Hi all. I'm about to step in to a full electrolysis schedule and want to keep everyone updated as much as I can. I thought I would start one post that I will add on to continually rather than starting a new one every time. Below you will find my posting from another thread about my first consultation (I just cut and pasted so it would all be together) and then the information of my second consult.

I like both of the women I went to so I listed both of them in the referral section!

Ready? Here we go!!

Original Post Date 1/18/05
Well, I took the step and had my first consultation and a bit of electrolysis today. I really like the lady I went to. She is very personable, very honest, and explained everything to me. Luckily I knew most of it already from reading so much here but it was nice to hear it and see it (she pointed things out on a giant poster). She said her ultimate goal is to do as much as possible at first to get to the first total clearance in the shortest amount of time. That was what I wanted to hear!

We did 40 minutes on me to give it a try. She uses all 3 methods and said she'll experiment and see what works best on me and I honestly am not sure what she used today. She swiped the area with alcohol and then a local anesthetic and she said I could ask for more of that at any time. She started out on a setting of 5 (which she forgot to turn down, said she usually starts at 3) and that was very tolerable for me. I felt a slight sensation when she inserted the probe (she uses disposable probes and gloves when she works)and I could feel the tugging of the hair on a few, it was the most painful part but I don't think it was tweezing?? She said I was feeling that because MANY of the hairs were in the resting stage which is not the optimal stage but it must be done to get to clearance. I could tell some of them she would pull and if they wouldn't release she would insert the probe again which I'm guessing is a good thing. She did quite a bit on my chin (which I would say is already halfway to a clearance or at least it looks that way, she seems to go pretty fast) and she just kind of did some here and there I think to see how my skin is going to react.

Afterwards she put on some witch hazel and explained all the after care. She said no make up for at least 24 hours and gave me the option of purchasing that liquid makeup I've heard about on here. I had a few spots that were a little red and puffy about 10 minutes afterwards but by the time I got home (hour later) that was gone. I can see maybe 5 or 6 TINY red dots in a few spots but otherwise my skin looks great (minus the unshaven hair that is bugging the BLEEP out of me right now

She has A LOT of clients so I'm assuming she must be pretty good, but, it's just my first one so I have nothing to compare it to She works out of her home and the office was very clean and pleasant. She had music on in the background and she is very personable so we talked a lot and it made the time fly by and I think it made things more tolerable.

I go back to her next thursday for another hour and we'll see how that goes. Right now she's the only one I can get in to so I'm giving her a try. Hopefully in the next two weeks I can try out another one in the area and have some sort of comparison.

I did take my before pictures today and am going to keep track as I progress and I'll be sure to share.

If anyone has anything to offer, especially advice, that'd be GREAT!

Good luck everyone,
Savannah

Ok, I didn't go to that same woman today as I was able to get an appointment with another electrologist.

Again, another great lady. She has been an electrolgist for 19 years. She does blend because she personally has a higher kill rate with this and hence less regrowth. She didn't explain electrolysis to me since I already had the basic knowledge from my other consultation, but, she did explain how her machine works. Her machine (I apologize, I cannot remember the name) has a nice cooling tip which takes some of the sting out. She does several hairs at once, stops, removes the hair, and goes again. She stopped to show me how my skin would react (like little mosquito bites for about an hour) just so I would know and wouldn't be concerned. She swabbed the area with alcohol, showed me her disposable probes and made me watch her put it together (and throw it away when she was done) and she uses gloves as well. She uses 100X magnification with halogen lights in which case she gave me goggles (again, watched her clean them) to put on since it's BLINDING! This lady is also VERY fast. In 30 minutes she cleared my cheeks (just a few strays, but more than *I* could see...I thought there were like 3 or 4 on each side but she must have attacked at least 10 on each side!) and one side of my chin COMPLETELY. She stopped every so often to have me look in the mirror and see if I wanted to move to another area. She had me feel the area to see how smooth it was. I really like her. My skin looks awesome. I have one TINY mark on my chin where blood must have been drawn, but otherwise you can't tell I had anything done at all. I felt the sensation of the probe a lot more this time, but, I only felt a "tweeze" ONCE in the entire half our and she did A LOT of hair. She is a talker so it made the time fly by and she would stop every now and then to explain any new sensation at all.
She said she likes to start out with 2 hours a time one or 2 days a week to get to that first clearance as fast as possible.

