I have been diagnosed with PCOS. Although all my hormone levels are normal (tested several times) and I do not have cysts, I do have slightly irregular periods, excessive facial hair, and mild acne. My endo said that all you need is 2 symptoms to be diagnosed with this condition.
I had 9 laser treatments (alexandrite laser @ 28J skin type II) on entire “male beard” area in 2001 -2002. I saved up for over a year to be able to afford this.
I am not sure what is causing this. When I was 16 naired my face when I probably didn’t have to and It has been a problem ever since (I am 32). Then I started to wax which might have made it worse.
I am shaving now (a habit I got into from laser), and I need to do something get rid of this hair permanently. I am convinced after spending thousands that lasers should not be used on anyone’s face.
I have been scared to get electrology because of the red bumps- scabs. I am good at hiding this hair problem. But I think I would pass out if someone noticed these bumps and hair. My question is have any of your successfully treated someone with pcos? If I start electro and make a commitment will I see permanent results?
You are lucky to be residing in a state where you can find the finest trained electrologists in the country as most in MA were trained by Mary Evangelista who I think is the best electrology teacher on the planet.
From what I have seen and personally experienced, light based hair removal whether IPL or laser, ON THE FACE is a bad idea and I am sorry that you are among those who are suffering the consequences. Electrolysis is the only solution for permanent hair removal and if anyone tells you otherwize, they are lying to you.
Get out there for the free consultations that most electrologists offer. Start with a 15 minute appointment just to see how you react to the stardard treatment. If you should scab, your electrologist can modify the treatment to address your special needs. Just remember that electrolysis requires your patience but since you have already been tackling this problem for more than half of your life and you are only 32, 1-2 years of extensive electrolysis treatment should end your unhappiness with unwanted facial hair. The good news is that if you are committed to your treatment, initially weekly, you will see dramatic improvement in just a few months. Then, with fewer hairs growing, your treatments will be less frequent.
Together, you and your electrologist can work out a treatment plan that will help you reach your goal in more or less time.
I am doubtful about laser and will likely never try it again.
I know that electrolysis is the only permanent solution but not so sure if that is the case with pcos. Has anyone successfully treated someone with this condition?
Nope, no meds. My only symptoms are slightly irregular periods, the excessive facial hair, and mild acne. My endo didn’t feel like there was a need for meds.
That is good to hear you are treating people with the condition. I guess I feel like since it is a hormonal condition that electrolysis may not work.
I have a client who has PCOS so bad that she has had at least 3 surgeries that I know about, but no one believes she ever had a hair problem, because we did such a great job of irradicating it. (and she did not allow any before pictures, now, she, just like all the rest, wishes she had some to prove what we really were able to do)
Do you remember which alexandrite was used? I’m curious if you ever experienced shedding after treatments, and if not, why you went back 9 times? Also, is your hair coarse or fine? Laser really only works on coarse hair, especially on the face.
You need to find a good electrologist and get started on this. Sample 4-5, which shouldn’t be hard in your area (run a search here for Boston to read past recommendations) before settling on one. This way, you’ll be able to tell who’s most efficient, experienced, leaves your skin looking great, etc. Keep in mind though that if your condition is not being controlled by anything, then it may still cause you to develop more hair in the future. That means that you may require some touchups throughout the years, but they should be minor. At this point, concentrate on finding someone good and get to your first clearance. After that, you need to come in as soon as you see new hair appear so it can be killed while it’s still weak. You’ll see that you’ll be going in less and less often after a while, and should be done within 12 months or so.
If you’d like, you can read my story below. I’ve done many areas and have gotten results with both laser and electrolysis.
Thanks James + Lagirl ! That is great to hear that there is a light at the end of the tunnel for people with this condition.
Lagirl, the laser was the apogee 6200 model axendrite laser type w/ smaitcool cynosure company. The settings were 28J pulse width 20msec spot size 12.5- 15mm. The laser specialist wrote this all down for me.
She made me go to the doctor to check my hormone before we started treatment because it was not normal. My hormones were normal so we started treatment. My hair was dark and coarse (type II skin).
I did get shedding and I did initially see results but eventually it all came back.
In 2005, I went off the pill (yasmin) which I was on when I started laser and all the hair plus more came back! I am not sure if it is because of my condition or because of laser induced growth but it freaked me out enough that I will never try laser again.
I went to the doctor again in 2006 and was referred to an endo who diagnosed me with pcos.
My hormones have been tested several times and always come back as normal. I recently read an article about (link below in case this applies to anyone else reading) this and hirsuitism in women.
Thanks Arlene, I found Dr. Redmond’s article very helpful. I could never understand why I have this problem when my hormones always come back as normal.
I just made an appointment for an electrolysis consult next week! I can’t wait to get all of this over with and move on with my life
Those settings are not bad. It sounds like the problem is mostly that you have PCOS, not the laser. When you have a condition that is not controlled, your body keeps producing NEW hair. So, it’s not really the hair coming back. It’s NEW hair developed by your body due to the condition. If laser induced any growth, you would have seen it right away, not later on.
