Mantaray said in response to seven years -
“The only thing I can think of is that she was keeping her voltage far to low to avoid blistering and only hitting with a single blip -enough to free the hair, but not enough to kill.”
My electro says that it takes longer to release each hair with low power but the effect on the follicle is no different. So as long as the hair is releasing, follicle is being impacted ( I don’t feel plucking). Is this inaccurate? I have been having v low power treatments to avoid scabbing. and she uses blend but some hairs come out so fast (3-5 sec for the very fine hairs) that I can’t see how it would be anything other than thermolysis in that short time.
I am going to make an unpopular statement: Not all electrologists agree that the “no plucking sensation” means there was enought current to get results. There are electrologists who have excellent tweezing skills. Don’t shoot me, please.
As important as an easy sliding out when the hair is removed (to me) is the appearance of the epilated hair. I want to see root sheath and the structure that was attached to the papilla.
With lowered intensity of current, the follicle will need longer timing. Even when speaking of thermolysis, imagine having a glass full of water that you want to pour into another container. Dumping it all in at once might take a second or two, but if you let it drip in - it could take awhile. The size and depth of the hair gives the electrologist the information needed to determine the settings needed to get the job done.
Don’t Worry Barbara, I’ll Take The Bullet For You.
Of course, the client doesn’t see every hair that is epilated, nor should one try to, unless one wants to further slow down the process. Most would not know what to look for anyway.
Hert9,
Hi! To just expand on what Arlene mentioned. All is positioning, especially with flash. Low power can, and does, effectivily kill, but the positioning to target the papilla and bulge is critical. If one is using flash, and using a single blip too shallow, it can leave the papilla undestroyed, but free up enough of the sheath so the tweezing sensation is diminished. This is kind of clear when you see a hair come out with a partial sheath up high, and a smaller bulb attached. Out of a hundred hairs even the best probably get one or two of these, and what I do in this case is try sinking the needle back in the empty follicle for an additional zap.
I was just pointing out that this, although highly unlikely, was the only thing I could think of as to how a hair could avoid capture after seven years, but most all would avoid this mistake by zapping at least twice on an average size hair. To be honest? I think if someone were able to apply current to a hair and pluck it eighty-four times, without killing it, they should win some kind of award.
One comment that I wish to make here. Turning the power down, in order to keep scaring down is the incorrect thing to do. Let me point out why. As RF power is turned down, more of the energy is routed to the surface causing scaring. The more power, the deeper the heat. Also as stated previously, in order to get enough heat to epilate a hair, low power requires a longer time of application. This allows the heat to travel farther away from the probe and reach the surface, whereas with high power Flash, the heat stays very close to the probe and does not travel near as far. But this also means probe positioning is much more important.
In my own opinion, if skin is scaring, it is time to up the current and decrease the time for thermosis.
And this is why I say that Thermolysis, and especially the Flash styles of thermolysis are the most difficult to master, as the amount of things one can do wrong, therefore arriving at ineffective treatment are many times those in blend, or galvanic, and one has no residual treatment reaction to cover mistakes. Ineffective treatments done in thermolysis are what bring about the myth that it is the least effective form of the art, when in fact it is just as effective WHEN APPLIED PROPERLY.
Reading these cunards that thermolysis is so ineffective is like reading an article from a guy who says that taking a woman to dinner is the least effective dating tactic, and then you find out that his idea of taking her to dinner is driving up to a drive through window, handing her a bag, and then trying to kiss her before pulling out from the parking lot. It is as simple as if you don’t do it right, you don’t know what the real results might be.
(PS, the shot at comment is about the tendency of electrologists to crucify anyone who says anything they disagree with. I know, I am riddled with bullets and nail marks. I may have also been burned in effigy a few times.)
At times like this I’m reminded of the board game Othello. Its catchphrase is “A minute to learn, a lifetime to master.”
Ok, maybe not a lifetime, but that sums up electrolysis for me. There are things that I know about electrolysis which I don’t think I could explain to a customer, e.g. when I know I’ve got that perfect epilation, when the hair present is new growth not regrowth etc.
So if settings are low, but the evidence is that scabbing is greatly reduced, then is her technique likely good?? Coarse hairs are greatly slowed, between chin and both sides there is 10-12 each week, but fine hairs (majority of what is being treated at the weekly 30 min), are still enough where if I have to skip a week for any reason, next week I need atleast 45 min to look clean. I have been going weekly since April, maybe 5 appts where it was two weeks instead.
Maybe I will request her to save epilated hairs on a cotton ball as she does the treatment, and I can look at them through her magnifying glasses at the end, she is a lovely lady, I don’t think she will be offended if I ask nicely. I can use JoanieH’s picture of a properly epilated hair as a reference.
and then you find out that his idea of taking her to dinner is driving up to a drive through window, handing her a bag, and then trying to kiss her before pulling out from the parking lot.
You mean that’s wrong? I even ask for extra ketchup and supersize if she wants.
You would have to see the hair relatively close to epilation to really judge the root sheath, as it dries and shrivels very quickly. Looking at a dried hair sheath 60 minutes later would not give you a good idea of her efficacy. You really would have to have her take one out, and show it to you within a minute or two. This is why checking your electrologist’s efficacy this way slows the process. It would really be, treat, epilate, show client, reset, treat, epilate, show client.
The good news is that one doesn’t usually need the magnification to see that the full root sheath has come out intact. Just ask her to show you how good the hairs are coming out, and she will show you some of them. You just have to understand that a shedding hair would not have the nice moist root sheath of an Anagen growth hair.
James, you are right. When I made the request, she said the same thing. She then said she would save the last few for me to see quickly. Well that did not happen. When I looked on the cotton ball, I couldn’t see the sheath on any as they were all dry. I did see that some had a black ball at the end which would indicate telogen, and other finer ones didn’t, hopefully they were in the right phase.
Chuck, Yes, I am in Topeka and I do mostly flash thermolysis. I can recommend electrologists in the KC area. Just email me.
Hert9, The “black ball at the end” is an indication of a growing hair - the black sticky blob (don’t ya just love my technical jargon there?) is where the hair was attached to the papilla. The observer will see this on larger diameter hairs better than it will see on smaller diameter hairs.