Hi, I have been going to an electrolysis for a year and a few months. First, I went to someone else, then I switched to someone closer to home. I first started #1 with the chest hairs. I had a few long black ones. I am still getting them after a year and a few months. I mean, they grow slower, but I am still getting them.
I have done my breasts since last summer, and I am still getting them. I have been doing my navel line, and it looks better, but I don’t know if many of them are gone for good or if they are still dormant, you know?
I am very concerned about my chest hairs still growing back. I only have a few of the many that grew back. I just think that a bit over a year is enough for it to be permanently gone.
I am considering asking my electrologist about it, but I want to know from you guys what you think.
I love the feeling of not having them until they grow back…but I am having thoughts about whether or not it’s working.
we need more information to provide you with a sufficient answer. what modality does the electrologist use? how frequently do you go? have you always gone in as soon as you saw new hairs grow in and otherwise kept the area clear? how fast did you get to your first clearance? how many electrologists did you try? do you feel plucking when the hair is being removed after it’s zapped?
Hi, thank you for your response. I’ll do my best to say more information.
I am not sure what modality she uses. I know she has more than one. One is the kind that blows air that is supposedly better for thicker hair and makes it less painful.
I go when I get enough hair to remove in 30 minutes about once or twice a month. I don’t wait until it’s all out-no. I was just thinking maybe I do need to go sooner when it hasn’t grown almost long enough? She never told me anything about going sooner. She just tells me to come back when they come back out. Both electrologists have told me that, but nothing really specific. I have gone to two electrologists. The first one is supposed to be the best and most certified in a hospital next to a dermatology office. The second one is certified and is in a dermatology office at this hospital.
I have felt a few plucking before, but most of the time no. Not that I feel a pain pluck like I would do myself. I know that is not good, but she doesn’t do it every time or a lot–maybe one or two. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s accidental?
The reason I switched is because it’s convenient. The first one I have to drive almost an hour, and I have find and pay parking every time. Sometimes it’s hard to get parking, and this crazy lady was honking and talking to me to get out when I just got in my car, so I just don’t like that area. I feel the second one is a bit faster and more focused, but I really need to know what’s going on because I feel the chest hairs should have been gone by now…maybe. I would talk to her, but I’d like to know more from this forum.
I would try another electrologists, but I would hate to switch. Also, there’s no way for me to know if they are really good by trying different ones until you see no more hair growth, so it’d be crazy for me to try different ones all of the time. I just search if they are certified and is in a nice environment that I’d feel comfortable in.
did you start out with 30 min treatments once or twice a month as well or it is now that you got to this point because there isn’t as much hair? do you get ALL offending hairs in 30 mins? when last summer did you start? it takes about 12 months to complete an area if you always go as soon as new hair is there, so that you’re always treating it in the right growth phase. this would also mean that you’re clear after you leave each appointment. is this the case?
I two electrologists, so I began at the end of December 2005–so you could say January 2006 really…I started with her on my chest and upper navel. She never did all of the hairs–just the top then went down later. I don’t know if she didn’t know I wanted all “trails” of hairs removed. With her, I have gone about 45 minutes, but I think she was just slower.
Then, I began sometimes in the Summer of 2006 with the second electrologists closer to home on my chest and all of my navel hairs. Then, eventually I went to remove hairs on my breasts. I have gone for 30 minutes every time with this electrologist. I haven’t gone less. I could if I don’t wait for more hairs to grow to use 30 minutes instead.
I am guessing the point is to go as soon as I see a bit of hair showing, right? I went until it was long enough. I guess that is what’s wrong here? My electrologist never said anything specific about this. She does assure me they’ll go away. She’s had her breasts hairs removed.
I have tried waxing myself a few times. I have plucked sometimes. I tried to mess with it as less as I could because I would get ingrown hairs. Instead I tried using depilatory cream. It would leave a bit of a rash on my chest that would take awhile to go away.
it sounds like you weren’t tackling all the hairs in the beginning in the most efficient way possible, which is having frequent longer treatments in the beginning to clear the entire area and then coming in as soon as new hair comes in and is long enough to grasp with a tweezer. that’s where the 12 month figure comes from. if you left some hairs each time in the beginning, that will make the whole process longer due to hair cycles, since you were leaving some hairs in the beginning and they went into dormancy after that. if you make sure to get a clearance every time right now, i.e. clear all offending hairs every time, you should reach the end soon. if you’re going in less often now, there are less hairs than there were when you started in summer 2006. if you’re not, something must not be working…
There is a phenomenon that I would imagine occurs often and is voiced on a regular basis. There comes a point in treatment that a client begins thinking that “this is not working.” Usually, that moment is the turning point of the client SEEING the difference in the amount of hair they have.
Something the electrologist (or client for that matter) can do to help the client see the results is to chart their treatments on a calendar, so that the subtle change in the length and frequency (how often) of their treatments and be seen.
