After reading through almost the entire electrolysis forum I finally started treatment on my face. I am so glad I found this forum because it really helped me to understand what I should look for in a practitioner, what a realistic goal is and what to expect during and after treatment. I did break one rule already though. I have only gone to one lady who seems good. Read on to find out why I'm going to start looking at other practitioners.

I started treatment on the upper lip, the chin and under my chin. Now I've added my lower lip. My electro uses blend on me with a Clarblend ultrablend. She uses gloves and a new ballet gold probe at each session. She showed me her sterilization oven and she sterilizes, bakes and packages her cataphoresis (sp?) rollers after every use. She also has a spore check binder that she uses to send samples to some requlatory agency to check for spores. I live in CA. She is a CPE and goes to conferences. (She recently started doubting whether it helps to spend the $$ and I told her it really shows me that she cares about her business.) She uses a big florescent light and glasses with scopes on them. All sounds good right? Now here is what I'm confused about.

Based on what I've read on this forum I feel like I am spending WAY too much time and getting too little results fot the time I'm putting in. I started early July. So far I've had at least 25 hours on my lip, chin and under my chin. She will only treat my upper lip for 30 minutes but she will treat it 2-3 times a week if I make the appointments. She gets all the thickest, darkest hairs on my chin and under my chin but there is still a lot of fine black hair left. My upper lip has gotten to full clearance after many, many sessions but now there is a new crop of hair and I feel like I'm always walking around with quite a bit of black (albeit finer and short) hair on my upper lip. I do have very dense hair on my upper lip but I feel like this is not right based on my reading. I'm also confused by the fact that now my hair is finer than it used to be and she has downgraded probe size to a #2. I thought that once treated the hair never comes back. Why am I getting finer growth? Shouldn't it be all coarse hair until there is none coming back?

When I began, I was going every 2 days for a hour. Then I started going every third day for 2 hour sessions. Now I go about every 3 or 4 days for 1.5 to 2 hours but usually it's 2 hours. She tells me that because I'm going so much I am as far in my treatments as a person would be in December 2008 if they started when I did but only came in an hour a week. I thought that by December a person treating an hour a week could expect to go at least a week or more between sessions without a lot of regrowth. I can't go more than 4 days without having to hide out in my house due to hair growth. She uses a high setting on me and says I am really easy to work on because of my high tolerance for pain. The only after effects I have seen are redness, bumpy looking skin, whiteheads, dryness/flaky skin, occasional scabs and red hole-looking marks. Not all at once of course! So what is wrong with my treatment?

Ok, well if you started in early July and it is presently late August, and it has taken you many, many sessions to get a full clearance as you stated you have to be a little more patient. The frequency that you are going is often(which could account for the amount of hair you have or the speed of the electrologist) but the duration with regards to the hair cycle is short.

Also not all hairs can be killed in the first try depending on the thickness. Coarser hairs sometimes need to be broken down, which can attribute to your finer growth.

Also from my own personal experiences which are many especially in southern cali, going to an electrologist with a CPE and goes to the conferences means diddly. Two of the worst electrologists that I have ever gone to were CPE. It's always good to sample around and see what services you have in your area.

I'm in agreement with your last paragraph caligent.

When is the last time you tweezed your upper lip and chin, caligirl?

You are only in the beginning of your electrolysis journey. So, yes, do be patient. However, know that while blend offers a great way to permanently remove hair, it takes longer to get a first full clearance. Finding a skilled MicroFlash or PicoFlash thermolysis electrologist will speed this along and you will not be spending this amount of time for first full clearance. Maintenance sessions will be faster, too. I don't have any idea how much hair you have, so it would not be fair of me to judge how well she is progressing. All I can say is that there are newer generations of professional epilators that can make electrolysis a lot easier and speed this along within very acceptable limits.

Please consider getting other short sessions with different electrologists so you can compare comfort, speed and skin reaction. Don't cut yourself short on this. Seek and then seek some more.

