Will this swollen "Jay Leno" chin ever go down?

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
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My usual electrologist is GREAT. She does an excellent job with my sensitive skin. She went on vacation, though, and I scheduled with another electrologist whom I’d heard has a good reputation. I now regret not just skipping a week. The substitute botched the treatment. She ignored the lower settings noted in my chart, used a setting too high, and made matters worse by concentrating much of the blend treatment on and around the chin. I suffered significant swelling on the chin, extending out on the jawline and circling around the outside of the lips.

It has been over two weeks now, and although the generalized swelling in the area is lessening a bit, my chin remains enlarged with much of the swollen area slightly whitish-looking. Before the treatment, I had a naturally small, feminine chin that sloped down and inward, now it’s jutting out, and enlarged in width.

People are responding to me differently. I’ve been in transition a year, but beginning six years ago, after I started wearing my hair long, store clerks, waiters, and people in public places began calling me “ma’am” even though I wore no makeup or jewelry and even though I wore men’s khaki’s and henley’s. Since the botched treatment, though, with my enlarged chin, not one single person has called me “ma’am” and I’m occasionally called “sir” now. Needless to say, I’m growing ever more depressed about this.

Last week, for a few days, I tried Benadryl tablets and cream, but it didn’t seem to reduce the swelling at all.

I’m seeing wrinkling and stretch marks as the generalized swelling subsides – I’m resigned to the fact I’ll have to live with that. What worries me is the length of time that it is taking the swelling in the main treatment area itself to go down.

How long can swelling from botched electrolysis last? Should I start worrying that this big chin is not just because of swelling but because of fibrous subsurface scarring? Is there anything I can do to help the swelling go down? Do any of y’all have any experience with anything like this?

Crying now for two weeks,
Aislinn

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I agree that you should ice the area. Also, buy some tea tree oil and apply before bed every night.

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DO you feel comfortable submitting photos of your chin area? Icing most likely will not help because it’s been about two weeks. Icing immediately for a short periods is helpful, but it’s probably too late for that now.

This is another answer that I will have to say “give it time” and not treatments until you are “un-Jay Leno’ed”. Take a picture or go in and tell this electrologist that you are so dismayed by her treatment. Feedback is invaluable and she may learn something from this experience. You may need her again, so communicate well with her. I assume she is caring and your situation will leave an indelible mark on her brain so she takes a better approach with others.

I will guess that you will be just fine in time. I am not God and I can’t see you, so I can’t give a better answer than that, so hang in there.

Dee

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Thanks Dee!

I agree with your take on the ice. I did ice substantially for the initial 72 hours, 15 minutes on, 15 off, and then stopped, insofar as I hear that continued icing beyond the initial 72 hours can actually interfere with the healing process.

My regular electrologist suggested what you suggested - giving my beleaguered face a much-deserved holiday. We’re meeting tomorrow for coffee just to chat and strategize. Like you, she’s an RN and she told me it will eventually go down - just give it time.

To be on the safe side, I’ve scheduled an appointment with my physician Friday. I thought, though, I should check in with all of y’all here before I go in to see the physician so I could share with her any similar experiences anyone here has had.

The substitute electologist has been informed. She’s actually got a good reputation, and I think she simply believed that my regular electrologist was being far too timid in my treatments. Though the substitute is an experienced electrologist with a good reputation, she’s still relatively young, and I don’t think she’s ever dealt with anyone whose skin is as sensitive as mine. She’s actually quite sweet and well-meaning, and she’s definitely learned a painful lesson here.

I’m going to purchase a digital camera one of these days. For the cost of the camera, though, I could pay for a couple of electrolysis sessions or a month’s worth of Vivelle-Dot patches. A girl’s got to have her priorities, you know. Even if I had a camera, however, I think I might be a bit reluctant to post a photo of this. My goodness - I’d be seeing it decades from now at birthdays and such!

Thanks again, Dee. Your response was calmly reassuring.
Aislinn

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Okay. Come back and let us know how the healing goes. Posters that come here need that reassurance when they suffer from similar situations. I like your regular electrologist caring response. Very nice.

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Hi Alicia,

The session was 2 hours, and most of the time was spent on the chin and nearby jawline. I did ice substantially for the initial 72 hours, 15 minutes on, 15 off.

It helps reassure me, you sharing your experience with swelling early in your treatments.

And I appreciate your compassion and sympathy in regard to people calling me “sir” instead of “ma’am.” It has happened only a couple of times the past couple of weeks, but it really did hurt. Most people now just look at me with confusion, calling me neither “ma’am” nor “sir,” whereas before, everyone called me “ma’am.” I dress androgynously for the most part, and perhaps could dress a bit more femme till this swelling goes down, but I just don’t feel “safe” wearing a skirt and makeup with my chin jutting out like this.

I certainly have a heightened sense of compassion now for my sisters who must make FFS a top priority. Some of my tears these past couple of weeks have been shed for them as well.

Thanks again, Alicia,
Aislinn

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Hi LAgirl,

Mystics and some physicists tell us that time is a figment of the human imagination, so I’m assuming that’s how your advice got to me, dear – you broke through the limitations imposed by human imagination. And so I heeded your words on the ice and tea tree oil. I iced substantially for the first 72 hours, 15 minutes on, 15 off, and I washed my face twice a day with tea tree oil soap until the scabbing went away.

So, we avoided infection, and though the swelling was substantial, we must have done some good with the icing, eh? I dread to think what my chin would have looked like without all that ice.

The advice you offered truly is timeless, and so here it is for any and all girls who suffer “Jay Leno chin” in the future – the future, of course, being a figment of our colletive imagination.

Thanks LAgirl!
Aislinn