I started on Dec 18, and ive 4 1 hrs session about 7 days apart each. I started with galvanic(sp?) and she went real slow, I had bad post skin recation pimples lumps redness. She was older, and only used a regular lighted magnifier so i thought maybe insertion was the problem. So I found someone who used a mircoscope, she only did thermolysis(sp?) still very bad reaction. So finally found someone who does blend and newer type equiptment, and a mircoscpe. She was very fast compared to the other 2 electrololigsts. She cleared a lot in an hour.
I had treatment last last tues day, and her I am pretty much 5 days post, and my chin is very red lumpy and there were about 6 little pimples which I popped with needle that I had cleaned with alcohol. I dont know if this was a good idea, but I had been treating them with alcohol a few times, pretty much used witch hazel and aloe gel and they were just getting worse. I have Oily skin in the T zone so I dont know if this is just my skin type reacting or maybe I did too much too fast? I also tried polysporin, but the ontmeint it helped some I think, I know i was told to try the cream but i thought id give plain witch hazel and aloe a try as I didnt want to over do what i was puting on my face. I dont think I would react well to tea tree as i have sensitive skin. my chin is very lumpy and irratated so i scared i have a skin infection its sore to the touch but no overly. Is there something i should be using instead with all this lumps pimples and irration instead like the polysporin??
The odd part is it seems like the same black hairs that grow on the left corner of my skin keep growing black like 7-10 days after treatment. I ve had the same hairs removed in those 4 times for sure 2 times, and im sure they were in growing stage because I trimmed them 2 days prior to going, and they had grown quite a bit. What do you think?
I had been taking spirnolactone(sp?) for 6yrs but stopped 6 mths ago and the hair has just gone crazy maybe my hormones are too strong for electrolysis to work??? I think I’ll have to stop to let my face heal as its too bad to treat again on Tue but I have like 10 black hairs that i might go in to get the give it a break until I heal. this last treatment really killed my face. Maybe try vaniqa for a while, can I do both together?
Sorry for the novel, but Im really upset as i wanted to stop the meds and thought i would take well to electrolysis, and need it to work. Thanks
are you taking any medications? why did you stop spirnolactone? electrolysis can only kill the hair that’s currently there, but if you’re not on medication preventing NEW hair from being developed by your body due to hormonal problems, you will always have to go in for touchups as new hair develops.
for your situation, i would only use witch hazel. ointments clog pores and tea tree oil can be harsh on sensitive skin. also, try not to touch your face.
Im currenlty not taking any meds. I was on Sprino and BC stoped the sprino 6mts and the BC 11/2 ago. I want to have a baby so I cant be on all these meds.
1-I was using depilatories and plucking the few darker ones up until december. About once a week or as needed.
2-I do feel a poke as the needle enters it doesnt hurt but its not comfortable.
3-I would say the hair feels like it comes out easily, in a 1 hrs session maybe 3 might feel like a yank.
4-I try not to touch my skin right after treatment, but admit I have a little bit maybe 5hrs after just to see if all the hairs are gone. I dont apply makeup but aloe gel on with my bare hands although I do wash them before hand.
Two things popped into my mind; either a skin infection (you’d need to see a doctor and get antibiotics) or a reaction to the steel needle (your electrologist can get hold of gold ones). Or it may just be too high a setting for you. But really, your electrologist is the one who should be helping you.
Pam makes an excellant point in the fact that you must discuss your skin problems with the electrologist. Between the two of you, you ARE the only ones who actually see the skin reaction and have a chance to make whatever changes needs to happen to fix the problem…yes, it could be an infection or an allergic reaction.
That said, here are my thoughts on the answers you gave to my questions.
Since you were tweezing about once a week (any number of hairs) then stopped in December - then you can expect the same number of coarse hairs to show up every week for at least 2 months after you stop tweezing. Tweezing hides the hair from you and many people do not realize how much hair is really there. So, the corner of your chin with coarse hair is problably the area with the heaviest growth, and seeing the hair within 7-10 days is not a concern.
My concern with the sensation of the insertions was that improper insertions can cause the inflammation (lumps and pimples) that you describe. Your answer does not help determine whether or not the insertions are good. I will add that having oily skin can contribute to the inflammation. The electrologist will problably evaluate settings and time spent on the area to prevent further problems.
Sounds like the electrologist is not tweezing hair then.
Sounds like you have good habits for not touching the skin. Make sure that other “things” aren’t touching the skin, either - like the phone…Make sure that the products you are using are fresh or new and use some fresh cotton to apply the products - just for a little added security. Even with clean hands, we do walk around with a lot of resident bacteria on our hands. Also - popping the zits is a no-no.
Have you tried ice right after a treatment? Place a cube in a baggie and wrap it in a tissue. Just a few minutes here and there in the hours following treatment. I’m a big fan of the witch hazel mixed with a little wintergreen alcohol, but not at all a fan of straight alcohol on the skin.
Personally, I think irritation is something you have to live with. Some people get it more than others. I’ve never found a way to lessen irritation noticeably from any sort of hair removal. No matter what hair removal method I have ever tried I’ve gotten horrible irritation regardless. I’ve tried tendskin, tea tree oil, all that crap. It doesn’t matter.
Speaking of electrolysis though, I go to two of them, and one does flash and the other straight thermolysis. The irritation I get from the micro-flash method is much much less irritation and hurts alot less. If it’s me, I’d rather have the pain, irritation, as long as I know it’s working. I have very thick hair and am male, and the irritation from my thermolysis treatment probably won’t go away for another week or week and a half, and it’s almost a week since the last treatment.
