Speaking of which, I used a size on your follicles, James. I’ll see how a size five goes next time if that’s what you want. I was wishing I had a size 7, 8, or 9 for some of those man hairs!
I thought size 6 was the biggest one can get…
I sometimes wish I could get a probe that is a littlebit longer as the thick part touches the skin many times with the fat ones…
I use k-shank…Guess there aren’t any longer than the ballet probes…Anybody any suggestions? To get a longer probe? Maybe by doing it yourself?
Precision makes short and long size needles, eg. size F4 long, size F2 short etc. They are two piece needles. You will have to dig around TES’s Web site or PDF format catalog to find them. They are pretty cheap and affordable to just experiment around with if you want to try them; they are also not great needles for long treatments, as they tend to corrode and the coating tends to flake off of them after a while, and they are easy to accidentally bend like other two piece needles.
I am surprised you found an epilator that takes the K shank needles, most (all?) recent machines take the F shank needles. My F shank one piece ballet needles are more long enough for all hair I have ever worked on, even my own. The two piece needles I used to use were shorter, if I remember correctly.
Don’t let our musing confuse you Toeman, the largest size offered by most manufacturers of electrolysis needles/probes is either a size 5, or a size 6. The smallest is usually a size 2, but some few companies make a size one. If you want longer probes, ask your supplier if they sell one piece telangiectasia needles.
Ah I see…
I have another question.
Do you guys have some general tips about how to get these really tiny micro hairs?
I tried one the other day and I had a lucky shot because I got it.
But many, many times they are not in the growing phase AND one cannot feel the bottom of the follicle.
Do u guys have some general tips or tricks to get those tiny ones? You know the ones that come out of a tiny sebaceous bump sometimes?
If the hair has a hard, dry white “bulb” at the end, then one may have to feel some resistance as it releases. These hairs are shallow. I use insulated probes and work with my intensity and timing levels until I find the best mix. We never know if we “get” those tiny hairs (or any hair for that matter) until time passes and there is less hair to treat in an area. We have high confidence that we have done enough damage to the follicle by observing certain signs that we have probably done our job well at the time of treatment, but the true proof as to how well we have performed comes with time and lack of observable hair.
these really tiny ones…should they also have a rootsheath able to see with magnification? Or are they too tiny?
Some hairs have miniature root sheath’s and some don’t.
I see…because that’s exactly what I noticed…some have em and some don’t.
Ow yeah another question…Sometimes I get the feeling I have a succesful “hit” and I pull out the hair but I don’t see a rootsheath, THOUGH I see the part where the sheath should be is shiny and moist…And sometimes some transparent stuff hangs out of the pore…
Can it be the sheath let’s go when the hair is pulled out of the pore? Like it is too moist?
The best way of treating these tiny follicles is placing the light so that the minuscule hair shines. The insertion of the needle takes place(is produced) in the exact point in which the hair stops shining. I am thinking about remembering that Dectro designed a special lamp for these cases.
From what you are describing, you might be running into a lot of telogen hairs. Are they difficult to insert on (that is, enter and get any reasonable depth on?) Are they difficult to tweeze out after zapping them? Above the skin, is the bottom of the hair narrower than the top of the hair? Are the hairs in the area mostly white or another color?
Also, what kind of magnification are you using? (I can’t remember offhand)
Hi,
No if that was the case I would have told you…But they have bulbs…
I use 8 diopter magnification
About these tiny micro hairs…Could you give me an indication what amount of mA (galvanic) and time is most usual for these hairs?
I know it differs per person, but what would you start on?
I need reference point to start…
ow I read something in an electrolysis book…
Actually in two…
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One book says vellus hairs need +/- 45 units of lye…
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The other books says, one needs to use thermolysis as the vellus follicles have no moist to convert into lye…
What should I do? And how much power HF and time is correct for vellus?
If there were no moisture, neither galvanic, nor thermolysis would work.
Either would work, granted the proper energy is used. As the hairs are vellus, the correct treatment energy will be very low. If you are not sure of your treatment energy, you should use the galvanic. If you have a machine that allows you to set thermolysis treatment energy accurately (instead of a vague somewhere between here and there) then go on and give it a try in thermolysis.
Thanks James,
I have a machine that says hf between 1 and 10 so I guess it is a between this and that machine…
What do you mean by very low?
Like 0.1 mA for like a minute or even less?
Here is how I find the galvanic setting to use with a given set of hairs of roughly the same size.
Start with a very low setting. Since everyone’s hair is different, here is a very rough guess given what you have described. Set it at 0.1ma, and 20sec, watch the skin very carefully for signs of overtreatment and stop if you see any. If the skin is ok, after your first zap, try tweezing it out. If it doesn’t come out right, move onto the next hair, up the power to 0.15ma and try again. Keep adjusting up in power until anagen hairs comes out easily and correctly, or if you can’t take any increase in power, increase time a bit instead. Eventually you will hit a sweet spot, where you have enough lye, a function of the time and DC setting, and the sensation will be tolerable for you to stand a treatment of a reasonable time.
Remember, raise the power slowly, and carefully watch for overreaction.
Thanks Vicky,
These peach fuzz hairs…On a scale of 1/10 how difficult would you describe them, compared to terminal hairs?
Toeman, forget to try to treat this thin hairs in anagen. It is absolutely unnecessary.
Forget to invert also a minute for every hair. It is absolutely unnecessary.
The difficulty to work with this type of hair is directly proportional to the experience of the electrologist. Major experience = Minor difficulty
If you mean the vellus hairs (about the thickness of a size 2 needle), probably a 6 or 7, for similar reasons. They are harder because they are harder to see and accurately insert on, then a big 60-80 lye unit size terminal hair. I don’t have many on myself I can’t easily see, but I have removed them from others (I thank goodness I have a scope like James’ when I have to deal with them.)
The easiest for me are the ~45 unit hairs (about the thickness of a a size 4 needle, using a size 5 or 6), on me at least they tend me be straighter and easier to feel the bottom of the follicle without going through it.
I see,
Thanks…I agree on that one…The 45’s are straighter in my case also and easier to feel te bottom