Hiya,

I saw your posts regarding finding a good electrolysis expert in London. I am at my wits end with my full beard...I too have really bad side burns and have now developed hairs coming out of my cheeks, I am so distressed.

I am really pale (celtic skin) my hairs are really long but pretty fuzzy kinda like a bad old lady beard with a few spikey hairs in there for the mix, I tend to bleach but I noticed a change in my facial hair recently. I has gotten coarser and I went to the doctor who was useless and wanted to put me on Dianette???!! I suspect I have PCOS but am having trouble getting any help off the doc.

Anyway I live in London too and I am having a nightmare deciding where to go for treatment. I was just wondering if you have continued with treatment at Parkside and how effect it has been? Any help or advise you could give would be fab!

hi clairfairyscot.

What a coincidence! I just remembered after ages that I said I would update this thread for other Londoners, thankfully not too long after your post.

I totally sympathise with how you're feeling
I have always had a full beard since puberty but no one has ever suggested that there might be a medical reason for it and I've never had it checked (maybe I should?). My sister has the same facial hair pattern so maybe it's just in our genes. I'm sure someone who actually knows about this stuff can give you some advice on the diagnosis situation but I think birth control could help whether it's pcos or another hormonal cause.

Anyway, on to the happier stuff! Have you looked through the British Institute and Association of Electrolysis website? They have all the registered people in their directory. The ladies who were mentioned here are all on there:
Sara in Harrow (rec by Benji), Geri in Walthamstow (rec by Morrissey) and the Parkside gals (they are all registered). Sara was too far away for me to go to regularly so I ruled her out but if you think it's feasible you should. Geri was not working at that time and I really wanted to get started so I couldn't see her then either but if I later decide I want more of my face done I think I will go and have a consultation with her. Not because I'm not happy at Parkside but I think I would be able to get longer treatment times with someone who works from home (therefore quicker full clearance for whole face). The cost she quoted me per 15mins is the same as if you buy a package from Parkside (significantly cheaper than their 15min rate) but after the package I bought runs out I think I'd rather pay as I go along and Geri is a lot cheaper for that.

The electrologist I am with has been registered with BIAE for 10 years. The other electrologists have been registered for a similarly long time as well (one I think for a realllly long time). So far I have been going once a week (except for when I was ill for a while) ; first a 15min appointment and then 4 x 30min apps. In this time she has cleared the sideburn areas that were causing me the most upset. She has also taken care of some coarse chin hairs that don't bleach that I usually pluck and also some around my eyebrows. I was having some doubts in the beginning but once I clarified with her why I wanted the particular area of sideburns to be treated and what hairs were causing me the most upset, everything has been fine. I think she now knows that I want the areas *I* want treated, rather than what she thinks is best (prob the whole face!), so she does hand me a mirror during the treatment so I can check if it's going okay.
As for the treatment itself, it's going well as far as I can tell! I would say she works at least at about 1 hair/10 secs. There is a little discomfort during the current but it doesn't hurt, I'm usually almost falling asleep! Afterwards, the skin is a bit red but not for too long, about 15-30mmins. A few times, when she's treated a stubborn hair, there has been a little mark left (she did let me know this would probably happen) but it's like the kind of scar I get from a spot when it's half faded away, so it hasn't bothered me. They have almost faded completely now anyway.

So far there hasn't been any regrowth although I imagine it will start appearing in a few weeks. The chin hairs that she removed would have definitely been back by now if they had been plucked so I'm so happy that they aren't! It's such a difference to be able to move my hair back and know that no one is staring at my bleached sideburns!

She also treats/has treated people who have had bad electrolysis or laser treatments.

Since I haven't seen anyone else,I can't really compare but so far I'm happy with the treatment at Parkside and the fact that I chose electrolysis!

Hope that helps, feel free to ask me anything else!

Yes, you should definitely get tested. The fact that your sister has it may mean that you both have a condition that's inherited. Find a good endocrinologist.

Hi Stopi&tidyup,

Thats really put my mind at rest. I have an appointment with Sara next Thursday and she lives quite close to me so I am really happy about that and she was really lovely on the phone.

I got told off for pluking my moustache hairs...she told me to trim them, and I have been bleaching my side burns, but they look ginger because I am so pale. I am both scared and excited about treatment, I never leave the house with out make-up especailly when I go to work, can you wear make up a day or so after treatment??

