Have any men out there done electrolysis to get rid of hair on their backs and shoulders. Laser has not worked for me and I want to know if I should try electrolysis.
Would it take many many years to complete? Is it effective in the back?
thanks
I know you are asking this question for men who have have done electrolysis and hopefully someone will give you their perspective, but I wanted to address your question as well from the electrologist’s perspective. Also, why do you think LASER did not work for you? Hair color? Hair coarseness? # of treatments? space between treatments? levels used? tech skill? type of LASER used?
Electrolysis IS effective anywhere. The back is no exception and it does not take YEARS if you go in on an agressive schedule up front to get a large area cleared and keep it cleared as you continue on to another untreated area.
I work on men’s backs. It takes effort on both electrologists and clients part.A good strategy,(but not the only strategy) would go something like this: Divide the back into four quandrants. Totally clear the first quandrant of all offending hair quickly. Then start quandrant two. Each time you go in, the electrologist should check out quandrant 1 and punch any new hair that appears. With quandrant 1 maintained and kept cleared, proceed onto clearing quandrant 2. Keep both areas maintained to get new hair each appointment and then advance to quandrant 3. Clear quandrant 3. Maintain quandrant 1,2 and 3 each appointment then advance to quandrant 4. Find an electrolysis that uses microflash thermolysis, that way you can really move along.
If you keep regular appointments for 9-12 months, like every week for 2-3 hours, you will reach your goal sooner. If you go in once a week for 20 minutes, then you are looking at YEARS of treatment. It takes dedication, money and a skilled practitioner with quality equipment to pull this off. If you are mildly motivated, then you’ll have to settle for temporary measures.
Dee
Adam, electrolysis is very effective anywhere. That’s the thing, it’s always kind of lumped in with laser, but it’s a far more direct, fail safe approach. Electrolysis has been around for 130 years. It’s completely proven. If it seems to not work for some reason, it’s because a) The skill level of the administrator was incorrect, or b) An area was never cleared thoroughly with multiple sweeps and new hair is being mistaken for the elctrolyzed hairs ‘regrowing’.
I can 100% attest to the fact that electrolysis works great. My back doesn’t have a whole lot of hair, so other areas are being done first, but on my abs and shoulders it has worked great in the areas done so far.
Remember, anything of worth doesn’t come in an instant. It takes patience to clear hair.
Mantaray
Thanks for your reply. Because the back and shoulders are such a large area to treat, I was afraid that no electrologist would do it (or that it would cost too much money).
I’d really like to hear other people’s experience with back hair electrolosis. I want to make sure it is actually permanent and what tips people would recommend. I have black hair, quit thick i guess.
As for my LASER treatments…it’s a long story posted here and there in the laser forum. In summary, I’ve had Laser done on my back and shoulders for three years. I’m male, 25 years old, and a perfect candidate (skin and hair color). I’ve used Gentlase and Lighsheer over these years at two seperate practitioners. All the hair grows back 2-3 months after every treatment I’ve had (and I had a lot).
I can’t even begin to tell you how emotionally and pyschologically difficult it is to live with so much hair.
What is your idea of too much money?
I hear ya buddy, I did the same thing as you. I’ve had about 17-18 GentleLASE treatments, with two different techs. Never tried the Lightsheer, but it’s similar and I don’t know if it would even be worth it. Laser is really bad at treating male backs, shoulders, and upper arms. This is what I’ve found. I just started laser early January, and I have no idea if it’s working yet. I can tell you it’s a long and painful process, but I am determined. You are going to need a ton of money too. I’m trying to clear my shoulders, upper arms, back of neck, collarbone front, and very small part of my upper back. I imagine it’s going to take me 6K-7K just for one clearance. I doubt you have as much hair as I am, so it may be something to pursue. Keep readin’ my thread I made, I should know by about April if I am seeing permanent removal.
It’s real tough to have so much hair in this area when you are young guy in your 20’s, and you can’t get rid of it. Everybody just assumes that laser can get rid of hair. None of my friends even know that I am this hairy, because I used to just keep up with laser with my hair free peirods and just refuse to take my shirt off any other time. Eventually, I’ll figure out a way to beat this. Life will hold you down sometimes, but eventually I’m going to kick it’s ass. I’m not going to let up until I am hairfree on my shoulders and upper arms. Good luck
Adam, it would also be great to see some pictures. They would help you once you start as well. Where are you located?
I’m in the same boat as you are. The hair-free periods with laser are good, but they last only a few weeks and all the hair grows back. I never had a long term relationship because of this (i know for a fact that it’s because of that and i’m confident enough to say that i have a good personality, etc etc).I have hair in all the places you do, plus the rest of the back. It’s really difficult to live like this, especially in my 20s. And the posters here who say that “people should love you without judging your looks” are being a little too nice. It really doesnt work that easily and being hairy in those areas is extremely unattrative. Yes, sexuality plays a huge role in the reason why we all want to get rid of our unwanted hair - there’s no denying that.
Unfortunately, I don’t - I just had laser treatment today. But I’m sure in 2 months I’ll be able to post a hairy picture, lol. I’ll definitely post a pic to show you what my back looks like after 3 years of laser - really no results. I’m not blaming anyone…that’s just how it turned out for me. In any case, I have black hair on my shoulders, upper arms and entire back.