I am going to go to her since she is half the distance and half the cost and seemed faster to me. She charges $40 an hour and is approx 30 minutes from me. The other woman is about 50-55 minutes and charges $73 an hour.

So, I go back next thursday for my first full session. I am booked for 2 hours and she thinks we may be able to get about half of my face done (apparentally there isn't AS much as *I* thought...go figure ).

Good luck to everyone. I plan on adding pictures online soon to help further see my progress. I hope that my keeping track of my progress will help others take the leap! It can be fixed, you just have to help make it happen!

Savannah

Well almost 24 hours after my consultation with the blend, my skin is looking good! There are no visual signs of anything on my cheeks (YAY! NO HAIR!!!!!! ) and just a few little spots on my chin. It mainly looks like a normal skin break out, just smaller. I think there are 2 spots. I'm not over concerned about it. Also, this time there is no soreness. With the other lady my chin hurt to the slightest bit of pressure and this time it's completely fine!

Lastnight I washed my face with antiseptic soap and applied tea tree oil..really stinks but felt really good. I am going to wait a bit longer before I shave, just to give it a little more time.

Looking forward to my 2 hours next week!!

Savannah

If anyone has an questions or comments you can certainly post, I didn't intend this thread to sound like ONLY mine!

Keep the information coming. We need more people to give us this type of info so people see that there really are people who find good practitioners and get their full job completed and maybe add some more areas to be treated to their list before they are done.

Thanks for the encouragement, James!

Well, today I had my first long session. I went for 2 hours with the women that does blend. It wasn't too bad, but it seems to hurt more now than the first time did. I guess it's probably that I was expecting it to be much more painful than it was at first.

Anyway, she asked me where to start and again I went with the strays on the cheeks (maybe 7 or so on each side, this absolutely hurts THE most) and then we went to my chin and then the left side of my face. I chose to start on the left as it seems to grow slower than the right and when I shave I always get severe bumps, burns, and marks there because it's not really long enough. She said she can see that. We have a GREAT start on it. My chin is TOTALLY cleared (both sides and underneath)and we have a VERY nice start on the left side. You can visually see a difference as well as feel it.

Again, I watched her sterilize everything, I had the BLINDING halogen light on me so I had the goggles on, she wore gloves, and we chatted the whole time. The entire 2 hours went VERY fast. She would stop every so often and let me see in the mirror how well it was coming along, and have me touch it with clean hands to see how smooth my skin was. It's kind of nice because it reinforces to me that it's WORTH it in the end!

At the end of the 2 hours she cleaned it off again and put on some cooling stuff, I think it was witch hazel, and I scheduled another appointment. The way my schedule worked out at work I have 10 days off and I intend to go as much as I can in that length of time. I am going for 2 hours this saturday and 2 hours on monday also. We are going to wait until Monday to sched me another one because she thinks we will have made a HUGE dent by the end of our session monday and I may only need an hour or so after that.

When I left my skin wasn't looking so nice. It looked like I got in a fight with a cheese grater and the cheese grater won (ok, over-exaggeration ) but seriously, it was very red and bumpy, some spots had blood. I left there at 1 pm and I got home around 3:30 pm (just because I had some things to do before I could get back) and I washed my face with some dial soap and I applied tea tree oil to the entire area. My skin is looking fine now. Can't tell I had anything done. Where the hair is gone looks so wonderful. It's really soft (and looks soft too), has a nice rosy color, and just feels so wonderful it's really hard NOT to touch it! I know I'm not suppose to tho

Anyway, that's the update for today. I'll try to update how my skin is in a few days from this intense treatment and also how my next 4 hours worth go. So far I've had 3 hours and 10 minutes of treatment time all together and I'm seeing an improvement, not huge, but it's there. I really see that it's going to be a long road, you just have to be dedicated and really stick with it. If you go in thinking it's a one or two time thing, you are going to be very disappointed. It's definitely going to work tho!

