Hi. I am new to the board, so I apologize if this has been asked before. And I apologize in advance for the length of this post.
Anyway, I started electrolysis in late March of 2008. I get my eyebrows shaped and I also get it on the area under my navel (the “trail”) as well as on some hairs that grow on the outer area of my areolas. I started growing the hair on my areolas when I was around 18 or so and concluded that it was probably due to hormones from birth control. I’m 25 now and had just plucked them (as well as my navel area) up until I started getting electrolysis.
I understood that it would take a while to see improvement since I had been plucking forever. Well, it’s been almost a year and I’m just not convinced that this works.
My electrolysist has been practicing for over 20 years. It seems to work when she’s doing it. I don’t feel any pain (just a tiny little poke or “zap”) and that’s it. The hair slides out and I don’t feel like it’s being plucked at all. She said that the hair on my eyebrows would be more receptive and that the thicker hairs on the navel and areolas would take longer to treat. My eyebrows seem to be going alright, so maybe that’s true.
I get the tiny pinhole scabs and they heal in less than a week. But it just seems like the hairs just keep coming back. I go once every two weeks and the hairs are back every time. It’s the same areas and I know I don’t have that many new hairs growing from previously dormant follicles. Most of the time, they come back and can’t seem to penetrate the skin and I have to break the skin to free them (so they don’t become ingrown). So it’s like a never ending cycle of her removing them and then me having to make the hairs available to remove again. It’s like I constantly have little scabs (not fun). Sometimes the hairs poke through the scabs (after I “free” them).
Anyway, so is it possible that these hairs just aren’t receptive to treatment? Is this area a difficult area to treat? Is electrolysis ineffective for some people? Is there anything I can do to get rid of these annoying hairs? Do you have any advice or guidance? What are your thoughts?
I have been getting that area done and it seems to be working
even if it has taken some time. Some of the hairs have stopped
coming back and some have gotten a lot finer. Have you noticed anything like that happening? I think once they become finer
they are easier to deal the final death blow to.
As far as the after affects, scabbing and hairs not coming through the skin so easily goes, I use a scrubbing glove with a mild abrasive soap or cleanser and go over the area a few days
after the treatment. The first few days I apply something to
help any scabbing to heal.
We are doing the area every couple of weeks with thermolysis.
All hairs are receptive to electrolysis. It just has to be done correctly on a schedule that matches hair growth cycles. Also, I’m wondering if you have observed the hairs that were treated. Is there a bulb at the end of the hair when she lifts the hair out? Should be. Also, let me be picky here about the words “the hair comes back in two weeks” . There is a difference between using the words “come back” and saying new hair cycling in. Hair that was treated correctly, in the growth stage, does not come back, but the neighbor ACTIVE follicle next to the treated hair, may surface anytime, giving you the idea that the hair is coming back.
If you are not seeing progress and you have been religiously treated and cleared every two weeks for a year, then the hairs are not being treated sufficiently. Hair coming out of scabs and ingrowns give a clue that this may be happening. What does she use for magnification? If her insertions are off because SHE CAN’T SEE, then you are not going to get permanent hair removal. Twenty years under her belt does not equal effective electrolysis.
When I do areola’s, I will do the first clearance with the faster forms of thermolysis if there are greater than 20 hairs per side, and then when the next group of hairs come to the surface, I will do Blend. Toward the end, I may switch back to thermolysis for the few anagen hairs that remain. Instinct drives me as to which modality to use at certain times. If an electrologist can perform all modalities of electrolysis, then she/he can serve all clients well.
These hairs are coarse, so if she is choosing a big enough probe to match the diameter of the hair, then this will proceed well and you will get permanent hair removal.
Electrolysis works on every hair and we have the choice of using blend or thermolysis to get you results. I will include slow galvanic electrolysis as well for those electrologists that still do multiple needle. It is highly effective.
Have you sampled other electrologists in your area? Have you voiced your concerns to your present electrologist?
I have talked to my electrolysist about how I just feel like it’s not working. I have no idea what type of machine she uses or anything specific like that. The place I go does have good reviews and is credible, so I guess other clients are satisfied. I am still convinced that it does not work on me on that area.
