I am one in the same person, although I went on to learn professional electrolysis from some of the great advice from some of the other pro's here.I did all of my own facial work, here as a DIY'er.
what machine you choose may depend a lot on what part of the world you are in.I would look at a machine capable of blend. I've gotten a lot of mileage out of my apilus kit but there are lots of great machines made by sterex, fischer schientific, silouette tone, instantron, claireblend, to name a few. I feel the low intensity rf used in blend makes it safer for DIY than thermolysis alone. Blend works extremely well and it is the modality I learned first. I still go back to it often.

Seana

Thanks Seana, looks like I'd better get saving then! I'm in the UK where it seems like the only machines available are the Sterex ones, so looks like this is going to set me back about £600 if I'm lucky enough to find a second hand blend on ebay. What would you say is the main risk/most likely user error with thermolysis alone?

An incorrectly adjusted thermolysis machine is literally capable of slicing like a scalpel. Heed Seana's warning VERY seriously.

this

OK that's pretty terrifying.. by incorrectly adjusted, do you mean on too high a setting/for too long? It actually looks like I may have done something like this with the one-touch, there is a long line-shaped 'burn' where perhaps I was pulling the needle up against my skin from inside the follicle, from all the faffing about and leaning over to touch the touch-plate on the unit..

Meaning that even standard thermolysis current can and will cut flesh if the insertion is inaccurate and there is pressure against the skin with the probe. I've done it to myself , with an eyebrow setting which should have been low.

galvanic currents from a one touch wont do that but if a probe is against flesh the resulting lye will cause burns of sorts.

If when you learn to do electrolysis properly you can try practising on a piece of pork. this will give you a good feel for what the energy can do

I have been doing galvanic and blend on myself with a professional machine. I wouldn't consider doing thermolysis on myself for all reasons explained above. Before you even buy a professional electrolysis machine, get a textbook and learn the basics. One Touch is a toy compared to power of professional machines, so be cautious and learn the theory.