I knew that there would be some irration involved, but here I am 11 days post only now have all the pimples cleared. Most of them are hard little bumps. I do have a lot of redness that Im hoping is not permanant. Im going to let my skin heal 1 more week and try again.
Im wondering if your gettting blend if you have to hold a probe? Is thermolysis the only type where you dont? Any thoughts on if thermolysis is more irritating?
I know the tech is the most important thing but the last person I went to had 15yrs experience, and microscope. She had a machine called Apulis(sp?) that was computerized. I thought she was doing blend, but I wasnt holding a probe. I wonder if it was thermolysis that she did. I hope its not just that my skin is too sensitive.
Im really hoping I’ll react well in a week as trimming the black hairs looking so bad.
I have had the same problem as you and I have decided it is technique. My first electologist burned the heck out of me. I had redness, scaring, pimples, and it hurt terribly. The second one has been minimal pain and no scaring. Both use thermolysis. The difference has been one has 10 years experience doing it part time as part of various spa services, and the second has specialized in electrolysis for 34 years. The second one is about three times as fast, knew to change the probe to a shallower probe when we had problems, and zaps at a fast, irregular, syncopated pace which really minimizes pain.
I have been to 3 different places and have had a bad reaction. Mind you right now Im going through a very stressful time due to a new medical condition which I was just diagonoised with. Lack of sleep and stress have to playinga role in my slow healing. I had a 30 mins session today with the same place as before she is doing thermolysis, she is a good electroylogist its just my skin I think.
Although I would prefer someone with has an autosensor. For some reason it makes me believe they would be able to find the root easier? Well so fair my skin looks fine, but it did the last times too. It was a few days later that the pimples began forming. Only time will tell I guess. Thanks again.
An autosensor doesn’t help the electrologist find the root easier, but rather it helps reduce the fatigue factor that sets in with having to press a footswitch for every hair, all day long. With the autosensor mode, the electrologist can work more efficiently and increase her/his speed.
Finding the root is a matter of good vision equipment and continued practiced skill for performing good insertions.
Stress and lack of sleep can impact treatment and the healing process, but I just think you should relate your healing outcome to your electrologist. Only she can really analyze your personal situation and re-discuss (is that a word?) aftercare concerns with you.
We are destroying tissue when we do electrolysis and it stands to reason that your skin is going to react to this insult in some way. The inflammation process is suppose to happen to a certain degree and should fall within normal healing outcome. What you do at home can impact that outcome for the good or the bad. The beginning treatments will probably be the “worst” you’ll ever have. So hang in there and do everthing you can at home to help the area heal. Do not touch the area, use witch hazel and 100% Aloe Vera Gel.
I have scars from a ‘blend’ treatment done over two years ago. I had to take a week of work because my face was such a mess!
The treatment that caused the scars was no more uncomfortable than any previous treatment I’d had and I’ve no idea what went wrong. She was a newly qualified therapist though and I did wake up with a bad throat the next day.
I tried the blend method because I’d had the other type for years and never saw any effect from it.
All I can suggest is that you try other methods. I wouldn’t risk scarring as it’s no better than having hairs.
If you have scars, if is not from the blend method being used, it was because of poor skill on the part of the practitioner. If you never saw results with thermolysis, blend or galvanic, then there is a missing part to the puzzle. You must have a set of principles and behaviors in place for electrolysis to work 100% of the time. Something is missing. Were you on a good schedule? Was your electrologist skilled (hmm?) and dedicated? Did you cease plucking and waxing?
Electrolysis works and you don’t have to look forward to scarring to replace the hair. If you have to take off work because your face was a mess, you ARE NOT GETTING A GOOD TREATMENT WITH THE BEST PROFESSIONAL ELECTROLOGIST. Look forward and try someone else who can get the hair off and at the same time, give you a healing scenario where you can still face people the next day or sooner. Oh, and get in to see your electrologist at least every two or three weeks after the first group of hair is cleared off or you will never finish.
I concur here. It is not the method or even your skin. Most of the time it’s the skill of the electrologist. If you sample 3-4, you will see huge differences on your skin.
Im going tommorrow for a 15 mins appointment with someone with only uses Galvanic and Blend. She has been in the field for over 20 yrs and said that thought they are slower methods, but she finds that the regrowth rate is much better the thermolysis. She also said that she would only do 15mins on the first appt to see how the persone reacts, and she’ll adjust the setting depending on that.
I started in the middle of Dec, and went once a week. Then I had a that crazy reaction so I when last week for a 30mins appointment with the last place I went to they use Thermoylsis. She spent most of the time clearing those small hairs on my nose, my nose didnt react bad at all. She did do some of the hairs on my chin at a much lower setting seeing as I told her how bad I reacted last time. Its been a week now and my skin is not look bad. My nose is fine, and my chin still has some redness but its way better then 2wks ago.
So here I am trying my 4th electroylogist, and hoping this is the one that will work for me.
Thanks for the advice lagirl I will. I had treatment today with blend, and damn was it painful. It felt like she was frying the hair to death. It was also very slow compared to other treatments. In 15mins she cleared maybe 15 hairs. I told her about my previous reactions so I hope she did have the settign too high or maybe blend is just way more painful for me. She keep the needle in place for a long time. Also her technique was way different then the others I have been to. Like she uses both hands. Instead of switching with one hand from needle to tweezer.
The only thing is she works only 3 days a week and she is totally booked. So I cant get another appointment for 3wks. I didnt say anything to her, but I was like how is that going to work. I’ll have my first clearance in what 5yrs. She also said I might react worse to blend then thermolysis. That was not welcome news. The area is still sore. Hoping for no pimples we’ll have to see what the coming days bring. I was wondering if its ok to apply witch hazel a few times a day as I have super oily skin.