so, the fuzz can be cleared, that is good. Though I think it would be hard to grab onto those fine fair hair and how would ever be done if we never get full clearance??
I forgot to ask her her magnification power, will next time. What is a minimum power one should use?
Also what is a good clipper or razor brand/type to use for upperlip area…ugghh, I am wincing as I type this.
I saw my electrologist yesterday for a half hour and she saw all the dry patches on my skin. She said under magnification they ‘resembled’ scar tissue with flaking borders. I know that without moisturizers whenever I have these flare ups, that’s what it looks like, but I am not sure its a result of the elctrolysis, I think its more likely its triggered by heat and dryness and it certainly seems to be triggered by electrolysis. Especially since these are appearing in the surrounding areas rather than just on the treated spots. In fact, yesterday we never touched the sides, yet when I came home and my skin was all itchy and dry, even the sides where I have had previous treatments turned pink and itchy!
Does lye stay in the skin for more than two weeks?
Also, she wants me to see the dermatologist (takes 2 mths to get appt) and doesn’t want to continue treatments if my skin continues to react like this. So we haven’t made an appt for next week and I am at my wits’ end.
I never had this reaction with waxing, so do I have to go back to that? Should I try an antihistamine before tx next time and see what happens? or should I wait until these flare ups go away, may take a month. In the meantime what will I do, if I shave, the corners where there is coarse hair will have visible dots.
So today I am using lots of aloe (blink, I found that I can’t use it right after tx, but the next day it helps rather than stings). Still my skin feels tight and I do have some plugged pores and maybe 6-7 scabs.
So, I eat moderately healthy (lots of fruits and veggies but a bit more carbs and sugar than I should, almost no soda)and drink at least 4-5 glasses of water a day (I know its not enough). Also about 3 cups of tea which is equivalent in caffeine to about 1-1.5. I have decided to switch to decaffeinated tea and I am trying to increase my water consumption but it could be that this dryness is related to my hypothyroid and won’t resolve with all this. What should I do?
I’ve never heard of lye staying in the skin for more than two weeks, the body would absorb the lye well before two weeks. Two hours, yes, that is a possibility, and that is an advantage.
I can’t imagine telling a client to see a dermatologist after I treated her.
I don’t like scabs on the face. I don’t like the other side effects I’m hearing. I don’t believe the sensitive skin thing. Dry patches, scar tissue? Forget the antihistamine stuff. Numbing agents can even be discarded if other conditions are met. This is NOT what clients have to endure when they are recieving electrolysis. The first couple sessions maybe rough for some, but things calm down for future treatments.
Is she still using stainless steel probes? If she had a newer epilator and understood how to use it to your advantage and her advantage, I’m thinking you wouldn’t be here on hairtell at your wits end. Can she “see” is another question? Magnification needs differ from electrologist to electrologist. I personally use surgical loupes that surgeons and denstists wear, cost: $1,800. Many electrolgist do this as well, or have even better magnification.
I can’t lay it out any better. I can only keep repeating that the best treatment one can get is with a skilled practitioner who uses 21st century tools. Is there no one that fits this description that you can go to? My worry thermometer is rising in regard to your situation.
Dee
Dee, she has used gold for the last 4-5 txs, and we used stainless on my chin and sides for almost a year before that. I did get scabs on my chin and sides for a while (maybe 3-4 months), and then as most of the hair treated became real fine, I didn’t get them much anymore.
I couldn’t be allergic to gold, could I? I have worn gold earrings all my life, in fact I can’t wear other types of earrings for more than a few hours before my skin starts reacting.
Any idea why would the sides become all pink and itchy when we hadn’t touched them for almost three weeks? It was calm and normal before the treatment on upperlip. It’s like the skin remembered that it was one of the aggaravated areas.
I don’t think I have any choice but to stop going here and start calling around again. Thanks Dee.
I called around, have one appt for next week, she charges 107$ an hour, 32$ for the first 15 min ; uses the Advanced Programmable CBX Fischer machine and does thermolysis. She had not heard of microflash or picoflash!
She has been doing this for 20 yrs, has even taught in the West lake, CA area before she moved to SD. She works from home but assures its all very professional. She says she removes 175 to 200 hairs in 15 min. She won’t do more than 15 min on upper lip. She does not wear gloves because allergic to latex and is more comfortable with feeling the skin when she works. She says she does very good sterilization of equipment. She uses disposable probes, does not use insulated ones but does have gold on hand for folks who need it. She does not like insulated because she said the insulation can come off (??) and irritate the skin.
She likes to use the finest probes possible even though she said she knows people say one should use thicker probes for the thicker hairs, she finds the finer probes give her the best results. She wears glasses and extensions on them but I did not ask her for the magnification power, can find out when I get there.