Good luck everyone,
Savannah

24+ hours post first intense treatment(2 hours) my skin is doing well. I had to leave much earlier than normal this morning so I was not able to give it 24 hours before I shaved or applied makeup but despite that it looks good. Even with the reltively small area (in the scheme of things) done, shaving was much faster. My skin tone looks wonderful, I didn't realize I had such nice looking skin under the fur! In the treated areas there are a few red bumps here and there and it feels slighty rough to the touch, basically a normal skin break out in my opinion. I am washing with antibacterial soap and applying tea tree oil 2 to 3 times a day. I have another 2 hour session tomorrow and one on Monday so I'm not giving it a lot of time to heal, but that's ok, I want that first clearance ASAP so I'm willing to deal wth a few minor skin blemishes. To me, personally, that's nothing compared to the moritification of being a female with a beard!

Had my 2nd 2 hour treatment yesterday. That brings treatment time total to 5 hours 10 minutes. So far, so good. My chin is pretty much cleared on both sides (like one or two here and there still remain) and we started working mostly on the left side as that tends to grow slower and causes me lots of problems when I shave (burns, bumps, etc). There's a good size portion of that from under the chin over towards the left clear. Very visual results at this point. This time the skin is tender and red and does have some bumps. Looks similar to a razor burn. This area has never ever been plucked. I used to use depilatories back in the day before they stopped working, but other than that, it's all been razor. I wonder if that's part of the reaction. My chin has been great but I used to tweeze it to death so it's maybe toughened up a bit. Just a thought!

Anyway, I go again tomorrow for 2 hours and I'm thinking I may have her move to the other side to give this one a bit more healing time. It's satisfactory for shaving now (the painful part is cleared, don't have to touch it with a razor) so I am OK with going to another area.

Good luck everyone,
Savannah

The best part is this type of intense work up front will lead to getting to the shorter sessions, spaced farther apart much sooner than just a little at a time every week. The total clearance time and cost will be less this way as well. It is just a lot up front, and tappers off in a short time.

After doing a lot of reading on this board (and I mean A LOT) I realized that I wanted to do as much up front as I could. I actually understood that would end up being cheaper in the long run (no offense to anyone, but some people can't seem to grasp that) so that's why I've been off and running with two to three 2 hour long appointments since starting. The great thing is, the lady I go to had the same goal in mind. I feel like we are part of a team and that's awesome!

Unfortunantely we had bad weather yesterday so I wasn't able to get to my appointment. I am going on thursday for 2 hours tho and then next week probably monday, tuesday, and wednesday for 2 hours at a time (or maybe not, depending on how my skin is doing). My skin is looking pretty good. I've been applying tea tree oil at night and aloe during the day but it seems dry/flaky (which I contribue possibly to the tea tree oil, my skin can be sensitive to some things, also the use of alcohol to sterilize my skin). It's been 4 days since my last treatment so I think I may go back to the mild moisturizer I use. A few hairs are popping up on my chin again which is discouraging but I do know that it is new hair that wasn't visible before! It has been approx 2 weeks since we've really done anything to the chin, so, it makes sense.

Just wanted to give a brief update. I'll post again after thursday.

Good luck everyone,
Savannah

A big thank you sav for updating us. I've been watching for your posts to see how you are doing. You have a great grasp on things and will do well.

If you are using alcohol to clean your skin, that is more likely to be the cause of dry, flakey skin rather than the tea tree oil. Perhaps you could switch to witch hazel which is 14% alcohol or use Cetaphil or Purpose soaps.

Dee

Thanks, Dee! I am happy to keep an update as I know I always liked to read that sort of thing when I was still trying to figure out what method I wanted to go with!

I apologize for confusion, I meant she uses alcohol to sterilize my skin before she begins. I don't touch it with it afterwards, but as I mentioned my skin can be sensitive to some things. I'd like to use witch hazel (that's what she uses there) but have been unable to find that anywhere. I've stopped the tea tree oil for the last 2 days and have done just aloe (and lots of it) and things are much improved today. It could also be my fault as the other day after my appointment I didn't give it any time to heal before I shaved (I ended up having to go out and I was not about to leave the house without being clean shaven ) so I think that really irritated it. I REFUSE to do that again. It's back to giving it 24 hours after treatment before I touch any part of it with a razor!

-Savannah-

Sav,
I also have really sensitive skin. The tea tree oil made it flaming red and sometimes it lasted for more than a day. I stopped using it regularly (only on the first night after a treatment, before going to bed) and the reaction really calmed down. I just use witch hazel and tons of aloe gel. If a spot looks a little irritated or red, I'll put a dab of antibiotic cream on it (not ointment, that will clog your open pore).