There aren’t too many hairs on my areolas, so it’s apparent to me that it is the same hair growing back in the same spot. They don’t grow in patches, it’s just a few spread out around the edge of the areola (10-15 hairs). So it’s not a neighboring hair follicle.
The hair comes out fine when she does it and I feel no pain. There are pinhole scabs, but that seems to be normal. But as the scabs go away, I can start to see that the hair is growing back. Within two weeks, the same hairs have all come back. But now the hair can’t penetrate my skin and ends up being ingrown, so I have to break the skin a little to let it come out. They are not any finer, they are still coarse.
I am satisfied with the progress of my eyebrows, so I don’t doubt the process works. I am, at this point, thinking that I will search around for another place.
It is possible for your practitioner to do blend treatments on this one area? It sounds like she may be shallow inserting, and breaking the hairs off underneath the skin. This would account for what you are experiencing.
It is more difficult to do thermolysis/diathermy on brest hairs, blend and galvanic are much easier to use for this area. If your practitioner’s machine can do blend or galvanic, your practitioner should give that a try. If not, you may want to visit someone else who can use these treatments on that one area.
I found a new electrolysist. I have been going to this new woman for about five months. She seems to do a better job, but I still think that it doesn’t work on my areolas. My eyebrows are fine and she does a wonderful job on them. But it’s the same deal with my breasts. It’s the exact same hair coming back. It isn’t a neighboring hair, it’s the exact same one (in each spot). The hair comes back ingrown and I am forced to break the skin and let the hair out. It is slowly leaving scars around the edge of my areolas. I swear this is just glorified plucking.
I really like this new woman. And she does a wonderful job on my eyebrows. But my areolas are not responding at all. I feel like I have wasted two and a half years and a lot of money for something I could have done with a tweezers at home.
They will respond. Does it feel like she is tweezing when she lifts the treated hair out? Have you seen a full hair from the bulby end to the tapered point? How many treatments so far? How far apart are these treatments?
I do areaola treatments every week on different people, women and men. This area responds and it responds well if it is done with the correct amount of intensity and timing. It matters none if blend thermolysis or straight galvanic is used. Energy, whether it be from a chemical reaction inside the follicle or heat destruction, is the key and hitting the target with this energy is crucial to success. It does work and it works well. Talk to her about your doubts. Ask her why this is working for you and get this resolved.
Thanks for responding. No, it does not feel like she is plucking or tweezing. I feel nothing when the hair slides out. I do see the entire hair, including the bulb at the base. I go once every two weeks. That’s just about how long it takes for the hair to poke back out of the skin.
I tried laser hair removal in the past and that did absolutely nothing. This doesn’t seem to be working either.
All I have now is scar tissue and ingrown hairs. I think I’m an anomaly and that it just doesn’t work on me.
My response to you is, you are not an anomaly and you will respond. Something important is missing here and it is difficlt to know what it could be over the internet.
Electrolysis is the inerrant in ALL areas of the body (NO EXCEPTIONS).
After a year, there should be no unwanted hair. Since it is an area that depends on hormones, a follicle that currently produces an invisible hair, can be stimulated in the future and produce a hair thick … but that will be visible in the future. At this stage of treatment, you should have finished with the treatment initiated.
You have been going to the second electrologist for 5 months? Is that correct? That was like starting all over againon th areola’s. I realy think the first electrologist was not inserting deep enough and the hairs were breaking off. You should not have hair coming through pinpoint scabs in two weeks. One has to go deep with the biggest probe possible to match the hair diameter and then release enough energy for the correct amount of time. Can this second practitioner do the BLEND. Blend is a little forgiving for not so accurate insertions.
Again, electrolysis works for ALL structures of hair in all areas. Period and absolutely.
It seems then that blend would be a better choice for people without money to waste. Has there ever been someone here who reported going so long without results who was treated with blend?
hiya, i would like to say that i have had a successful experience so please do not give up hope.
i had about 20 coarse, dark hairs around my areolas that i used to pluck. about 8.5 weeks ago, i had my first treatment (with blend), she cleared those and some more in about 10mins.
i had another treatment 4 weeks after that were there were 2 or 3 that needed doing. then again after 3 weeks, just 2 hairs around one areola. now i’m going on tuesday and there are a few around each but it’s obvious that they are finer than they used to be before i started treatment.
i find it a lot more uncomfortable than having anywhere on my face treated but it’s been great not needing to think about having to pluck!
