Are these normal side effects of Electrolysis?

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
1

Hi,

I have been getting electrolysis treatments for 30 mins, once a week, for the past 8 weeks for my upper lip.

Before I go, I take advil and put on 1g of EMLA on my lip. But it is so painful!

After I go, I always have the expected red swelling that last for maybe 5 hours. I also get approx 4 spots where I am clearly bleeding. I assume this is all normal.

The next day, I have scabs all over the area and my lip is usually red and splotchy. I literally look like I have a very bad skin condition. The scabbing comes off after 5 or 6 days. But the red splotches do not heal for at least 2 weeks (and some places have yet to lose its discoloration after 6 weeks)

All my friends are asking, my BF calls me a “dalmation”, and I’m afraid to go out or take pictures. People on the street give me the oddest looks.

Is this normal???

Worse, after 8 weeks, I have yet to see any results. I have a tremendous amount of regrowth. It’s as if I haven’t had anything. I even see hair regrowth in the exact same hair follicles (and I can tell which follicles have been treated because of the scabbing). I understand that it takes a while to see results…

BUT, I can’t spend the next year walking around with a “pizza face”. I’m completely humiliated!

I told my electrolysist about the scabbing, so she turns down the setting. However, she says that the treatment won’t be as effective. I don’t really want to hear that because the sessions are really EXPENSIVE. But even at a lower setting, I’m still getting lots of scabbing and discoloration.

When is it time to say quits to my electrolysist? For all I know, I am just going through pain, public humiliation and expense for nothing. How many more sessions should I commit to before going somewhere new? If I only need 4 more sessions to get great results… sure. But, I can’t keep doing this.

She has been doing this for 10 years now and it sounds like she has repeat clients who treat a variety of areas.

I asked her to not book any new appointments for me and she went bezerk and guilted me into booking two new appointments.

Should I just give up on electrolysis all together? If this scabbing and discoloration is normal and I have to look like this for the next year… I’m giving up right here and right now.

PLEASE ADVISE!

2

I would not give up on electrolysis, but I would see who else in your area is doing electrolysis. Modern electrolysis with newer machines, strong vision and lighting equipment, and of course utilized with skill and experience can give you much better results than this. More than one husband has accused their wife of NOT seeing me, because when they got home, there was no visible side effects of the treatment (other than lack of hair).

Because of the growth phases, you would tend to see what appears to be regrowth for a while, although if you took BEFORE pictures, and a picture after a full clearance, you would then show progress in subsequent pictures that show fewer hairs growing in the area the whole time, but it takes at least 9 months for all the hairs to show themselves at least once, so you would think that “all the hairs are coming back” until one has been having work for at least 3 to 6 months. At that point, one might notice the fact that fewer hairs are present, but without the BEFORE and DURING pictures as a reference, one tends to forget what it really looked like at the beginning.

If your profile stated where you are located, we might be able to give you a hand in finding someone near you to do better work.

3

I just work on a clients face. Chin, upper lip and eyebrows.
She sent me an email thanking me for making her look so beautiful. Made me feel pretty good.

She had some redness that lasted an hour but nothing you could notice a few hours later. Her boy friend even told her to thank me.

Face work should not leave scabs.

I would look for someone who can treat your face with less reaction but still give you results. Eight weeks is not enough time to judge how things are going to turn out.

Body work will have redness and more reaction for a longer time but face work should not leave so much reaction.

If you are unhappy with the treatments I would look for someone else at least to compare treatments if nothing else.

4

Thanks for your replies.

My electrologist keeps the settings high, which causes the severe reaction, but is unwilling to turn it too far down because I won’t get any results. Is this a sign that her equipment is old? Or is this a sign that she dosen’t understand overtreament? Or maybe this is a lack of skill and she is not properly inserting the probe into the follicle?

I keep reading about “full clearances”. We’ve never done one full clearance. She always leaves quite a few obvious hairs around. I haven’t asked, but it certainly isn’t due to a lack of time. Perhaps she is worried about over treating the area. Is this a sign of something?

How do I know that a new electrologist is not just operating at a lower setting and not actually getting rid of any hairs?

I have updated my profile with my location and would love some help finding another electrologist. However, I don’t have a car, so I can’t travel far. In the yellow pages, there are only a few places that offer electrolysis.

I’m also worried about offending my current electrologist. She was pretty offended when I asked to take a break for two weeks. She took it as if I were leaving forever and freaked out.