Witch hazel is a super common item. You should be able to find it with no problem in a drug store or a large supermarket or superstore.

i like reading your posts. it's also good for me to remind me of how far i've come and to see how we all do with this.
susie

p.s. My skin also got super dried out. I always thought it was from the tea tree oil too, plus that i wasn't putting any moisturizer on it. The aloe gel helps a little with that.

I use lots and lots of pure vitamine E oil (i pop vitamine E capsules that i buy from the vitamin section at the grocery store) b/c of its moisturizing and skin regenrative qualities.

I love it but some people may mind the smell of vitamine E and the feel of an oily skin, i don't know.

That's because natural vitamin e is usually a powder. The capsules contain oil that is frequently a fish oil. It is possible to find dry vitamin e, that you could add to your aloe vera.

You should also keep in mind that you want to build good skin from the inside out as well, just like you want to moisturize from the inside out. Take some of those vitamin capsules as well, just like you drink your water every day.

Hi all. I had another 2 hour appointment today. This brings total time to 7 hours, 10 minutes.

Things went well. It hurt a lot less this time than it did on Saturday. Just out of curiosity, does anyone notice it to be substantially more painful during your period? I sure did! Sorry if that offends anyone, just an observation.

Time FLEW by today. We did a lot on the left side again. There were some hairs that were on my chin again, obviously new growth that wasn't there before! She touched those up, and went up the side burn area, and really all over. You can no longer really visibly see the hair (at least not much) on the left side, however, you can feel some so it's still there.It feels like MUCH less than the right side, which has yet to be touched.

My skin is kind of irritated today, but, as it usually does, should be cleared by tomorrow. I've laid off the tea tree oil for a couple of days and stuck to aloe and my moisturizer and the flakiness went away. After today's appointment I did apply some tea tree oil, but minimal amount, because it makes it feel a lot better.

I have three 2 hour appointments set up for next week, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. She wrote me in for 2 hours on wednesday but thinks we may not need that much time. I may be at full clearance on BOTH sides then! If that's the case I'll move on to the upper lip (groan) and the few strays I have on my chest and prehaps the breasts. Those areas all have minimal amounts of hair (compared to my face anyway).

That's it for now. I'm working on getting my pictures posted as I'm typing this (waiting for them to upload) and I'll get those posted as soon as I can! )

Savannah

Here are some pictures I've finally gotten up. I tried to put it together in webpage format but I swear they have made the so-called "simple" format much harder and frustrating than it EVER was before!

http://www.geocities.com/sds_16/myprogress.html

If that doesn't work, the pictures are pages:

http://www.geocities.com/sds_16/photopagespiral.html
http://www.geocities.com/sds_16/photopagespiral2.html
http://www.geocities.com/sds_16/photopagespiral3.html

They may not be currently working because of some jargon I don't quite get but as the msg says "It should be available in an hour"

They don't work b/c there is a limit to how many times a yahoo page can be accessed and the images downloaded into each person's temp folder. Since you just posted the links, more than the allowed number of people have already looked at them, and so it locks the page

Pictures seem to be working now, anyone having any problems? I'll work on something else, maybe I will send them to you Ivelina, will let you know!

Just a quick update. My skin looks really good. There are some red bumps but I'm positive it's just normal shaving irritation as it is gone by evening. I can tell a huge difference from the left to the right side. We went out lastnight and I didn't have to worry about the left side at all...couldn't feel any growth while on the right side (hasn't been touched yet) I could feel/see a bit of growth and had to mutilate my skin to shave again because God forbid anyone shall see it! Hopefully this week I'll have full clearance on at least the left side, and be pretty close on the right. I have my next 2 hour appointment tomorrow, will update then.

Savannah

Sav,
I clicked on the link and I saw a notebook page come up with what you wrote, but there were no pics. Suddenly, the page disappeared and I got a geocities error page that said:

Quote:

---

Sorry, this site is temporarily unavailable!

The web site you are trying to access has exceeded its allocated data transfer.

---

All the other page links give the same error page.
the web may not be working, but at least your electrology is!
--susie

Guys! The web is working. Like i said before, this is one of Yahoo's features to limit broadband activity. the page will shut down after a certain number of visits per hour. It will unlock again an hour after it shuts down.

