Depends on the skill of the electrologist. Some electrologists can mostly only get anagen hairs ‘first time’, some not even that. Some (few) can adjust to work on telogen hairs too. Remember though, the hair present is not all the active hair you have. You would need to get through all the hair cycles. So an electrologist who can get rid of any kind of hair with one zap, would still need to give you about 3 clearances spaced 3-4 months apart. Or one can do the clear and maintain strategy and have lots of shorter appointments to get hairs as soon as they come up. This latter method would be preferred by electrologists who like to work on anagen hairs especially, or clients who want to look more or less hair free after their initial clearance.
Honestly, my entire upper lip could have been cleared in three continuous hours of treatment, but the reactive swelling and inflammation would have been terrible. The other reason it cannot be done all in one session is the extreme sensitivity in the area beneath the nasal septum. First clearance of my upper lip required four separate sessions over four weeks’ time. Margaret treated both my lip lines the first week, the corners of my mouth the second week, the sides of my upper lip the third week, and the area beneath my nose the fourth week. It actually required another 15 to 30 minutes to clean up a bunch of fine hairs the fifth week.
I’m on vacation for two weeks, so I haven’t visited Margaret this week and I won’t next week, either. Currently, there is only the very finest regrowth of a minimal number of hairs around my lips and chin, and it’s made a world of difference in my skin’s overall condition. Not shaving the area has reduced the irritation and redness I always experienced.
Margaret spent two hours this week clearing my upper lip, and the corners near my lower lip. In two weeks she’ll clear the rest of my lower lip and chin. I no longer need to apply ice afterwards. 
The Laurier probes are working extremely well, causing very minimal swelling and no surface redness whatsoever. Because these insulated probes focus the electrolysis energy at the bottom of the follicle, they have been more effective in successfully removing and eliminating the hairs.
It’s now been six months treating my upper lip and five months on my lower lip and chin. There has been a significant reduction overall, and now I’m visiting Margaret every two weeks instead of weekly. I’m really happy with my results, but it’s required a lot of persistence and especially patience to reach this point.
Margaret continues to treat the fine hairs remaining on my upper lip, while achieving additional clearances on my lower lip and the front of my chin. It required less than an hour to treat my upper and lower lips Friday morning, leaving the second hour free to clear my chin for the second time. I can easily see that within another few months, my upper lip will be 98% clear and free of hair, while my lower lip and chin will gradually become more clear with each visit.
Patience has never been one of my personal strengths, so it’s often been personally difficult waiting to achieve and observe the permanence of electrolysis. Even understanding how hair grows in many overlapping cycles and knowing in advance this would require months, failed to temper my impatience.
The density in these areas is very high, Caith. The choice of such a strategy “maintain and advance” requires returning to the area many times. Do not lose patience, with each new clearance you’ll be closer to achieving your goal. Courage!!!
Your patience and persistence are paying off, and you are by now through the most difficult stage of this process. There is a significant improvement every 3 months, and although you know this, you are having a difficult moment today, wondering if this will ever end.It will end, after 6 months these really difficult days lessen. Stay strong. Anything worth acheiving, is rarely easy.
Thank you both for your comments. My most difficult days are long past, thankfully. I am fortunate my beard hair was never very dense. However, they are coarse and deeply rooted. I suppose after forty years of growth, they became extremely comfortable in their homes, and simply refused to give up without a fight. 
I requested Margaret start beneath my chin and work upwards this week, so as not to consume 50% of the time on my lips. The hairs there are very fine and very slow growing, and they were both treated on my last two visits, so I don’t feel any rush to treat them again so soon. It’s also faster treating the areas other than my lips, since the surfaces are more regular and the hairs generally grow in the same direction. After treatment, a wipe with witch hazel and covering of clear aloe gel went on, and I headed directly to work for the rest of the day.
Others seem to have a lot more of what I will call re-bounding growth. It seems that if one has a certain body chemistry, that the recruitment of replacement hairs, and, or the tendency of not fully treated hairs to re-establish themselves in this area is rivaled only by the upper lip.
Hello again. 
Today I found this quote by James Walker in the mature topics forum, and it helps me feel better about the persistence of my remaining upper lip hair. I’ve not been having appointments weekly or every other week for the last several months. I’d rather go weekly, but work and finances in the last six months of the year have made it difficult. Everything that’s been treated is definitely greatly improved, and patience and persistence are my best resources. It’s very nice that what remains are not whiskers but fine hairs, and the density is rather sparse. I have another appointment in a few weeks. At that time, I’ll take a couple of photos before and after treatment to illustrate my progress after a year of treatment.
Okay, here are the before and after pictures from this week. Before, you can see the density is immensely reduced from my initial condition, a little over one year ago. The after picture was taken approximately 24 hours following treatment. There is still some very mild swelling in my upper lip, but any redness you see is due to my natural skin condition, and NOT due to the electrolysis treatment to remove all those hairs.
BEFORE
AFTER
Copied and pasted your picture before you started electrolysis back in late November 2010, so the community can see your dramatic results.
Well, Caith, you are at month 13 and you look very good. Margaret is doing a [size:17pt]FANTASTIC[/size] job. I forget, are you getting blend or thermolysis for these areas? Apilus Epilator? Probe choice?
Apilus Senior II, Micro-Flash thermolysis, Laurier IBP, .004 gold insulated bulbous probe. My first seven months were weekly appointments. The next two months were semi-monthly appointments. The last few months, it’s been monthly.
I’ll praise Margaret’s technique again. Her insertions are virtually flawless. I never feel the probe until the energy is fired through it. I received 2.5 hours of treatment Thursday, and the majority of it was spent beneath my chin on both sides. It probably required less than 30 minutes to clear my upper lip.
To make it easier for everyone to compare, without flipping between pages 14 and 15, here are this week’s photos, again:
BEFORE
This is after 12 months of treatment:
AFTER
This is after a 2.5 hour session, 24 hours earlier:
I had a 2.5 hour appointment with Margaret yesterday. Clearing my upper and lower lips took no time at all and there was no swelling or redness due to the extremely low density of hairs remaining. My chin has been extremely responsive to the electrolysis. After the first two clearings over the last several months, there are very few hairs remaining. Margaret spent most of her time expanding the treated area around my chin, clearing hairs that have not been treated before. It’s really nice not having to shave that area any longer. Without the irritation from constant shaving, the skin is beginning to remain clear for longer periods of time.
So you are at the 16 month mark, Caith. Right on target for the amount and type of hair you had. You are razor-free because you are basically 98% hair-free. your good efforts have paid off. Speaking of pay, do you care to divulge approximately how much this cost you?
Margaret’s rates are $75 per hour. I was getting one hour of treatment weekly for the first several months, then every two weeks for two hours to treat the larger overall area. Since then, it’s been monthly appointments of two or two and a half hours. Roughly speaking, it’s been about $3500 to clear these areas over 16 months.
During my treatment, Margaret switched from Ballet to Laurier probes at my request, and this helped my skin immensely. Discontinuing my moisturizer for three days following treatment also greatly improved my skin condition.