just started electrolysis - a few questions!

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
1

Hello,

I just started electrolysis and have had five 1-hour sessions in 3 weeks to clear my neck and chin area. I had a lot of very coarse hairs from tweezing for the last 5 - 7 years.

I had a couple of questions:

  1. aside from confirming basic info about my electrologist (certified and went to special school, in the business for 5+ years, works at a well-known spa), how else can i tell if she’s sufficiently skilled? She seems to pull the hairs, though not necessarily pluck them, and i asked and she said she wasn’t tweezing so that seems correct. also, i presume this is a good thing, but it doesn’t hurt too much. i’m concerned she may not be using enough voltage or whatever it’s called and maybe there will be more regrowth? i do have a fair amount of redness and scabbing the next day or two but i am in there for an hour and that seems to be common to a lot of people…

The appointments are not cheap and I’d hate to continue to spend so much $$ if there’s someone with better technique out there. i’m in nyc so i assume there are a fair amount of people to choose from. other tips to ensure i’ve got the best person?

  1. i am going on a 3 week vacation in a month, after having a total of ~15 hours of electrolysis. Can i tweeze the ones that come in while i’m away and start electrolysis back up when i return from vacation or will it negate some of the work we’ve done to this point? there will be a lot of outdoor/beach time and the idea of being hairy is awful.

  2. while i understand there is no way to predict how long it will take for all the hair to be gone forever, i’m very disheartened by reading about people who have been doing electrolysis for decades or even several years. i was under the impression that after 3 months, while i would still need occasional maintenance appointments, i wouldn’t need to be coming in 2 hours a week. at what point do you think patients begin to have an accurate assessment of how long it will take to really see a major, long lasting improvement?

  3. finally… in that vein, lucy peters in new york provides a guarantee: “We will remove hair from any area in the time we quote or we will continue treatment in the area at our expense.” has anyone tried this? i know they probably have excluding factors and it’s quite expensive but the idea of knowing when i’ll be all done is appealing.

i’d appreciate any thoughts on the above if someone had time.

thanks!

2

Five hours in just 3 weeks for clearing is pretty fast. A little information first however. On an average, it takes about 6 weeks for even a plucked hair to grow back. This means that some of the hairs you previously plucked have not even been zapped once yet. Just to let you know.

  1. I for one am just beginning my practice. However I do have other background that aids my understanding of electrology as well. Years of practice is not the only factor. Knowledge of what they are doing is the most important item. A misplaced insertion is not doing any good, as that is the most important requirement in electrolysis. I wish it were possible to see below the surface of the skin, but that is difficult for now. She seems to pull the hairs, though not necessarily pluck them, and i asked and she said she wasn’t tweezing so that seems correct. also, i presume this is a good thing, but it doesn’t hurt too much. How much something hurts, depends a lot on modality. Blend technique is almost like, How much pain can you stand… Thermosis is less painful but more diffiuclt to get distorted hairs, and Flash can be little more than feeling like plucking.
    I’m concerned she may not be using enough voltage or whatever it’s called and maybe there will be more regrowth?
    You may very well have regrowth, since you are really on your first clearing, meaning hairs previously treated have not had time to return. Hairs are also best treated in what is know as anagen growth stage, which is when they grow the fastest. Hairs not in this phase are likely to return but hopefully a little finer in thickness. i do have a fair amount of redness and scabbing the next day or two but i am in there for an hour and that seems to be common to a lot of people… Yes, that can be a normal reaction. Be sure to take care of yourself post care wise.

  2. i am going on a 3 week vacation in a month, after having a total of ~15 hours of electrolysis. Can i tweeze the ones that come in while i’m away and start electrolysis back up when i return from vacation or will it negate some of the work we’ve done to this point? there will be a lot of outdoor/beach time and the idea of being hairy is awful.

Tweezing is not the prefered method. Shaving would be the best, but we cannot stop you from tweezing if that is what you wish to do. With tweezing, it will take about 6 weeks again before the hairs will return, and will probably return stronger, as the germ cells will have had some time to heal. But that is a minor set back. The greatest importance is how you feel about yourself.

  1. Am I misunderstanding what you said. I am under the impression you did just 5 hours in 3 wks time. Now it sounds like months?

  2. finally… in that vein, lucy peters in new york provides a guarantee: “We will remove hair from any area in the time we quote or we will continue treatment in the area at our expense.” has anyone tried this? i know they probably have excluding factors and it’s quite expensive but the idea of knowing when i’ll be all done is appealing.