My hair is so fine but very long and lots of it...will it grow back finer or stubbly??? I just want to be able to wear my hair up without people pointing and saying I have a beard!

Wish me luck for next thursday and I will post how I get on!!!

Thanks for your help x

Lucky you! That sounds really good. I wish I was closer to Sara! Benji mentioned in his treatment thread that Sara also uses flash, so if you decide to go for this your treatment should be much faster to begin with!
If you can get all the areas you want treated cleared as quick as possible, that's it! Then you just need to keep going back regularly to catch the regrowth as soon as it appears. I do hear that it can be frustrating when you're still going after a year but as far as I'm concerned the areas will more or less be hair free for all this time (if you keep on top of the regrowth) and you will get permanent removal eventually!

Since I haven't had any regrowth that I can see yet I can't tell you from my experience but my electrologist has assured me that it will be finer when it comes back. She also told me that it's a good thing that I never plucked/waxed as the hairs are much easier to remove because of this and hopefully the follicles will be destroyed sooner. Oh, and she said that the hairs do take a few weeks longer to come back than if they had been plucked, so yay for longer hair free periods!

I actually have my treatments in the morning so she has to clean my sideburn area and any makeup that's there! But it's fine, I go to work straight after (smelling a bit of tea tree oil though). During the day I apply some aloe vera too (because it doesn't smell) and more tea tree oil when I get home. The next day I will be wearing makeup as usual! I keep on applying tea tree oil at night for a few days after too. As long as your skin doesn't have a reaction I don't think it will be a problem to wear makeup the next day, as I do. If there is any problem, maybe make your appointments on a Friday evening, then your skin will have the weekend to recover.

Best of luck, I can't wait to hear how it goes - hopefully you won't be able to stop looking at your hair free skin in the mirror!

- You should get witch hazel at a drugstore and apply it several times a day to help the skin heal fast. Try to avoid makeup for a bit to avoid irritation etc.

- The hair grows back thinner and thinner each time.

- As I mentioned before, you get tested for any hormonal conditions that may be causing the growth. This is important because electrolysis can only remove hair that's currently there. It can't prevent your body from producing new growth if you have a condition that's causing it to do that.

Hi,

Thanks for your advice!

Unfortunately I work shift patterns so I don't get the same day off everyweek hence why I can't really go mak-up free (I have hyper pigmentation on my upper lip after all those years of waxing, I have been waxing including my arms since I was 11 - I am 28 now) Oh if only I knew then what I know now, I would have just bleach all my hairs instead of waxing/shaving/plucking, luckily I didn't touch my sideburns, as tempting as it was!!!!!

I don't think my hair growth is hormonal as my grandma had a full on beard and my mums got sideburns...although I think she trims them, I certainly don't wanna be doing that!!!!

Thanks again for all your advice, I really wish I had found this site sooner, I have been suffering for years thinking I am a total hairy freak and none of the girls I know seem to suffer with hair like me. It's such a comfort to know that others understand what I am going through and how this dreaded hair can ruin your confidence and relationships in everyday life! But hopefully when I see Sara next week I will be on the road to a hair free face.

Just one other question Stopit&tidyup...you say you haven't seen regrowth as such yet how long have you been having treatment??

Many Thanks again xxxx

hmm yea, i do bleach an awful lot! my face, my chest, my tummy! i was never able to bring myself to wax these areas.

i think we should both keep bugging our doctors to find out if we have any medical cause for our hair growth. i was talking to my sister yesterday (she's younger than me) and she agrees that even though most of our facial hair is not long, it's just way too much and we both have a lot of hair on our chests (between our breasts especially) and tummies. it just doesn't seem 'normal'. so we have both decided that we will keep going to our GP until they take us seriously and look into it. it will probably take forever!

i had my first appointment on 13th May and my first 30min appointment the week after. So it's been about a month since the first hairs and so far no regrowth!

i usually spend the week looking forward to my next appointment as it means more hairs gone!

Can't wait to hear how you get on

Like I said, the fact that it's in your family doesn't mean it's not caused by anything. Hormonal conditions are hereditary as well. If I were you, I would looking for an experienced Endocrinologist doctor (specifically this type of doctor) who has lots of experience in the field.

Thanks for your advice lagirl - it's definitely spurred me to have it checked out. i had considered it before but i thought the doctor won't take me seriously or think i'm a hypochondriac. the problem in the UK is that you need your GP to refer you to a specialist and convincing your GP that you actually have a problem that needs a specialist to look into is often a struggle!