I have been continuing treatment. It seems like there are a couple areas where the hair doesn’t grow back anymore. But there are several areas where there won’t be a hair for three or four weeks and I think it’s gone… but then it comes back.
Only now I have scar tissue on these areas and the hair becomes ingrown. So, just like before, I have to break the skin a little to let the hair out.
I also have noticed a few ingrown hairs and decided to not break the skin and see what would happen. I let them go for a month and didn’t see any change. I broke the skin and pulled the hair out with a tweezers (with the intent to just have it poke out of the skin) and noticed that it just came right out as if it wasn’t attached. It’s like it went through the entire hair cycle under my skin.
Also (as if I weren’t having enough issues), I have noticed white spots on the treated areas. They looked like whiteheads, so I broke the skin on one and, sure enough, “stuff” came out. It looked just like when you pop a whitehead (not a big pimple). These spots heal and then the stuff shows back up in a couple weeks. What would cause this?
I’m on the fence as to whether I think this works. Sometimes I think I’m a freak of nature and sometimes I think it works but isn’t worth the side effects (low self esteem, scarring, ingrown hairs).
Does this make sense to anyone? Has anyone seen this before?
Hair growth in this area can be persistent, so personally I prefer to use multi probe galvanic and if this is an option in your area, I would highly recomend it. Re growth in this area takes approx 12 weeks and you could have some hairs that appear to regrow from the same follicle more frequently than this, but this is not the case. The follicles can be really close to each other. I hope this helps a little and I can understand how frustrating this process is at times.
You are not a freak of nature. This can be how things go in the beginning, but all clears nicely within a year of regular treatments as long as you get cleared every single time. Most women have between 15-30 hairs per side, but I have seen women that have over 100 hairs per side. Either way, they all get finished in about a year if they remain consistent to a treatment plan and they have an electrologist that is skilled.
Galvanic electrolysis is certainly very nice for this area if you can find an electrologist that uses that mode, but blend and well-performed thermolysis will work, too. The insertions have to be deep enough and the energy and timing levels have to be such so the hair is adequately treated so it slides out nicely. You don’t want hairs breaking off underneath the skin because they were under treated. White pustules? Are things being done in an hygienic manner? Are you doing proper aftercare? Perhaps her intensity is too high and her insertions are not deep enough? I don’t know, but those are some ideas to chew on as far as skin reaction and ingrown hairs. She can use a sterile lancet to gently lift those ingrowns out. That’s what I do and it works like a charm.
This is a highly satisfying area to get treated and shouldn’t be all that difficult. Keep in mind that you need several treatments to get any new hair that comes forth over the next 12 months. Be ever so patient. Twelve months goes by quickly, but permanent hair removal is forever.
There are many, many electrologists that accomplish permanent hair removal on the areola’s using thermolysis. Hairs are not too deep. It works 100% if special techniques are used with the proper sized probe. I like using gold or insulated. I never use stainless steel. With that said, I do use blend and thermolysis in combination, depending on what I see.
All modalities of electrolysis work. All electrologists should know how to do galvanic, blend and thermolysis expertly, but in reality, most choose one modality over the other, which is testament that ALL modes work for any area when a skilled human being is in charge of the process.
I have been at my current electrolysist for a year and I still have hair on my areolas. The process works just fine on my eyebrows, but seems to not work at all on my areolas and stomach. I get ingrown hairs all the time and have purple scars on my belly (below my navel).
I think that it is something about my body and hair that doesn’t respond. I went through two entire packages of laser hair removal (12 sessions total) for underarms and brazilian and it’s like I got nothing done. You can’t tell. Some hair would fall out, but a lot wouldn’t ever even fall out. They turned the level up each time and it didn’t matter. I have light skin and brown hair, so that isn’t the issue. It feels like I’ve thrown thousands of dollars into the trash because nothing works.