Hello I am new to this site and am extremely relieved that there are other people out there who can talk and relate to having excessive hair. I am 21 and currently beginging to recieve treatment on my face from an electrolosis. The lady is very nice but i feel like at the rate she is removing my hair i will never be satisfied with my appearance. I am scheduled for 30 min twice a month, and from what i have read from other success stories people generally had treatments once every week. My electrolosis says that because the hair grows in an approximation of two week cycles that it is best to limit the time to every two weeks. This is fine and all except for the fact that i feel like i will have to go to electrolosis for the rest of my life to even begin to see results.
Here is my history on my excessive hair. I have a scottish and portugueses ancestory, both my mother and father are quite hairy people. My face,arms, legs,chest and stomache are completely covered in blonde long thick hair, with the occasional spring of dark terminal hairs as well in all of those places. I resemble one of those furry caterpillers you see in the spring time. I try to keep a good nature about it all but to tell you the honest truth i am quite depressed all the time. In high school i was told that i had a goatee, after that i began waxing my facial hair. Recently my skin has been having severe reactions to the wax so that is why i am now going to electrolosis. I also have a severe case of folliculitus all over my legs and because of it i am going to try laser hair removal. I have also started to take a hormonal balancer called spironolactone. I am hopeful to find some relief and would really appreciate some advice from anyone on this forum. This is a first for me speaking out about my feelings towards my appearance and i am becoming extremely depressed, any word of wisdom would help right now. Thankyou so much for your time.
a couple things:
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were you diagnosed with PCOS? who prescribed spiro to you? if you were, the hair is not necessarily hereditary, but a condition causing it might be. that in itself should help clear up some of the growth.
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yes, hair grows in cycles, but not the cycles like she described. plus, if you’re not achieving a clearance on the area you want treated every time, that doesn’t matter. talk of hair cycles matters when you’re talking about hair on the same exact spot. meaning that if there is nothing to treat yet, you wait for hair in the next cycle to come in on that spot. now, if you have hair all around the area, you should be coming in as often as possible in the beginning to get a clearance on the area. so that afterwards, you’re only coming in to kill NEW weak hair that just came in. If you follow that, it should take 9-12 months to get a permanent results from the time you get clearance IF she knows what she’s doing.
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it doesn’t sound like you did much research and sampled several electrologists, which is what is recommended here. do you know what type of electrolysis she does? do you feel the hair slide out easily after it’s zapped? how many hairs are removed per minute would you say?
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do you have blond hair on your legs? laser doesn’t work on blond hair, so if you do, it’s not an option.
Since you are taking “Spiro”, you need to drink a gallon of water for every 100 pounds you weight more so than anyone else. This will also make your treatments more comfortable.
A pat on the back to you for “coming out” and sharing your inner most feelings on your unwanted hair.
My advise to you, regarding your facial hair, is not unlike lagirl’s advise: Get the offending hair fully cleared off your face right up front. It may take 3-6 hours at max if you find an electrologist that uses microflash thermolysis. You can spread your treatments out over 3-6 weeks or do 2 hours a week,but get a first full clearance asap, right up front. Newer generation professional electrolysis epilators allow this this to happen as long as a skilled electrologist is working for you.
If other methods are used, time to clearance will be slower, but that means, you still need to go at it weekly and with longer appointments.
FIRST FULL CLEARANCE is an IMPORTANT CONCEPT. If you set your plan around this strategy and stick to regular appointments every 2-3 weeks thereafter, you will look finished within a couple months, BUT will truly be finished (permanenet hair removal) within a year. Hair does grow in cycles, so get those new hairs “quick like a bunny”. Don’t let them grow stonger and sturdier. Zap them when they are weak. Maintaining a good schedule after first clearance is another concept that sets you up for the fastest success.
I don’t agreee with 30 minutes every two weeks. You are going nowhere fast. We ask our clients to be patient, but that is extreme. If your present electrologist can not give you the time slot you need every week to work toward Full FIrst Clearance, do find someone that can, preferably with an epilator that can perform microflash thermolysis or something close to that and with a professional electrologist that understands well how to kill hair with these newer,fabulous tools of the 21st century. Look for someone that wears good magnification as well.
Dee
Yetti,
I hope you at least laugh when you call yourself that. In my experience if we are not laughing about our hair we are crying about it. Anyhow, it looks as though you have taken a step in the right direction. If you have found a skilled electrologist that you trust (have you?) you have to hang in there for the first month or two and then results are obvious and rapid.
Good luck
Good for you !!!I started my “journey” with electrolysis about 13 months ago. My chin still needs work–sometimes i feel that i have new hairs- very possible since i’m sure i have a hormonal problem ( my labs have been normal but I will be seeing an endocrinologist in a week or so for a better eval–I’ve been told that even if your labs look okay there still may be a glandular problems or something). My upper lip is doing well but still needs more work and my eyebrows are really looking good but still are not finished. In the beginning I was going every week for 30 min to 1 hour and I kept that schedule for maybe 2-3 months (maybe longer as I am not a good historian). I presently go about every 2-3 weeks because I now want to work on my cheeks-I have this peach fuzz that is getting slightly darker. Anyway, my suggestion: go weekly, if you can, and be consistent with your schedule.
imokay, what method are they doing on you, microflash thermolysis or blend?
I started electrolysis on my face a couple months ago, one hour a week.
When do you think I’ll be able to start noticing the difference?
portugal, you should be having treatments as often as possible in the beginning to get to a clearance. After that, you should come in as soon as you see new hairs come in. You will see a big difference after 4-5 months and you should be done in about a year after the first clearance if you keep to the schedule.