Update time. Had a 2 hour treatment today. That brings total time to 9 hours, 10 mins.

We did the few strays on my cheeks (this is the most PAINFUL of it all ). Then she did a few here and there on the left, but got started more so on the right side today. We did the side burn and worked down on the right side. It LOOKS hair free but you can still feel some. Some places bled today which has not really happened before. It was pretty tolerable over all. Even with the pain I look forward to appointments because I'm closer to leaving my life of hell behind with each one

My skin has a reaction right after treatment that lasts a few hours. It is usually just red and bumpy. I've had one day where it was insanely red and looked just awful, but that only lasted approx 12 hours. Usually by the next day it looks normal. I continue to have bumps but I believe that's from the shaving. I've always had that from shaving so close and I do still have to shave. The real test will be when I'm able to put the razor down. I'm hoping I'll have normal, radiant looking skin.

I have another 2 hour appointment tomorrow and also Wednesday. I think we'll either acheive clearance or be VERY close by then.

As far as pictures go, I was told about another site to upload pictures to so I gave that site a try. So far, so good. Here is the link: http://www.yesalbum.com/v001/sd101483 If anyone has problems, let me know. I've given up on yahoo, as I think their data transfer limit is just rediculous!

Good luck all,
Savannah

Had another 2 hour appointment today. I am VERY HAPPY to report that there is full clearance on the right side (except for the sideburn). This is the first time the right side has been worked on solely. For some reason it went A LOT faster than the left. Total treatment time is currently 11 hours, 10 minutes. I'd say if I had to break it down it would be something like: 2 hours on chin, 6 hours on left side, 3 hours on right, and 10 minutes on cheeks for strays. Give or take a few, but that sounds about right.

Today was pretty tolerable (minus the side burns, that hurts a bunch for some reason). It went fast which is always good! I just could NOT believe it when I felt it and it was totally smooth. What an awesome feeling. We need a smiley with HAPPY tears!

I have another 2 hour appt tomorrow and then I may have to wait a while because my electrologist has a family emergency in Texas and will be back the middle part of next week. She is pretty confident we will have the left side totally cleared tomorrow (we've been extremely close, but I've started getting new growth, however, the new growth is coming in slower and is a BIT finer) and if we can't she wants to sneak me in thur or fri for even 45 minutes to get it done before she leaves. With as fast as the right went today, I'm confident we'll get the left done tomorrow. I'm hoping we'll have time left over and I want to start on my upper lip and I have like 3 fine, light hairs under my lip that I want to get. Then after that I want to move on to my chest, breasts, upper arms, arms, and maybe arm pits. I've already started, so I may as well keep on trucking. If I run out of money, I'm at least ahead of the game somewhat I figure!

Pictures have been updated!

http://www.yesalbum.com/v001/sd101483

Good luck all,
Savannah

The right cheek will always go quicker than the left, because 90% or more of the time, the left has more hair. This is because the blood pumping from the heart hits the left side first, and has more nutrients. It is a better "fertilizer" for the "grass" of hair growing there. The right side gets the left side's leftovers.

If you are splitting time in an appointment, spend the bulk of your time on the left, and less than half on the right. You will get to looking almost the same on both sides.

I can usually get away with spending 45 minutes on the left, and 15 on the right and make them look about the same.

James, thank you for that explanation. Now that I think about, that makes A LOT of sense!

Today was another 2 hour appointment, but we didn't need the entire 2 hours. It ended up being 1 hr, 45 minutes. Total time now is at 12 hours, 55 minutes. I have my first "full clearance" so she says The right side is totally bare, she zapped a few new ones today, and the left side is bare of the initial growth I started with, but there is already some new growth coming in. There were a few spots that had black dots. She said this is new growth but is too short for her to grab with tweezers but she zapped it and said in a couple days I can gently pull on them and they should slide right out. If I don't feel comfortable with that, I can just wait and she said my skin would get kind of itchy and when I scratch, the hairs would fall out then. Not sure I've heard that one before?

Having had 6 hours in the last 3 days, my skin is a bit stressed out. She isn't able to get me in until next wednesday which is OK because I didn't want to go back until that time anyway. I need to give it a break to play catch-up with healing. We sched 2 hours for next wednesday. We'll start with touch ups on my face, and then I MAY start upper lip (I really don't have that much, but I intend to have that zapped too, why not, right?) and then I want to start on my chest and breasts next week also

So far, so good. I hope to get pictures updated later this week as I don't have time tonight.