5

I you came back to my office looking like that I would definitely be changing my settings or trying a different modality. You are the customer and if you are not happy with your treatment you need to relay that message. If you were happy you would not be here looking for answers to you questions.

The settings may need just a little adjustment to give your skin less reaction. I am not your electrologist so I don’t know how well she knows her machine. I know I can make very small adjustments or large adjustments. Depend how well she knows her machine.

How long are your appointments?

To get full clearance will depend on modality, speed of your electrologist, accuracy of insertions and many other things as for how fast that will be achieved.

6

I always get marks and little pimples after electrolysis treatments because I have sensitive skin, but they heal within a week. I’ve never had bleeding on my face.

From my own experience, I think around the 8 week mark was when I got a bunch of new growth and looked almost as bad as at my first session. I think people say that it takes 8 weeks for all the hairs you tweezed to come back. Did you use to tweeze, wax, or thread?

Don’t let your electrologist bully you. And even if you make appointments you don’t want, you can always cancel them.

7

30 mins is a long time for the upper lip which is already sensitive. It sounds like you’re getting overtreated. On average, treatments on this area are about 15 mins long.

Plus, you can probably find a better electrologist. Get sample treatments at 3-4 and then decide. What type of electrolysis is this one using? Have you tried others in your area?

It will be hard to judge results for at least 4-6 months since hair grows in cycles and you’re treatin different hair in different phases of growth throughout this time. You need to commit yourself to 9-12 months of consistent treatments.

Also, no matter what, never treat an area that hasn’t completely healed from previous treatment.

Are you using proper aftercare? Get witch hazel to use several times a day and tee trea oil at night.

8

One minute is too long with this electrologist, let alone thirty minutes! I disagree with Lagirl that 30 minutes is too long for an upper lip, well… for this electrologist it definitely is. Many smart electrologists are stepping forward and upward to the newer epilators offered by Apilus and Sil-tone VMC model, and these types of epilators can most certainly be used on an upper lip, when done correctly, for more than 15 minutes. These epilators are fabulous iiiiiffff the electrologist is skilled and understands the epilator settings.

Now… you are getting horrible treatment. Yes, I said that and I don’t intend to be gingerly diplomatic about what I read in your posts. You need to cease treatments with this “electrologist”. She does not represent this profession well and I would certainly not let her intimidate you. Listen to how everyone has responded to you. Don’t go back and don’t care about how she will react if you see her competitors.

I’m glad you found hairtell. Read as much as you can here and regroup. You can be helped as long as there is another electrologist near you that is well-trained. By the way, bleeding is not normal. It can happen, but you should not see it routinely. We insert a thin metal probe into a natural pocket in your skin. We do not puncture the skin and make our own holes, unless we can’t see well. Last piece of advice, do not go to and electrologist that can’t see well. Bleeding is a big hint along with other clues.

Geez…

9

I didn’t want to be so blunt but well put dfahey.

A skilled electrologist with any make of machine can do great things. I have seen amazing things done with a fischer. You have to know your machine to adjust for over treatment if it occurs. That is just one part of what we do.

We are inserting a fine sterile probe into a blind target. There is a lot of skill in doing that correctly with the speed like some of you get. Great optics will help with that. Sometimes we may cause bleeding but not every insertion.

You should have been given after treatment instruction. Did you get any after care information?

10

My point was mainly that the upper lip is more sensitive than other areas and hairs are very dense often, which makes for more potential for irritation and overtreatment. My upper lip couldn’t handle more than 15-20 mins of treatment and I used good electrologists with the best epilators. So speaking from my personal experience. Of course, bad electrolysis only adds to the issues.

11

People have heard many stories of my “monster client” with the testosterone problem. When we did his upper lip, we went one row at a time and there were over a thousand hairs across from corner to corner on the ridge of the upper lip. We did this in blend and it took more than an hour and a half. He never looked like the pictures she shows of herself.

12

Working on a clients upper lip has gone upward for one hour or more for many of my clients. There is a secret to how this is accomplished, but it certainly can be done expertly with no ill-effects to the skin longterm. I have many clients who are long-gone finished with that area that look like they never grew hair on their upper lip and the skin looks great.

13

Thank you everyone for their answers.

I am so glad that I found HairTell.

I definitely don’t think what I am going through is norma.

I think for sure it is time to switch electrologists.

Thank you again.