What seems to happen is once the client gets used to seeing the area cleared, they kind of forget how much hair was there, so then - any hair seems like a lot. The only time a client might see more hair (when they are getting treatments) is IF they have some hormonal thing going on that just plain makes them grow hair. What that client needs to realize is that if they DO NOT have treatments they will have even more hair in the end. Those 60 year old women with full beards did not grow that hair overnight. That hair took them 5, 10, or 15 years to grow in - so they could not have started treatments and been done in 18 months.
Getting finished with electrology treatments takes time and a committment on the part of client and electrologist. Find a good electrologist, be consistent with treatments, and you will be rid of that hair.
After an area is cleared, then random follicles will leave telogen and/or exogen and their hairs will begin showing up. Those hairs will be in the anagen stage for awhile, depending on how long (length and time) they grow. Let’s say that a back hair will grow to a length of 1 1/2 inches. It’s been taught that a hair will grow 1/2 inch per month, so those hairs will grow for 3 months before going into catagen. That gives you a window of at least one month to treat the newly grown hair.
For frequently tweezed chins, weekly treatments are best to begin with. This helps keep the client compliant on the “no tweezing” rule, plus those hairs seem to grow faster than any other on the body.
Well, the hairs on my chests are in so little amount that they were very easy to clear every time. The navel was not with the first electrologistst, so I know the navel will take a little while. I am more concerned that I have been treating all chest hairs for a little over a year that they seem to need to go away already.
The reason I asked about maybe I have to go sooner is because I might have read about this certain stage where the hair becomes loose already to fall off on its own, that maybe I am going during those stages instead of the stages where they are glued to their roots? Does that make any difference at all?
I have decided to be committed to this since I began. There were times where I felt lazy, but I knew I wanted this bad enough that I went as soon as possible like monthly because that’s how long they seemed to grow back.
I also have all my appointments written down since I began, so I should look into it and see the pattern. I will now keep a more detailed log such as which parts I have done that day, etc.
I think I started arond Winter or Fall with the breasts hairs, and they are cleared every time becase they are pretty easy to do, bt they seem to all come back becase that’s abot how mch hairs I have. Sorry abot the repeated missing letters, it’s the compter doing that.
yes. the most important thing with electrolysis is to treat the hair when it first comes out and is weak and still attached to the bulb. if you wait too long, you can’t kill it anymore. what does your electrologist say? she can also try increasing the setting if the current is too low to kill those hairs.
That’s what I keep saying is that she doesn’t say anything else. She says to come back when I see hairs but nothing specific to make me understand as I am not the expert.
I don’t know about the currents. I let her be in charge of it because I don’t know anything about it. She says the one that blows air while zapping the hairs is supposed to be better for darker and thick hairs plus less painful. I think for this one I have to hold a thing with a wet towel wrapped around it.
Also, electrolysis isn’t exactly comfortable for me, but I go because I want these hairs gone. I haven’t started on my bikini yet. I wanted to test and see how it was going with the other hairs. I don’t mind doing my bikini later.
Here is how you can track the progression of treatments: Get a calendar with 18 to 20 months on one page (I’ll email one to you if you wish.) Circle the dates of all of your treatments. Track the treatment minutes and write down a total of each months treatment minutes by that month. You might make a note of the date you began a new area. What you should see is the decline of time per month and a decreased frequency (appointments further apart).
When clients consult with me, I tell them that the average person is done in around 18 months. Of course there are some who take less time and some who take longer.
We talk about the life-span of a hair a lot, but I believe that the telogen and exogen span can vary greatly. On legs I’ve seen shaving stubble that is 5 months old, so that tells me that a hair follicle can be in telogen for a long time before another hair grows from that follicle. Then don’t forget that it is possible that hormones or genetics will cause you to produce terminal hairs from follicles that have never grown a terminal hair before.
also, if you have light skin and dark hair on your bikini, i would consider laser there if i were you. it’s one of the easiest to treat areas with laser.
Sorry for my delayed response, I’ve been busier than usual lately…
Any sort of plucking increases the timeline. It’s not the linear type thing you’d expect, you know, cycles being eight weeks so the hair will reappear in eight weeks. No, plucking, waxing, all that, allows hair to stick around a lot longer. All these people that waxed or epilated an area, received some sort of treatment, then came back here saying ‘this or that’ didn’t work, are kidding themselves. True, the treatment may have been ineffective, but they would most likely not know even if it was.
I see this on myself clear as day. If you read back on some of my posts I talk about this. The areas where I plucked hair out in one form or another have just dragged on and on with treatments. At first I was thinking, ‘This isn’t working on this area for some reason.’ Then I really studied the timing and history of the area. All this was occuring in areas that were epilated (plucked). Plucking screws everything up, more than you might think. Electrolysis has been successful in those areas, but it has lagged in showing the success. You’ll get hairs sprouting up a year later in areas plucked. You just have to be tireless and keep it going, …with a good electrologist of course.
I went to my appointment yesterday. I told her what I thought, and she says my breast have less hairs. I don’t know… She seems to think everything’s going normal. She told me that she will double treat the area the next time.
I really hate exposing my breasts to do this, but I want these hairs on my breasts gone. It just feels really weird even if she’s a woman.