I had never heard of this approach but my guess is that they would probably estimate on the long side just to cover themselves. I would like to know more about how they operate as well. Myself I am retired, and have a pension coming in, so personally I charge very little compared to others, basically because I like what I am doing, and helping others feel better about themselves.

Martha Montgomery

3

The only way to tell the efficacy of a treatment would be to take a before picture, then get the treatment, and then wait a year and take an after picture on the same day. The hair you see 3 weeks, and 6 weeks after your electrolysis session usually have nothing to do with the work you have had done, and most of it is just the next rotation of hairs coming in.

We have a saying in the business, “Pluck only the hairs you want to KEEP!”(because plucking them will make them unavailable for treatment.

4

you should be able to tell if the hair is being plucked by the way it feels. after she zaps, you’re supposed to feel it slide it relatively easy.

run a search for new york on this side and read some past reviews.

do NOT pluck. you will only extend the time needed to complete the entire treatment this way and halt the progress since weakened previously zapped hairs will go back to being strong after plucking and you will also halt the growth of those hairs for another 6 weeks at least like James said. Shaving, clipping or bleaching are much better options.

Are you using any aftercare to help with the healing process after the treatments?

it takes 9-12 months to complete treatments for most people if you attack it in the beginning and get clearance fast so that you only get new hairs in growth phase as they come in afterwards. the farther you stray from this, the longer the entire process will take.

since you have a lot of hair it seems, have you looked into the causes? if you’re female, have you been to an endocrinologist? tested for PCOS etc?

5

thanks very much for answering my questions. (i am a woman and would say i’m mediocrely hairy with a couple patches on my chin and neck and a bit on my abdomen… certainly nothing like a full man’s beard but definitely enough to warrant tweezing about 5 - 10 minutes a day. i’ll ask my electrologist next time how i rank on her hairy scale!)

i will avoid the tweezing temptation as much as possible while gone…

another quick question… while i understand i really won’t be able to see the effectiveness for 9 months (and with a side by side photo), won’t that be quite a long time (and lot of money!) before i determine that my electrologist might not be sufficiently skilled? if i’m still going in for an hour twice a week in 2 months, should i be concerned?

also… while i’m quite happy with her thus far, after reading these boards, i’m thinking going to someone who has access to a blend machine might be a good option in case thermolysis isn’t able to get the really coarse hairs that have developed from my tweezing.

again… my greatest concern is that i’m going to be doing the exact same thing in a year from now, only to then realize i should have being doing blend, gone to someone else, etc…

thanks again so much… this board is incredibly helpful!

6

You will definitely see effectiveness inside of 9 months, more like inside three months. Plus, within this time you are going to have more and more hair cleared out, so it becomes easier to evaluate. And remember, electrology isn’t similar to some other more unproven hair removal forms. It’s tried and true, an electrologist will most likely know exactly what they are doing. Electrologists train for this. Don’t worry so much about that. Usually what makes people change electrologists is machine type, hours, and percieved pain levels, not so much effectiveness, because being inneffective is the rarity. And of course, personal referrals and word of good clearings from others go a long way.

Relax, go to appointments religiously, use an effective numbing cream, and keep the hair at an ideal length for appointment time.

Good Luck,
Mantaray

7

you will see the results within 3-4 months as you will have to greatly cut down on the frequency of your treatments. that means a large part of the hairs have been killed. 9 months is around the time when you only need treatments once a month or less or not at all.

8

Hi lagirl,

I have a question about the comment you made.

“Since you have a lot of hair it seems, have you looked into the causes? if you’re female, have you been to an endocrinologist? tested for PCOS etc?”

What is PCOS? & where can I get tested for it? Also, do you know if visits to an endocrinologist are covered under insurance?

Thanks,
June

9

it’s one of the hormonal imbalance disorders that stems from an issues with ovaries, a side of effect of which is excess hair. endocrinologist is just a specialist doctor. it should be covered depending on your insurance plan just like any other specialist outside of your main physician. if you have a lot of excess hair, it’s a good idea to make sure everything is normal just because hair removal methods kill hair that’s there now, but can’t prevent NEW hair from growing in if your body keeps producing it.

10

June,

Do a google search for PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome). www.soulcysters.com is a great website to research as well.

Dee

11

It might also be a good idea that if one is having these kinds of problems, to discontinue any use of artificial sweeteners, as their use can start a chain reaction that includes unwanted hair as one of its negative results.

12

Thank you all for your replies, it was very helpful!

June

13

James,

I’m curious where you got the info on artificial sweeteners? I had a medical article 20 years ago that connected them to hyperpigmentation, but have lost it and can find no others that are legitimate.

