It sounds like you were definitely overtreated. That is a LONG time to be treating on the upper lip (most people can't handle more than 20 mins) and then going back and treating the chin again only a week later for another hour. Also, I would avoid bleaching altogether at this point. Waiting 2 days is not enough. Vaniqa also has lots of chemicals and can be attributing to the overall impact. Is there a reason why you're not just shaving and clipping your hair?

I think from now on, you should really just stick to the gentle witch hazel and tea tree oil (this one in moderation as it's very potent) for at least a week until your skin is completely healed and shows no signs of redness, scabbing etc. Also, wait until there are no signs like this before treating that same area again. Shave in between. Don't use any moisturizers on the skin that hasn't healed yet either. It's chemicals and it clogs pores (causes breakouts and infection) and make it heal slower.

Being aggressive is good, but you're not doing your skin any favors by overtreating. And using as little on your face as possible is really a good bet when your skin is still healing. Treat it as a scrape.

Thanks lagirl. I am going to take your advice and cut out the lotions and potions. I'm also going to cut down the amount of electro I'm doing. I do think I am doing too much. I didn't want to shave or clip because I thought I could just keep doing electro and getting the hair all off that way. I have to face the fact that I will have to start shaving my lip. I just can't bring myself to shave my chin. I guess I'll cut those with cuticle scissors.

I went in to see the lady today to show her what she did. She claims it is normal!!! She said everything was the same as last month, a #3 teflon insulated probe with even lower energy levels than the last time she treated me. I am still drinking a MINIMUM of 64 ounces of water per day so she couldn't blame it hydration levels although that was the first thing she tried to blame it on. She said it happens sometimes and that she will have to adjust the current she uses on me and the amount of time she spends on my lip area. She sort of acknowledged that she spent too much time in my lip area. Obviously, I'm never going to her again.

I will allow myself to heal but this was a major bump in the road for me. To make things worse I think I'm in trouble for missing work today. I already cried last night and today. Hopefully this is the worst of it.

Pat on the back for going in to see the electrologist. Your employer may have sympathy for you if you are brave enough to explain what happened. I know a lot of women are very secretive about hair removal, but if this would get you out of trouble, then tell the truth as you see fit.

Find the purest aloe vera gel you can and apply it religiously until you are healed. Apply tea tree oil at night(small dabs), and all should be well soon.

I swear to you caligirl, if you were treated by a real professional, that knew how to use the best equipment available today, you could have gone for longer sessions with very few, if any side effects. You would be cleared and would have stayed cleared with all the hours that you have logged so far. I'm sorry that your trust was betrayed. That part hurts the most and I'm sorry that excuses were made about this being normal healing.

Now, where do you find an electrologist that knows what the heck they are doing???? Can anyone help caligirl find a competent electrologist in the Sacramento area?

Would you be willing to go to the San Francisco area? I know of someone that has done work on one of my clients and my client who was very pleased.

Thanks Dee.
I am reluctant to travel all the way to SF only because of the cost and my schedule. Gas is SO expensive these days and I drive a gas guzzling SUV. Also, electro is draining all my $$. I also work a 8-5 and my Saturdays are booked until the afternoon. However, I might just give it a try. Let me know who you recommend in that area.

One last question. I thought that I would only see a big difference after about 5 months. I went religiously to sessions not to see faster results, but to keep my face clear of hair. Are you saying that with all the hours I have put in over the last 3 months I should not be seeing hair growing after only a few days?

No, at three months, you will still have hair growing in very fast. These are hair growth cycles at their meanest levels and they come fast and furious for some cases of facial hair. It is impossible to gain the upper hand, for some cases, in less than six months, so, that's where patience and trust is required. It does pay off and the electrologist needs to firmly assure the client that these hair growth hurdles will be overcome, so hang on! I see this all the time. The euphoria of the beginning sessions is overtaken by doubt as those hair growth cycles click in, followed by the light at the end of the tunnnel at months 6-12. I say all this, assuming that a professional electrologist is in control of your case.

San Fran may not work for you, so continue your search in Sacramento. When I get to my office, I will get the full information about the electrologist that my client had positive feelings toward in San Francisco.