I’m in New York. I’d really like to know as much as I can before starting anything
Edit: here’s one picture of a part of my upper arm that was never lasered. So the rest pretty much looks like this (maybe a little less dense)
What is your idea of too much money? [/quote]
Well I’ve heard everything from 10 years/$10,000 to a lot less than that. 
It will all depend on the number of hairs, and the speed of your practitioner, and the regularity of your appointments, and maybe most important how quickly you do your first clearance. I have been able to do even large jobs for 75 hours or less to completion with most first clearances in 12 hours or less. Of course, those people I look at as large jobs actually have hair from the waist to the neck and covering the entire back.
James -
What is the biggest problem or dissatisfaction your patients have had once they completely finished their treatment with you? (i’m referring only to the back hair patients)
That they didn’t start sooner.
That they did not live closer to me.
That they didn’t have an appontment in the months between November and March for 3 years, thus leaving hairs that we never treated for 3 years due to their holiday schedule, while they had clear backs the rest of the year.
Oh, and they would no longer get to have liesurly conversations with me that last for an hour or four.
(sorry, I don’t have a single one who has a regrette that has ever been expressed to me, and since most went on to do other body parts, I should think they were satisfied.)
Hello james, do you do multiple needle galvanic,I have tried
the blend, themolysis for years and it hardly kills anything
but my wallet, I let one place do the back of my neck for
one year then gave up, I went ever month for a year,this lady
had about 30 years experiance, I really dont think she killed
one hair, So then I go to another place and she only does
thermolysis like the last place, me being a sucker I gave
her a year and the same thing happened,still have a rug around
the back of neck, bottom line the blend or thermolysis dont
work on thick hair,yet multiple needle galvanic works when
the needle stays in for around 10 seconds yet I cant find
nobody around st louis that does it, is there anybody left
in the world that does this or am I out of luck.
I would not know if anyone in particular does multi-probe galvanic in your area.
The reason most don’t do it, is because clients are more likely to give up if they don’t see immediate and appreciable results. Those practitioners who do still utilize multi-probe/needle method tend to spend their professional lives doing underarms, small facial jobs and bikini line work. Keep in mind that getting 100 hairs per hour in galvanic is considered fast. If you found a person doing blend at 250 hairs per hour, or some form of thermolysis at 500 hairs per hour – and the quality of the work was good, you would get much farther and spend less money over all.
Unless you took before, during and after shots, you really have no idea as to how much hair you have actually lost. I will assume that the problem here is that you still have hair after going to two different electrologists over two years. On the other hand, I don’t know how many hours you did, and I don’t know how many hairs per hour they were doing.
This is why I have a person like you plot out a schedule for getting 12 hours of work as quickly as possible so we can actually get to first clearance as soon as we can. Even the people who do one 4 hour session with me see tangable results, as we clear out a very noticeable area and before and after shots prove what amount of reduction has taken place in that area, so the person’s shifting idea of what is there doesn’t get in the way.
Whoa, stuff like this kills me. A person doing GALVANIC, and still not getting results… Crap. I have a feeling this is going to be me in a year from now, but with -20,000 dollars
The idea of results is a relative thing.
Galvanic is SLOW but sure. The problem of client perception is easy to see if you consider some things.
It takes at least 9 months for every hair to show itself on the surface of your skin once. It could be longer for other areas to go through this cycle once. The electrologist can’t treat what can’t be seen, or has not even started to grow yet.
Then there is catching up to the rate of growth of the hair. I remove an average of 12,000 hairs in the average MTF first clearance of a face. Depending on how the person schedules this, it takes place over a period of two days or more, or is spread out over many days in a month or two.
Since fast Galvainic is 100 hairs per hour, it would take 120 hours for galvanic to do what I do in 20 hours or less. Additionally, the visual situation would not be the same. Whereas the person I am working on in MicroFlash gets bare skin in 20 hours or less, and just gets frustrated that it was not 20 and out, the person doing Galvanic would be playing a game of 100 hairs forward, 100 hairs grow back over the course of the first year.
The noticeable difference would not be visible for over a year, and even then, if the person did not take pictures, it might not even be something that they notice as a difference.
Even with the speed I can give, people frequently spend the first 9 months going back and forth thinking that maybe this isn’t working due to the normal next phase of hair growth coming in, which they mistake as “regrowth of previously treated hairs” when in fact it is just the next batch of hairs arriving on schedule.
So what you have to ask yourself is, what is the thing that will get me to full clearance quickest, with the least amount of negative side effects
Hi:
I had my face done with mostly thermolysis and very little blend. There were times when it seemed like it would never end and patience proved to be a virtue.
It does work though if you maintain a regular schedule. After less than 150 hours total I am now just doing cleanup work on stray, widely scattered hairs. I have to let it grow for a week before treatments and don’t have to wear foundation.
Alicia
Im havin the same problem. Had laser treatments with lightsheer(10 reatments) with no significant results so im opting for electrolysis. I also started with my entire back and shoulders. I have a type-4 skin with dark hair. Seems like our problems match exactly :). Keep us updated withyour electrolysis story and ill try to do the same. I was also wondering how much time it would take (approx) for the entire bak and shoulders.
Peace!
I’m not doing electrolysis yet - I still have several laser treatments left with my package deal…
When was the last time you had laser treatment? Do you still have full hair on your back and shoulders?