14

I read so much, from so many sources that some things are hard to pull out on short notice, but the info on Artificial Sweeteners is easily available from many sources. I will see about lining up some articles and such when I have a little time… meaning don’t even think about getting that before Sunday.

15

From the link below, you get this quote:
“Diet sodas and sugar-free foods contain aspartame, which has high levels of phenylalanine. Phenylalanine is a precursor of tyrosine and may increase eumelanin synthesis, causing the skin to darken.”

http://www.thienna.com/faq.html

If you want to look up what eumelanin synthesis might cause, you may want to wade through this:

http://jcs.biologists.org/cgi/content/full/115/11/2349

Basically, it makes the skin more sensitive to UV radiation, and in other sources darkening of scars is indicated.

Aspartame is made by combining aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol
You may also want to read this:

http://www.rense.com/general33/legal.htm

and this is a good explaination of some of the problems with Aspartame metabolism:

It really begs the question, If ehtanol could be used in place of methanol, and make the product safer, why don’t they use ethanol which doesn’t become Formaldehyde inside your body?

16

Hi,

I thought I’d come back and give an update on my electrolysis. I started in early November '07. I had quite a lot of dark coarse hairs on my chin and neck, the result of hairy genes, ~15 years of plucking, and two bad laser experiences. (Was a while ago so no idea what lasers they used.) In addition, I had longer, lighter hairs on my cheeks that bothered me. It was incredibly damaging to my self-esteem: I was constantly in the bathroom with tweezers, also shaving occasionally. Being in sunlight with a guy I was dating was excruciating. Waking up next to him, not knowing what had sprouted during the night, was a nightmare.

Finally after seeing so many ingrown hairs on my neck, fed up w/the time i was spending tweezing, and having some time off work, I made the commitment to deal with it. I have been religious about going every week. The exception was 1 month on vacation after 8 weeks into the process (and I did pluck a little) and just recently when my electrolysist was on vacation for 3 weeks. (No plucking this time though still some dark hairs, which is frustrating.)

The first 4 – 6 months, I was skeptical… thought she was tweezing, thought I had chosen the wrong kind (flash vs. blend), thought it wasn’t working, annoyed that my skin was reacting badly, etc. However, I still could see basic signs that things were getting better: hair growing in thinner, less ingrowns, slightly shorter appointments, etc.

When I first started, I was obsessed with how long it would take so I’ll give some details for those who are interested.

First month: About an hour a half a week or slightly more. (2 sessions of 45 minutes)
Second month: 45 minutes/week
Third month: on vacation
4th - 7th months: ~1/2 hour a week (never more)
8th - 11th months: 15 minutes per week (occasionally 30 minutes but not often)

In terms of the future, I suspect I probably have about 3 to 4 months before I’m completely happy. I have quite curly hair so am prone to ingrowns, which apparently means it’s even more important I get the hairs early. I’m sticking to weekly appts (even if only 5 minutes) for now, particularly as their office is convenient. That said, I could probably wait 2 weeks and go for only 15 to 20 minutes and be fine.

I will say it’s a serious commitment, not just the money and the time, but dealing with the period before your appointment when the hair’s growing in long enough for them to get and afterward, when I usually have some scabbing, though it’s much better in the last few months. (Witchazel/Tea Tree Oil work best.)

Sorry for going on and on! I’ll just say… I cannot tell you how much better I feel. Honestly, I’m so sorry I never dealt with it when I was younger. I would highly recommend electrolysis to anyone, particularly before you start tweezing or lasering. The fine hairs are SO easy compared to those I had been plucking for years!

17

Super advice that I hope will be taken seriously by potential electrolysis consumers. Also, a supportive post, based on the reality, for anyone contemplating electrolysis.

The best part of your post is saying that you feel so much better about yourself. There is no pill that can lift one out of the despair of having unwanted hair, that is better than getting on board with a professional, modern electrologist. Getting the hair off asap - permanently- is a psychological triumph as much as it is a cosmetic triumph and we thank you for taking your precious time to sit down and tell us about your electrolysis experience. You’re almost there, darling.

Oh, just one correction. I think you meant to type that you just started treatment in November or '06 :slight_smile:

Dee

18

Don’t worry about long posts. If long posts were a crime, I think I would be the head felon around here. :grin:

Can you see now that your total treatment time is acatually a small amount of hours, but it is spread out over a long time, but one appears to be finished long before one actually is?

19

thanks so much for reporting back. it sounds like you’re very close to the finish line. just a bit of advice - next time you can’t come in, just clip those hairs really short - no more plucking! plucking can send the hair back a few months.

20

Just curious, Bethany, did you do blend, thermolysis or microflash?