Hi! I am worried that my electrolysis treatment is ineffective, let me know what you think....

Ive been seeing this girl for about 3 months now, usually go every 7-15 days (Ive been to about 8 or 10 sessions). I am getting my hairline pushed back about an inch. The electrolysis itself is relatively painless, but i am still seeing quite a bit of hair the day after treatment. The hair is either just above or on the verge of breaking through the skin barrier. I am wondering if this is normal?? Shouldn't I see better results after a couple of sessions?? Any help would be MUCH appreciated, thanks!!!

Oh, forgot to mention that she uses the blend method.... there is little tugging when tweezing the hair after inserting the needle. I do hear the hair coming out sometimes, is that normal??

Did you tweeze your hairline before starting electrolysis? Did she happen to show you the hair structures and are you seeing full bulbs, whole hair structures? I ask that because perhaps the hairs are breaking off below the skin? You could be experiencing hair growth cycles???? Three months is only the beginning. All you will see is clearance, followed by new hair for the first six months especially. Things will calm down by the six month mark, but you are still not finished. Keep striving for first clearance and make sure that your hairline is being shaped and feathered properly. If the hair is being tweezed, it will feel like a tweeze. If the root is large, it will feel like a pop. Discuss this with her. She needs to know your concerns so she can educate you about how this works and she can actually see your unique situation.

Have her show you full hair structures. If the hair is breaking off under the skin due to undertreating, then you wont see a bulb. This is not desirable.

Dee

Thanks for the reply! I did tweeze my hairline before starting electrolysis - maybe twice, not much.... She has not shown me the hair structures, nor the bulbs so I am not sure about that. I guess my main concern is if it is normal to see what looks like stubble the day after treatment... it isn't as rough as what it feels like after shaving my legs but there is a significant amount of hair that is just below/above the skin barrier....

....what do you mean by undertreating? She did mention something about not using a high setting given my light hair / fair skin. I certainly don't want my skin to darken (as Ive heard from others who were treated with settings too high for their skin/hair) Could it possible that the treatment is not strong enough?? Thanks again

Even if the treatment were not strong enough, the hairs would still be reduced in size and thickness. In some situations, the practitioner decides that the best path is to "weaken" the hairs before going in for the kill, the second time around. This will bring about a situation where a lower treatment setting will effect permanent hair removal in sessions taking place a year later. Of course, with the newer equipment, one should be able to find a treatment setting that works for permanent hair removal that is comfortable right from the start.

This might be a question for the DIY forum, but it is related. I noticed where I have had a long history of plucking (hands and feet especially), I have a heck of a time trying to get that hair (in anagen stage) to come out easily and come out intact. I take several cycles, each varying greatly, sometimes overtreating the skin a bit and they still don't come out quite right. Where I have never tweezed (upper arm, knee area) the (anagen) hairs come out easy and always come out intact with blub and sheath and it takes a predictable amount of treatment for each follicle.

Is the best strategy in that situation to treat the hairs to just below the point of overtreatment, tweeze them out, and then hit them again in 9-12 months? Could using a needle just a bit too short cause the same problem? (the needle I use on the hands is just the length of the anagen depth when I compare it to an anagen hair in that area, so it should be long enough but to my novice eyes I might be wrong?)

Ingasoline: If the hairs are showing up one day after treatment as stubble, then I would be concerned that your electrologist is breaking (or burning) the hairs off, rather than giving them proper treatment.

Dee has given you some good advice - if the electrologist is getting the hair out with intact bulb (root sheath showing) then you can know that you are on your way.

Too short of needle/insertion (as Vickie mentioned) "might" be the problem. Hairs that have been tweezed once or twice at the most should not result in a more difficult removal.