Good luck all,
Savannah

http://www.boots.com/shop/product_details.jsp?productid=1054829

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does anybody have any opinions on these? would they stop hair re-growth after a while?

Have you seen the finance commercials for some credit corporation with the loveable David Spade? If you haven't, the answer to your question is: NO.

Hi all. I am very glad to have a few days off of electro as my skin needs it. My skin is healing nicely so far. I have achieved my first clearance, however, spots on the left that were cleared a week or so ago are getting new growth. It's ver frustrating because it's just one small to medium sized area that has hair. It can be seen and felt and the rest of my face is clear, smooth, and feels great. So, I am still shaving, just that tiny patch...it's right under the left part of my chin and over towards the side burn a bit. I noticed this morning that I can feel a few new ones poking thru on the right side, so I ran over that with the razor but they seem take a lot longer to grow back than they did before. It was nice having a couple days off on that side tho! I refuse to give up tho, I know it's working, so I'll TRY to have patience, tho it can be hard! I return to the electro next wednesday (2/23/05) and she has me down for 2 hours. She said we won't need that long on my face as it will just be a clean up (I'm assuming that will take maybe 45 mins to 1 hr) and then I am planning on starting on my chest and breasts.

I have updated my pictures.
http://www.yesalbum.com/v001/sd101483

Sav,
Thanks for posting the pictures as they are very helpful. What have you been using for aftercare? Excuse me if you have already answered this in a post.

Glad that you find the pictures helpful. I figure as long as they help one person, they are worth doing (I like seeing my progress too ). As far as aftercare goes: Immediately after treatment she puts on witch hazel then I just leave it alone for a few hours. After 3 to 4 hours I wash with a mild antibacterial soap and apply some tea tree oil. I give that a few hours, then I apply aloe a few times here and there. The next day I apply aloe for the most part and then tea tree oil before I go to bed. Two to three days afterwards I start using my mild moisturizer again because my skin gets very dry without it and the aloe only mildly helps. I am seeing an improvement in my skin every day. This week was very hard on it with 6 hrs of treatment in a row so I'm looking forward to seeing how it will be with appointments spaced further apart in the future!

Savannah

Oh good thanks for more info. I was wondering because I have somewhat sensitive skin. Whenever I had a test treatment I had several spots that persisted for a few weeks. I don't think I took good enough care of the area though so it healed longer on its own. Before I begin I am going to buy some tea tree oil. I might get a mild tan too before I begin so the skin will not be so pale and sensitive. I tan easily I just have not been in the sun for a while. The areas where my skin is darker is not near as sensitive as the paler areas; which are conversely the more "innappropriate" hirsuite areas. I don't know if a tan will help but I doubt it could hurt. However, to make matters worse, the acne that was on my back has crept up to my shoulders. Its not big pimples, but cystic blemishes that randomly appear. I'm afraid to begin electrolysis with those there! =( Thanks though, and good luck finishing your treatment on the way to smooth, hairless skin!

Tanning dehydrates the skin, and is not advisable to dehydrate yourself just prior to electrolysis. However if you insist on tanning for vanity, make sure that you keep yourself hydrated. You should drink a minimum of 4 oz of water an hour during the day, and have some 100% fruit juice. Make sure that it is not "Juice Cocktail"! That crap is just sugar water with a splash of fruit juice thrown in to make it look good. Get in 8oz of Fruit juice a day for extra insurance on the dehydration thing.

Many doctors advise that anyone drinking "Gatorade" style drinks, should just drink a 4oz 100% fruit juice and an 8oz water chaser, or combine the two for a watered down fruit drink. After all, it is not like Gatorade tastes yummy anyway.

Using the fruit juice and water also lessens (hopefully people will eliminate) the artificial sweeteners, dyes, and other chemicals from their diets. One is much healthier that way, and a healthy body is a happy body.

Well, I am not available to have electrolysis until the first of next year. I will be out of the country studying abroad (if everything works out in my favor) starting in August so I wouldn't have enough time to comfortably complete the recommended schedule. I would just like to even out the complexion of my skin first. I used to be very dark in my younger days but the more the hair came in the more I stayed out of the sun. I drink plenty of water anyway, trust me!