Never expect to be be finished before 9-12 months because of HAIR GROWTH CYCLES. Read about how hair grows and then read about it ten more times. This is the hardest concept for most people to comprehend. The hair comes in wave after wave for about 6-7 months, then things start to calm down dramatically. It scares clients because they think it is the same hair that was treated three weeks ago. They begin to feel utterly depressed as those waves of new hairs take their turn to come to the surface. They begin to doubt that electrolysis is working. It seems impossible for one to have so much hair with one group present and another group waiting to push through in a couple days and then another group ready to come forth after that. You have only just begun. What I think could be better for you is if you would continue seeking out and comparing treatments with more electrologists to see what possibilities lie before you with computerized epilators as oppossed to older, but still effective epilators.

Dee

Thanks for your responses.

Caliagent: Thanks for reminding me that coarse hairs may need to be broken down first. I took photos after only a few sessions and the difference in the type of hair is amazing. I used to have lots of coarse, thick black hair. Some were really rooted deeply from over a decade of tweezing. Now they are much finer. I thought blend was best for these hairs and I see I made the right choice.

Dee: The last time I tweezed was July 3, 2008. My first session was July 5, 2008 and she had enough to work on for an hour. I really wanted blend after reading about all of the horrible after effects so many people have with flash. I have dark skin that pigments VERY easily so I chose blend. Also, I work in the legal profession and deal with people at close range daily. I knew from this forum that blend would take longer but I never thought I would be spending 4 hours per week on such a small area and not seeing a completely hair free area. I did and still do understand why it will take a minimum of a year to complete these areas. I guess I thought with the amount of treatment time I have been putting in at the very least I could have a clear chin and lip. I don't doubt electro works and I am definitely going to shop around. I just wanted to hear reactions/thoughts on my experience since so far I have spent a LOT of money on such a small area and I have such a long way to go. Thank you for your time and your response. Why did you want to know when I stopped tweezing? How does that affect my current state? I know the answer is probably obvious so I apologize in advance. BTW I have never cheated with tweezers. I know better from all of you! Thanks again.

So I am shopping other electrologists in my area for various reasons. I have a question about thermolysis. Based on the reading I did in this forum I thought blend would be best for my facial hair since I have been tweezing my lip and chin including under the chin daily for about 15 years. The hairs are tough, black and very coarse. There are also a lot of them. I also have a lot of fine black hair all over my face and under my face that can grow to be pretty long if I don't do something about them. I even have fine black hair on my forehead! I have been waxing my face for many years but the hairs that were waxed but not tweezed do not seem to be tougher. I am dark skinned and prone to hyperpigmentation, another reason I chose blend.

I am willing to try thermolysis and in fact I have a consultation tomorrow with a woman who is going to try galvanic, blend and thermolysis on me. I'm wondering if based on my hair if I should stick with blend or do a combo of blend for the coarser hair and thermolysis for the rest. Right now I have enough hair for hours at a time of blend. I am not even worrying about the finer hairs quite yet. What are your opinions?

Your electrologist will see you and know what to do. Blend would be fine, but if a skilled thermolysis electrologist got a hold of you, you would still have a great outcome. I like thermolysis for the it's ability to clear the hair off fast. Don't let anyone tell you it doesn't work. It does work, but your electrologist has to do what she feels competent and comfortable with, Amen.