Are you on any medication, or at least birth control like Yasmin, now? You still need to get the condition under control, even for electrolysis, so that your body stops producing all this new hair.
btw, you didn’t cause any of this by shaving or using Nair etc. So don’t think it’s something that you did. You were just going through puberty and your PCOS was producing a lot more hair than average.
Thanks lagirl. I am confused about this whole thing.
2 new things to report.
I went to a new endo early this week who specializes in pcos to try to figure this out. She told me she thinks it is doubtful I have the condition. They tested my hormones again every is perfectly normal - nothing even slightly elevated that shouldn’t be. My periods are 35-40 days apart. She said that is within the range to be considered normal she said some of her clients only have 2 periods a year. I will be getting and ultrasound and more test in the weeks to come but she seems to think the initial diagnosis was hasty. My only other symptom associated with the condition is the hair problem and occasional pimples (its not bad - i just think at 32 I should be done with pimples). We’ll see how things go but I am optimistic.
2nd I had my first electrolysis treatment. I had a consult and 15 min. sample treatment on Friday. She treated my neck area. After the treatment everything was very red and looked like 20 swollen bee stings. She told me in about 2 hours everything should look normal. Not the case.
Yesterday (one day since treatment), everything looked exactly the same but no swelling. Today (2 days since treament) things look a bit better the “bites” are smaller and less red but very noticeable. I can’t imagine actually doing this to my whole face. Is this a normal reaction???
Also, I have been applying witch hazel and neosporin 3-4 time a day and no make-up. Today I did witch hazel and bought + applied tend skin after reading about it on the boards.
I have another appointment at the end of the week. She wants to do a full clearance I am just nervous about damaging my skin and want to be able to go out in public and not hold up in my house for the next year while getting treatments. Any advice or comments are greatly appreciated. TIA
She just told me not put on any moisturizer the night after the treatment and that I could go back to doing everything normal the next day -and that was it. That didn’t seem right to me especially since things didn’t look normal after 2 hours. So I scoured the boards /internet for aftercare instructions.
After reading the boards I thought witch hazel and triple antibiotic was the best way to go to not scar? I bought the tend skin this morning I thought it would tone down the redness and avoid ingrown hairs.
I have a bad reaction to aloe so I don’t want to use that.
I attached a pic of what it looks like today - sorry the resolution is not great.
This isn’t horrible. You will not be scarred. These are skin side effects that can be minimized. Talk to your electrologist and let her see these pictures. Do be realistic and know that we are destroying tissue that makes hair grow. Sometimes there is evidence of this that lasts for less than a week and sometimes there is not and one looks as if they never had an electrolysis treatment within minutes to hours afterwards.
Pitch the Neosporin. Many people are allergic to the neomycin part of this cream or ointment. Wash your face with a mild soap (Purpose) and water. Some people swear by Dial liquid soap. Dab the areas with witch hazel 4 x a day. Are you sure you had a bad reaction to aloe?? Did you use the clear gel. Did you apply it with clean hands? Was it new gel or old gel that had become contaminated? I like tea tree oil at night time only - just spot dab it.
Again, you do not need a triple, double or single antibiotic cream. You do not need Vitamin E ointments. You do not need TendSkin. Keep it simple and pure with the ingredients mentioned above. That’s all you need. I really don’t think your pictures show anyhting that screams “caution!”.
So please describe your bad reaction to aloe??? No detail is too small.
I understand that there will be some skin side effects. I wasn’t actually expecting to be perfect in 2 hours but that is what she suggested. So, the next day when the bee bites were still there and really red, I got a little freaked out and went shopping for treatments.
She just said soap and water and no moisturizer for 24 hours. And since she said I’d be fine later that day, I thought what you can see in the picture at this point was really bad. I am glad to hear that this is a normal reaction?
Thank you for the advice, I will keep it clean, dap witch hazel 4x and tea tree at night.
The reason it took me so long to even start this process is because I was afraid of scarring so I think I went a little over board with the antibiotic cream and tend skin ;O)
In regards to the aloe, when I was in college I had alopecia areota (size of a quarter) develop from stress. The doctor had me put pure aloe vera clear gel on it to stimulate new growth. It worked! Using this same logic, I am worried about putting it on or near my face.
Be careful about concluding that the aloe vera gel was responsible for the the hair growing back. With or without it, the hair may have been ready to cycle in anyway. I’m pretty sure there is no empirical evidence to back up that claim. I need to look something up and will return later about the aloe vera gel.
Remember though, that the first several treatments MAY be the worse you will ever have. I tell my clients not to be surprised and they must follow my aftercare instructions faithfully, especially in the beginning. The skin needs to get use to the onslaught of a probe entering lots of follicle’s close together and delivering enough energy to destroy hair growing tissue. We want first full clearance and that’s the weighing we do in order to get it fast. Clothes rubbing against the neck can interfer with a quicker healing scenario, as well. Just relax and be realistic in those beginning sessions, and do communicate with your practitioner.