Hi all. Today was my first appointment in a week. The left side had a good amount of new growth (felt like there was the same amount of hair, but pictures show there is actually less). The right side just really started coming in again a few days ago, which James wonderfully explained the logic behind the different amounts from left to right...thanks, James!

The appointment went very well. My skin really needed that week off to heal up. It was much more tolerable today than it has been in the past. Sure, there were a few spots that hurt but for the most part it was pretty painless. I'm sure that has to do with a lot of factors; major ones being less hair and more time between treatments for healing to take place. Correct me if I'm off here We almost cleared the entire area again today, 2 hour appointment. Just a tiny patch under my chin left. That's a HUGE improvement and we're moving in a very positive direction. It took 13 hours to get to my first clearance and I'll achieve the second in just about 3! I go again on friday for 2 hours and we'll have it cleared out I believe. I will THEN start on my chest and breasts (as I've been saying for how long? )

It's like 8 hour since my appointment and my skin looks good. A few little red dots here and there, a bit sore, but will look pretty normal in the morning I think. I have new pictures that I'm hoping to get up tonight, or maybe tomorrow. Just keep checking!

Good luck,
Savannah

sav,
thanks so much for your updates and pics. I am nearly done with my electro but my skin looked exactly like yours when I started last May (i started at one hour once a week on lip and chin, now down to cleanup every 2 weeks for 15 mins.) let us know when you start on the breasts. i am too chicken to go first and wanna hear how it is first!

susie

I want to thank you too for posting your progress back here, makes me want to keep plugging along!

I had another 2 hour session today bringing total time to 16 hours so far. It was not the best session. Some lady broke her chair yesterday and she was at a loss of what to do. She is a beauty salon owner so we moved the equipment to the beauty shop part, propped a chair and pillow up at the rinsing sink, and kind of went from there. She shut the door to maintain privacy but it was a different setting so we didn't get as much accomplished as usual. Almost have it all cleared out again tho! I'm going Monday and hopefully the chair will be fixed She said she is very pleased with how things are going. I'm dropping down to 1 to 2 days per week now instead of 2 or 3 and while I still have hair coming in, I'm noticing a decrease, a small one, but, it's noticeable. Pictures are updated:
http://www.yesalbum.com/v001/sd101483

Hopefully I will be able to report a full clearance on Monday

Good luck everyone,
Savannah

Hi all. Just felt like coming in and posting today. I'm feeling very down about everything. I know electrolysis is working, it just doesn't always feel like it is. I've had my initial clearance but the new growth came in very fast and while it isn't taking as much time to remove it, I feel like it will never end. It was so great not having to shave for the first couple days after my first clearance, now I'm a slave to the razor every day again. It feels like the same amount of hair as before but when I look at my pictures I can see there is visually less...thank goodness for the pictures! I am just sad that it's taking what I feel to be so long, and so much money. I'm afraid I'm going to run out of funds (which I saved up for quite some time before beginning) and then I'll have to stop and while I know I'll be ahead somewhat, I just don't want to go there. I'm hoping that soon, VERY soon, I'll be able to get away with an hour a week and keep the area cleared. Right now, I try to go in as much as I can, and it's starting to drain me.

Sorry for complaining, just having an off day and I'm sure all of you can relate!

i know how you feel sav.. just remember that the months are going to pass by so quickly, you'll be amazed at how quickly time went by and that your almost done! You will find yourself expanding to other areas of your body because of the success of electrolysis!

good luck! and hang in there!

-Rach

Thanks, Rachelle. I've been keeping updated with your progress and you seem to be doing very well so it is certainly keeping my hopes up.

