Hello all!

I recently started going for electrolysis and have gone about 7 times. I have some pesky thick black hairs on my chin and thus far I have tweezed. It got to the point that I could see the black dots under my skin so this is why I sought treatment.
Nearly every time I have gone my skin has had a pretty terrible reaction. The weird thing is- is that it doesn't show up until the next morning. Right after the appointment I go directly home to ice the area and apply all natural aloe Vera to the area and dab a little aquaphor to prevent scanning.
My chin hairs are few but dark and course. I was tweeting prior to electrolysis. I have gone to two separate electeologist and the same thing happened. Most recently, I went for just a consult with a new electeologist who used a gold insulated needle and the same marks appeared. She did 4 hairs to see how my skin would react and sure enough the next morning the hyperpigmentaion appeared.
Is electrolysis not a good option for me because of the coarseness of the hairs and how my skin reacts? I want the hair gone, but dealing with what looks like a terrible acne breakout every weak is really embarrassing.

Advice welcome please!!

If you can't accept temporary skin manifestations, then electrolysis is not for you.

Many of my clients do not have the kind of reaction that you had, but some do. Most people are healed within a week, but some exhibit some tell tale signs even at two weeks. We all do the best we can to minimize skin side effects for our clients, but there are many factors involved that determine ones individual healing outcome. If you get in your mind that maybe you will have more of a reaction and you will just have to ride it out, then you are closer to permanent hair removal. This might be the case for the first several sessions and then things calm down.

I don't know what your practitioner's are doing or not doing. Give them feedback, so they know what is on your mind and thus, perhaps they can choose to change a few things in the hope to minimize any highly noticeable acne-like reactions.

You are not ruined or scarred for life. It will heal. If you don't like the reaction, then quit and continue with your temporary measures.

The fact that the issue doesn't appear "until the next morning" makes me think it might be something you are putting on your skin and not the electrolysis itself. "All natural" doesn't mean safe or effective, and it's possible to be allergic to pretty much anything. I would try using nothing but witch hazel, sparingly, next time and see how the healing goes.

Having said that, you will always have SOME skin reaction from successful electrolysis. However, your skin issue looks to me like what some people have displayed after tweezing, so I have to wonder if maybe that plays a part as well.

I recommend you stop using aloe vera immediately. It's not for everyone. I know from experience, my dermatologist forbid me to ever use it on my face, same as with olive oil and honey, which are supposedly great things for the skin.

Just because it's natural, it doesn't mean that it's good for every skin.

Excellent suggestion angelfeather. The "natural" inclination of people is to slather "something" on their skin to help it heal. Often just the opposite happens. I recommend nothing after a treatment, but the "nervous nellies" still insist on "helping."

Dr. Chapple has discovered the same thing. Clients that fuss with their bandages and post-surgical wounds (plastic surgery) often cause infections. Patients that come in with bloody unclean bandages and did nothing to "help out" do much better.

Still, I know better ... clients that insist on "helping" will continue to attempt to find products to "make it better." Nicely, the skin usually "fights through" the added injury (cosmetics) and heals anyway. The "slatherers" will NOT listen!

Thank you for the input! When I mean natural aloe I mean straight from an aloe plant. This was recommended by a family member who is a doctor. I've never had adverse reactions to pure aloe before on my face. I think it is a combination of my prior tweezing and sensitive skin. Is there anything I can do to calm the hyperpigmentation and overall skin reaction?
Also, I use bare minerals makeup and a clean applicator the morning after. Is this okay? I've tried without too and it doesn't seem to make a difference

There is, actually, no such thing as "sensitive skin." The "sensitive" is normal skin's reaction to crap people slather on their normal skin.

Stop the slathering and you won't have the "sensitive." Just go a few days afterward and do nothing! The intense desire to "do something" is what's getting you in trouble.

You can conduct a little experiment. Use your aftercare on one side of your face and do nothing on the other side. Repeat a couple times and see if you get the same results.

Look, you have to experiment a bit before you find what works for you. No one questioned how natural the aloe is, the fact that is natural or that it never happened to bother you before means nothing - it might as well be what's causing your issues now. You won't ever know if you don't experiment and stop using it for a while.

My electrologist had warned me against using water on my chin before the next day, but I followed Michael Bono's advice and used as normal to wash my face, and nothing happened. I also use makeup right on the next day for aesthetic reasons (I can't stand the discoloration on my upper lip) and have had no issues. In fact, because I live in a sunny country and can't possibly go out without anything on my face after treatment (the sun is still out even on 8pm that I usually finish my treatment), we use a CC cream on my face that contains SPF and some colour to hide the redness - I go back home with a bus because I don't have a car, and there's no way I'll go out without some coverage. It's especially formulated for rosacea skin and has never bothered me or gave me a bad skin reaction, even after putting it on right after. To someone else, it could be their downfall.

Hence, my original argument: experiment and find out what works for you.

I’m happy you experimented angelfeather. The myths in my profession are many indeed. The no-washing (soap and water) recommendation was put in place probably 100 years ago when soap was based on fat and lye. Soap at the time was irritating to the skin and washing with it would further irritate the skin. There are no soaps or facial cleansers based on lye today. However, the legend of “no soap and water” persists and is regurgitated over-and-over by our schools and other experts.

What is your natural inclination after you get a wound? You immediately wash it … and that is the correct inclination. (But keep it simple.)

Your comment about “natural (organic)” was spot-on. You could drink natural organically-grown HEMLOCK and it would probably not be good for you!

I’m a “born-again” skeptic, which means I challenge every idea (especially my own). Don’t ever take anybody’s recommendation just because they “said so.” (I was that annoying kid in school that constantly asked “WHY?” I still do!)

Over the years lots of “medical advice” has been tossed-out. People were advised to SMOKE to calm their nerves. Women were advised not to breast feed. Many drugs were later found to be dangerous (e.g., Thalidomide). X-Ray was used from the mid-1920s until 1956 … to painlessly remove hair (all the clients and operators died from various forms of cancer).

Be cautious and, above all, skeptical!