So what do you all think, worth visiting?
that price is pretty steep for California. Wow. I’ve checked out pricing with at least 10 various electrologists in LA and they all ranged $55-65 per hour.
here are at least 8 that I pulled from citysearch : CitySearch - Your local city guide
I’m sure there are others you can google and find at the links in the sticky post on the forum.
She sounds fast, but on a technical point, the finer probes hurt more, but don’t give better results. The fatter probes give better results, but feel less painful. I am sure you can see where the perception is coming from. I would not argue the point with her.
The insulation DOES come off during treatment, especially when doing blend.
She could use vinyl gloves and be more sanitary while still maintaining a feel for what she is doing, but again, I would not argue the point with her. As long as she is washing her hands between each appointment, and you know this, you should be ok, although gloves are best.
If she is still using a Fischer CBX, I am not surprised she doesn’t know about MicroFlash, or PicoFlash. But her machine is one of the best of the older machines out there. I would not feel myself abused if I were in an office that forced me to use one. (and I take my own equipment with me everywhere I go unless I know for a fact there will be an Apilus SX-500, Apilus Platinum, or Sil-Tone VMC waiting for me.)
Hm, so James, except for the fatter probes, it may be worth trying it out, I guess.
Thanks blink, I agree the price steep, close to double what I was paying. Thanks for the search, most of those folks are a long distance from me and I wouldn’t venture there unless I had a personal referral. I will check out the sticky too. Meanwhile I made another appt with someone who uses an Apilus Senior II (said she has gotten it tweaked since), doing this for 6 yrs. She doesn’t do a free sample tx but talked with me on the phone for a good 20-30 min, she is 15-16 miles from me and sounded skeptical I would want to come that side every week. I assured her I would if the txs went better. Good thing is she works evenings and also Saturdays.
She didn’t say what might help with hyperpigmentation though and said some people scab no matter what. I remember reading that blend is less harsh on sensitive skin so I am not sure whether trying thermolysis will be a great idea but I will do it. She also likes the ballest stainless, her own skin is sensitive and does best on them. She said gold gets hotter, and isn’t as great of a conductor of electricity.
She recommends zinc oxide for after care, and she suggested I avoid spicy/salty foods beforehand and right after, no caffeine for 3 hrs prior. I gave her the link to this forum and she is familiar with it.
So let’s see what happens in the next two weeks.
Gold probes are fabulous and definitely serve clients well as far as skin reaction goes, much better than stainless steel. they glide nicely into a follicle, something I appreciate. Gold is a GREAT conductor of electricity,just the opposite of what you may have understood. A smaller probe is a hotter probe, whether it be gold or stainless, that is why we suggest that one wears quality magnification so larger probes can be used. Comfort issues figure into what probe an electrologist uses, for sure! It is up to the judgement and skill of the electrologist to advance or decrease the intensity and timing, no matter what probe she uses. Gold costs more than stainless, so could that affect decisions on what to offer clients?
She has a good epilator. I would not be alarmed switching from blend to thermolysis at all. For my clients of color, skin types 3-6, that is not a major problem. They come to me with severe hyperpigmentation due to acne, ingrown hairs, tweezing, waxing, picking. We proceed with electrolysis knowing that once their treatments are finished, the skin will heal and the hyperpigmanetion will fade. Some people do scab no matter what, but often times this can eliminated after a few things are tried and with good aftercare, it’s not a problem. Please don’t panic at pinpoint scabbing as it falls into acceptable side effects after a treatment.
Not a fan of zinc oxide, but you have read enough to know what you can do for yourself. Witch hazel, cold aloe vera gel are simple, cheap and good for your skin. Avoiding caffiene and drinking actual water three days before a treatment is my personal preference, as it takes about that long for the water to shift into your cells and for caffiene to be eliminated from the body. Again, you’ll have to take the information presented and decide what’s best for you. The real task at hand is to find someone that can treat you without leaving your skin a mess for weeks.
You need someone that has skill and knows how to make adjustments on the spot for your skin and someone who actually takes an interest in YOUR HEALING OUTCOME and can be nimble enough to try another way in order to see if that works better for you. You don’t need excuses for poor work and outcome.
Good luck with your new lady. If you get better healing results then the drive will be worth it.
Aren’t you allergic to nickel? I’m still dwelling on the stainless steel probes as a choice for you in particular.
Dee
Is the electrologist that Mantaray used too far from you? And yes, i think you should check out the links in the sticky. There are several. What part of SD are you in? And i think it’s worth paying for a 15 min treatment to check out the expertise of an electrologist in your search.
Here is an article on the importance of choosing the correct probe size.
This is hard on the eyes, but scroll down and read the description about gold probes.