Today is just an off day for me, hopefully I'll have a GREAT treatment tomorrow (my electrogist thinks we may not need the entire 2 hours that are scheduled to get me cleared out again, I sure hope so ) I wonder sometimes if I went in with my expectations a little too high. I've been doing as much as can right now because it's my understanding that the bulk of the work up front leads to shorter appointments quicker and hence a little less money in the long run, but it doesn't seem like I'm making that much headway doing it this way, maybe I'm off? I just want to add that I think this board is awesome. I'd still be sitting and wondering how I was going to make it thru another day of shaving, bumps, make up, and embarassment instead of doing something about it if I hadn't found this board and gotten all this great info! Thanks all!

sav,
hang in there. the months are going to pass by anyway, you might as well spend them getting this problem taken care of once and for all. I'm not sure how long you've been at it, but just think, by summertime, your growth will be so cut down, you won't even have to own a razor anymore.

it's a pain sticking with this for so many months, and i remember months 4 to 7 were definitely the worst for me. I got sooooooooooooo sick of going, but i kept with it, and now i am nearly done.

hang in there, baby, summer's coming!
susie

Thanks Susie, I'm definitely to the point of sooooooooooooo sick of going! *grrr*

BUT....today went well. We worked for 2 hours, cleared everything but right under the chin. I am down for 2 hours again on thursday and we are going to mainly concentrate on that area under the chin. That hurts A LOT to me so she said she will get some numbing stuff for thursday.

I picked up some polysporin at the store today and began applying that as well as my aloe and tea tree oil (at different times of course).

Things are starting to look up, a bit at least. I'm just sick of going and want it gone, gone, gone, but I know I need to stick with it, so I will!

I will try to update pics tomorrow...they are gettin good

Good luck all,
Savannah

Hi all! I am feeling a lot better today. I'm really glad I've been keeping the pictures because you can SEE the progress a lot more that way than just looking in the mirror, or by feeling the area (still feels like the same amount of horrible hair to me). I would highly recommend keeping pictures (maybe not as obsessive as myself )


Anyhoo, my pics are updated: http://www.yesalbum.com/v001/sd101483

I, personally, am starting to see quite a difference from one pic to the next!

Savannah

Hi all. Two more hours today. Went really fast, hurt quite a bit tho because it was right under the chin and down my neck. That part is always quite painful. That's really all that's left with hair to work on right now tho with the exception of a few strays on the side burns! I go back next week for 2 hours, may not need the entire 2 this time. That'd be GREAT! Getting there, slowly but surely.
Pics are updated @ http://www.yesalbum.com/v001/sd101483

Updated pictures to show you how my skin looks the day after treatment with proper care. http://www.yesalbum.com/v001/sd101483 I'm getting there, even tho it sometimes feels that it's taking F O R E V E R!

Good luck all! If you have any questions please feel free to post, I check often!

-Savannah-

Well it's been a week since my last appointment and it couldn't get here fast enough. I'm starting to run out of money so will have to drop to once a week for two hours (maybe even an hour) but I'm to the point where I don't really mind. I am so glad that I worked so aggresively at first and would highly recommend the same.

After a week w/o treatment we were able to clear the left side entirely (of course, there's new growth that is short enough not to be top priority) in a 2 hour session. A feat that took almost 8 hours to accomplish the first time around. I go again next wednesday for 2 hours and we will probably clear the right side out (this initially took just about 2 hours worth of work) and probably work on the left again.

Today hurt quite a bit starting out and I'm not sure why, but after about 10 minutes it didn't hardly hurt at all.

I was starting to get depressed thinking that there weren't any changes and so annoyed by the regrowth but after clearing out the left side today, in just 2 hours (again, compared to about 8 the first time) I can really see a huge difference. And that's the thing, I can SEE a differance when I look in the mirror, but it still feels like the same amount to the touch....I am determined to stick with it for at least one year, even if I have to cut back to just 1 hour a week, I will make it work!!!!

Good luck all, I will try to get pics updated later tonight and if I'm annoying anyone with my obsessive posting and pictures, please let me know...that's certainly not my aim!

Good luck all,
Savannah

Sorry I'm slacking on the pics but they have been updated now! Just so everyone knows, there are 2 pages worth now...prehaps I'm going overboard? Anyhoo, again, you may view them here: http://www.yesalbum.com/v001/sd101483

Hi all! It's been a week since my last appointment and, as always, I couldn't wait for it to get here! Today I was down for 2 hours but I got there early so she started about 10 minutes early and went for 5 minutes afterwards and just charged me for 2 hours! That rocks!

So, my total electro time is currently @ 24 hours (roughly, give or take 15 minutes here and there). I can't say I'm close to being done but I am finally noticing a big difference. Do keep in mind that I am doing my entire "beard" area and I probably have a lot more facial hair than what some of you are going for so naturally it's taking me longer. I feel I'm on track, but if anyone wants to offer me any advice either way,