Dee

So I saw a new lady today. I like my other lady better but she's so far away. This new lady uses thermolysis (not flash). She calls it alternating current. She uses "disposable" probes if you ask otherwise she reuses probes after sterilizing them. I thought they are all disposable?? I asked for a new "disposable probe. I know she used a size 2 uninsulated probe but I don't know what kind. She does not use gloves (but she washed her hands first) which is sort of disturbing especially considering she drew a tiny prick of blood twice during our sesison. She also started coughing during our session and didn't wash her hands before resuming. She told me that blend is only necessary for curly hair or curved follicles. She said there is absolutely no reason to use blend on an upper lip because she has never seen a curved hair follicle on an upper lip. She did an hour on me. She used a florescent light and 5x magnification glasses. I felt like she took a LOT of time between hairs stretching my skin, moving it around and changing positions. I didn't feel any plucking and she said the hairs were coming out really, really easily. She even showed my a few hairs with the bulb and sheath still on. She was so interested in going after the hairs I don't know if she realized her stomach was smashed against the top of my head, her hands were all over my face smashing my nose, mouth etc. It was almost comical. I was really surprised given the amount of time she took between hairs to find that she cleared the same area as my blend gal in half the time! I have an appointment with another person next week. In the meantime i have a few questions.

1) Is it true there are disposable and non-disposable probes?
2) Is it true that blend is only necessary if you have curved hairs or hair follicles?

Question one: yes

Question two: Blend is good for curvey hairs, but so is thermolysis when performed expertly. I see many African decent females with curly hair. I do not use blend and they end up with permanent hair removal in a year or so. I used MicroFlash thermolysis, and now use PicoFlash thermolysis. It works like a charm. Insertions have to be correct, probe size has to be correct and energy and timing levels have to be correct. Computerized epilators are awesome for this task. Those that preach otherwise, saying blend is best, has not experienced these advanced forms of thermolysis. Thermolysis works, too, but if she is comfortable and competent using blend, then that is a good modality as well even though it takes longer per hair follicle.

Sorry you got your face "smashed in". Tell her about it. She should know.

Dee

Thank you.

I saw a third electrologist tonight. She did blend using a fresh ballet gold probe and a Fischer SE-5 computerized epilator on me. She said she got 340 hairs in an hour. Assuming the insertions were accurate, is that a good, bad or average number of hairs? I am concerned about my treatment. Aside from the big dogs running around the treatment room (yes, I'm serious) it hurt like hell! I know I'm pretty tough when it comes to pain because both of the other electrologists I have been to commented on how high my threshold for pain is. She admitted she uses a high setting. The numbers on the digital display read 52 and 93. What does that mean? I had a lot of coarse hair on my face some of which the bleach would not lighten. I am very swollen and my chin still hurts almost 4 hours later. She didn't even get to my lip but she cleared my chin and under my chin of all the coarse black hair. I am desperate to get my lip hairs off so I am going to see her again tomorrow morning.

My other question relates back to what is better for me thermolysis or blend. I thought blend was better for several reasons but now I'm torn. I originally wanted blend because I was concerned with after effects of thermolysis. I have olive skin that hyperpigments very easily and I already have quite a bit of hyperpigmentation on my lip and chin from years of aggressive tweezing. Add that to the shadow from the hair and I look like a man. I didn't want to make it worse. I also chose blend because I have a LONG history of tweezing (15 years) and my hairs are very strong and firmly rooted. Finally, I know that blend is more forgiving of slightly inaccurate insertions and to be honest I don't really trust the practitioners in my area. Of the 3 I have been to so far, I only really have complete faith in one and she does blend! However, the second lady I went to did thermolysis and I really liked the results. She is closer to my home and has more availability. I had no after effects. I just wonder if thermolysis is effective for hairs like mine that have been tweezed for many, many years. I also want to know how would I be able to tell whether or not her insertions are totally accurate?

To recap my questions:
1) What do the numbers 52 and 93 mean on a Fischer SE-5 and what do you think of the treatment I received from her?
2)Assuming accurate insertions is 340 hairs in an hour a good/bad/average number of hairs for a computerized Fischer doing blend?
3) Given my proneness to hyperpigmentation and my 15+ year history of tweezing, would it be wise to switch from blend to thermolysis?
4)How can I tell if a person using thermolysis is making perfect vs. inaccurate insertions?

TIA, sorry for the long post