Hi Blink, I talked to Mantaray’s electro but she doesn’t work evenings and very occasional Saturdays so it isn’t logistically possible for me to maintain a schedule with her. The second appt I made is with someone who worked with her but is also an aesthetician and needed more space so started her own office. In fact Mantaray’s electro suggested I try her. So I will see her in a couple weeks.
I called another person from the city search, she ddn’t remember the name of her machine (!) but when I mentioned microflash she said she thinks she can do that. She’s been doing this for 7 yrs, she charges a $1 a min, likes to do upper lip for 15-20 min at the most, she says she is pretty fast but doesn’t have a hair count, uses gloves and a mask, likes to use the size 2 needle because although she also thought that thicker probes would mean more comfortable treatment, her experience is otherwise. She did think gold is better on sensitive skin though.
So #3 in my new search has a lot of good points except for the probe size thing. Honestly I am pinning my hopes on number 2. I will still call a couple other places.
Dee, thanks for these excellent links. It sounds like many people love a smaller size and think they don’t see great results with a bigger size , it maybe because their insertions are not that great, or maybe its not because of their lack of technique but because of insufficient maginification and lighting and they don’t know it?!
I remember you saying you used 4 most commonly, your insertions must be really fabulous.
Mantaray, what size does Wendy use on fine to very fine hair?
Don’t mean to jump in front of Mantaray, but have to add that I am all over the board with my probe useage because of different body and face areas. I don’t use #2’s that often, usually reserve these for those tiny hairs under the nose area of the upper lip, but I have them on hand. I do use a lot of 4’s, 5’s and 6’s for both face and body, and yes indeedy, you got it, quality magnification and lighting sets one up for success in using larger probes, as well as seeing the first hint of the skin getting angry so you can make adjustments early on in the intensity and timing settings.
It’s like a secret little world one enters when the mag glasses go on. One can see the environment of the hair on the surface of the skin with such ease and that makes the rest of the job a piece of cake.
Sorry to butt in again, but had to clarify that I don’t favor one size probe over another for work. That’s where the variables we always talk about enters the discussion.
Looks like my #2 lady read the board and all my research (and reports on consults) scared her off treating me. She said Apilus doesn’t recommend gold needles anyway and if I am having an allergic reaction with one, would have the same with anything else. She called to say she doesn’t have evening appt’s. Go figure!
Joyce, if you read my update, I thank you for your consult and time on the phone and am sorry you felt it would not be worth your time to help me out.
My search continues, not ready to give up just yet.
Since the Dectro corporation makes its own probes, (no gold probes in the bunch) they don’t recommend gold probes (made by Ballet Corp) but that doesn’t change what works. I don’t think I have to tell you that Apilus/Dectro recommends their Pro-Tec probes be used in all their products.
Isn’t it interesting how many electrologists don’t look at treating a customer who posts on this board to be an opportunity to get good press on how good their work is?
You know James, I understand that it would make people defensive if they realized they were being discussed behind their backs (which wasn’t the case here coz I gave her all the info about the board), they feel like they are the experts so they don’t need to be second guessed by this board.
They don’t want to take on a questioning customer with problems because they can use the same time to treat someone who comes in, asks no questions and goes out, so why bother.
What they may fail to understand is that the people are truly looking for solutions, they come to this board to discuss things just like they would go home and ask their ‘real life’ friends if they could, except they can’t share it with them and even if they could, they don’t have a clue.
I guess I should have pretended I just got her name off the phone book and never mentioned this board, and there would have been no problems. Honesty doesn’t pay in all situations.
She fired you before you even went to the first appointment? Some businesses are afraid of well-informed consumers.
One of the things that was a “condition” before I bought my Silhouet-Tone VMC was, it had to accept Ballet probes, specifically, Ballet gold probes. The VMC has two needle holder outputs, one side is for “their” recommended probes(IBIS),that they want you to buy and the other side adapts for using other probes,such as ballet, which I prefer. The probes work great with this epilator and I love their product all the more for accommodating the probes I like.
Good luck with your search. Maybe you shouldn’t be so honest with the next person. We’re not ridgid here on hairtell, but if there are gross mis-statements about electrolysis practices and priciples, then you will hear a lot of yapping to correct those statements. It is recognized here that not every electrologist follows a robotical protocol, and that is acceptable. I might make a pizza my way and you might make it another way, both ways can be delicious and it’s still called a pizza. There is a lot of give and take and up and down variations to this inexact science of hair removal. But like every profession, there are some principles that don’t change.
I have heard of electrologists who refuse to provide hair removal on anyone that seems to have an interest in knowing fine details, believing that they are striving to become future competition for them. They do not explain anything about their treatment methods, trying to keep any knowledge to themselves.
The knowledge that you are striving to know what is going on, probably makes her feel slightly scared, and could even feel that any mistreatment might end up in court. Just wanted to share that there are electrologists out there which feel that way.
Martha