas.
I had another round of treatment on saturday. I made a longer appointment this time, and it was only two weeks since my last appointment, so I figured we’d have plenty of time left over to work on my chest. Nope, spent 1:45, and 1050 hairs, all on my neck and brow. After going two weeks straight without shaving, a lot hairs that had always been shaved off before they were big enough to be seen showed up, and two weeks was still long enough for some regrowth to start poking through.
I mentioned the scabbing to Rhonda, and she adjusted the settings this time. No scabbing.
I tried tea tree oil this time, and it does seem to be working a little better than the clindamycin gel.
Alli- the redness is pretty much cleared up today, two days after treatment. And I certainly find the neck to be more painful; I can barely feel it at all on my brow, but the sides of my neck and the crease between my neck and jaw are quite unpleasant. I hope next time doesn’t have so many new hairs, because spending so long on sensitive neck hairs this appointment had me ready to bolt when my appointment was wrapping up.
Apparently his post on this forum brings in a lot of referrals, too 
I may also take this time out to point out that Mrs. Elmer is a perfect example of someone who has an older machine (although it be computerized) who does very comfortable work and does nicely without more than a circle lamp. (I just can’t help imagining where she would go with at least a vision upgrade, if not a machine upgrade.