Be strong and move onward with a new electrologist search.

Dee

Hi:

I think you would be best off limiting your hair removal to
once per week or once every two weeks in order to give your face time to heal. You can shave in between sessions depending
on how fast your hair grows, as long as the hairs are long enough on the day of treatment to be seen and grasped with tweezers. I found 2 weeks between treatments worked
well for me.

You should probably limit the amount of makeup you use.
I don't wear any foundation, and that dermablend stuff you mention is pretty thick stuff. I don't imagine it would
let your skin breathe properly.

Using aloe and tea tree oil at night is probably a good idea,
but pure tea tree oil is pretty strong. Vitamin E cream is
also good. You probably want to avoid strong soaps.

One thing I found was that it was good to keep a good
line of communication open with your electrologist.
It takes time to know you and your skins reactions to the
settings. If you are getting scabbing then you need to let
them know right away. If you find a good electrolgist stick
with them, even if it means missing a couple of weeks while
they go on vacation.

Alicia

Another thought for you Caligirl. Don't walk but run to a Dermatologist & perhaps a plastic surgeon & get advice as to impede any infection that may arise from your crusty scabs & an opinion of how to handle all of this. STAY OUT OF THE SUN.Pearl..

I think I posted a long list of potential electrologists in your area in the near past. It's a big area and I'm sure there is someone great. I still think it sounds like you overdid it just a bit. Shaving and clipping in the beginning is really necessary if you have a lot of hair since you cannot treat the same area before it's healed and you cannot overtreat it with very long treatments on the same small area either.

The good thing is that if you take care of it well, it'll all go back to normal.

Good luck. Sorry you've had a bump in the road, but you'll be back on track very soon.

The 2nd electrologist should not have treated areas that were showing irritation from the previous treatment with electrologist #1. I'm sure she didn't think there would be a problem, but it was still a big no no.

The fact that you had treatments earlier without problems leads me to believe it is definitely product overload. Were the prescriptions (Vaniqa and the bleaching product) prescribed by the same physician? Vaniqa can be harsh on the skin, causing the dryness and tightness you described. Adding a skin bleach (hydroquione 4%???) could increase skin sensitivity. The active ingredient on the Wexler serum is salicylic acid. This will definitely cause drying, tightness, and peeling. Dermablend, as someone else pointed out, is heavy and requires more than soap and water to remove. A good quality mineral makeup for some people can improve their skin, I'm living proof. But, using it over Dermablend is a waste. It never touches your actual skin.

Adding electrolysis on top of all that just caused your skin to rebel.

Lay off the products. I wouldn't even bother with the Vaniqa if you are going to have electrolysis. To me, it seems it would only delay the electrolysis results. Be kind and gentle to your skin. You may want to research vitamins, minerals, nutrition, etc., that can help you skin heal from within.

My dermatologist prescribed the Vaniqa and bleaching cream before I started electrolysis. I went to her to try to fix the damage and pigmentation I caused to my skin by aggressive tweezing and digging for hair over so many years. She actually discouraged me from trying electrolysis because she said the trauma to my skin would cause even more hyperpigmentation. She recommended laser!!! I would NEVER let a laser touch my face after reading through this forum.

I'm definitely laying off the products. I got some medicated tinted lotion that is for use after electrolysis that I will use if I need to even my skin tone for work or interaction with clients. I'll use that, witch hazel, tea tree oil and aloe gel. Nothing else besides under eye cream at night. I'm also going to limit my sessions to once a week even if it kills me to do so and prevents me from having a social life.

The really good news is that most of the scabs have fallen off. I think most came off in the shower this morning and my mouth looks 95% better than it did Sunday and Monday. I have some pigmentation and I know it's going to get worse before it gets better. The skin around my mouth still feels tight. I'm just glad the scabs fell off so quickly. I ended up using neosporin because I recently burned my arm pretty badly and I used neosporin religiously and it seems to have really reduced they hyperpigmentation as compared to a scrape on my arm a month ago that I was not religious about applying neosporin to. (Yes, I'm a total klutz) I really appreciate your comments, suggestions and support. I had a really rough few days there but I'm feeling a bit better now. Thank you all again.