Well, I finally did it! I had my first treatment today!! After lots of researching and a couple different consultations, I found an electrologist. She has 22 yrs experience, is a CPE, extremely professional, spent tons of time answering all my questions. I really felt comfortable with her.

She used the multi-needle galvanic on me (I'm having my stomach done, which are some very coarse hairs). Each hair was treated for 3 minutes (I felt a slight burning sensation,nothing unbearable), and then I would feel an occassional tug/pluck. Does this sound about right? I'm a little confused on the whole "plucking after treatment" thing. Also, is three minutes too long per hair? I know it varies with the Galvanic method.

When it was over, I felt fine - no redness or soreness. Even now, 5 hours later, there are just those tiny little pinprick scabs. I can hardly notice them.

Overall, I felt like it was a great experience. Can any one answer my questions/give me some feedback? I'd appreciate it.

It sounds like you are doing fine.

In straight galvanic 3 minutes is not the longest I have heard of a hair needing. In fact, I have had straight galvanic done on my hard to kill hairs that needed 10 minutes per hair! What matters most is that the full bulb system came out intact on removal, and that you felt no more than the "pop" of the bulb coming out of the small opening and not the same feeling you get when you just pull an untreated hair out by the root.

See, it works if you visit as many electrologists as you can, and get consultations and sample treatments from as many as you can.

Keep us informed about your progress. You may even do us the favor of going to the referral section and giving your electrologist's contact information in a post along with you testimonial. As you know, the most asked question around here is.... "Who's good in (enter city here)" Surely you all don't expect me to travel the whole country gathering that info? I would run out of hair before I were done!

While you may have found a good operator, consider the method that she is using. Compare spending 3 min./hair in galvanic to maybe 10 sec./hair in blend. The difference is 18 times! Now, compare it to maybe 0.5 sec./hair in thermolysis, which will yeild 360 times faster treatment! Or compare it to 0.05 sec./hair in flash thermolysis, to make the treatment 3600 times faster! And these are all valid methods of permanent hair removal.

If you only have a small area to clear, which is cleared in a half hour, you're probably in good hands. But if you want a lot of work done, consider a more cost effective method. Galvanic operators will swear by their epilator that their method gives a more thorough treatment. I don't know of any scientific studies that support this view, and I doubt there ever have been. But, even if it was true, and the chances of the hair coming back are smaller with straight galvanic, retreatment of a hair with a faster method should still have you finished many times faster.

Good luck!