Electrolysis what should I expect

[Guest Krisina]

I will be going for my first one hour electrolysis treatment this month (I've had a lot of laser treatment and basically just the light hairs remain). I was told to have two, three days of growth.  I am also wondering when starting HRT, how many days of hair growth would be required, a week?  A week of growth wouldn't be fun, but I'm not on HRT yet. I am wondering what I should expect for pain compared to the laser treatments I have had. I will probably be holding tight to a stress ball, maybe some soothing music, or would more up beat help etc. I'm guessing it's different, compared to laser, as it is a smaller area being worked on, one follicle at a time.  There was some talk about working on the areas that need it the most, the chin, and upper lip. My first thought was, oh great, I am getting treatment on the most painful area first, yikes! I was wondering how long will it take before the redness from electrolysis disappears and the skin is back to normal.  Is it just a matter of a few hours?  

Krisina

[Guest KarenLyn]

I did a session today to collect stragglers from my upper lip. I didn't use anything to dull the pain and got through it ok. I'd recommend you get a topical numbing cream and treat your upper lip for at least a half hour prior to electrolysis. YMMV

I've heard of people falling asleep during electrolysis but just can't imagine it myself. Because I wasn't numbed up first, I started tearing up when she worked on the area under my nose. I don't remember my laser treatments being so painful.

If you've got a willing dentist, have him/her numb you up before your electrolysis and it will be a breeze.

Oh, the redness should fade in an hour or so.

Karen

[JenniferB]

I don't know if I'd start electrolysis on my upper lip first. The pain can become intense. It took me some time to get desensitized to the pain. It's funny, I could carry on a normal conversation while tears are coming out of my eyes.

You will probably need to let your facial grow for 2 days minimum. It has to do with being able to tweeze the dead hair out of the follicle.

I am not going back to electrolysis right now. I'm going to laser what hair I can before going back. In the long run, laser hair removal is much cheaper. It also happens to be less painful, and far more gets done in a much shorter time. I can't believe that my entire genital area only takes 15 minutes.

Jenny

[Guest Donna Jean]

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I've gotten 65 hours of electrolysis so far.......

The odd thing is that nerve endings are over your face and the tech may hit one of those and it can kinda hurt...then remove a hair right next to it and you not feel a thing.....

I used to always take a couple ibuprofen an hour before my appointment.....

And I used a numbing cream on my upper lip....

And, there were times where I nodded off on her table (my sessions were often 3 hours...on Sat. morning)

It's not something that I would do for fun, but the results are amazing! Totally smooth skin!

The bumps and redness usually went down for me in an hour or two.....

Good luck......it will be just fine!

Huggs

Dee Jay

[Guest Krisina]

Laser work that I've already had done is about 10 or 11 sessions. I'm sure if I looked hard enough I might find dark hairs, I've seen one. But, at this point I feel I'm at the point for electrolysis to work on the light colored hairs. The chin and upper lip is what was talked about for the next step. The pain will be worse there, but I'm used to pain from laser too. I have Emla cream and I will be taking extra strength Tylenol too. I'm glad I was able to get a lot of work done with laser. If I were have four sessions per month, that would be twice the cost of one laser treatment session. I was just beginning to get some discounts on the laser treatments. I can't afford four treatments per month. I have some othe new expenses that have come up. I need to work on a budget.

DJ you mentioned ibuprofen. I thought that was just for relief of joint pain, knees, neck and back etc.

Krisina

[Guest Donna Jean]

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Worked for me......

It doesn't numb anything ....just made the pain less.....

I imagine Tylenol, Ibuprofen, aspirin....any of that sort of thing would help...

Dee Jay

[Guest LizMarie]

I had my first electrolysis session today and nearly fell asleep a couple times. She started on the right cheek with her plan being to work from the outer edges inward to give a more natural appearance as hair vanishes from the face. It wasn't that painful for me personally though my opinion may change as she moves inward towards the center of the face.

[Guest Lizzie McTrucker]

I'm nearing electrolysis time for my hairs as well so this is all quite interesting to read. I've only had 6 sessions and my tech and I are at the understanding that next session I'm going to come in with a day or two's growth and see if I need more laser or if we should move to electrolysis for the remainder. Laser has done a fantastic job with my hairs and the difference between when I first started and now is incredible.

Luckily I don't think I have any hairs remaining near or under my schnoz.

[Guest Krisina]

Laser has done a fantastic job with my hairs and the difference between when I first started and now is incredible.

Luckily I don't think I have any hairs remaining near or under my schnoz.

Lucky you! That is the most painful area for electrolysis on the face!

Krisina

[Guest kelise]

personally, with the exeption of the upper lip, I found electro to be less painful than the laser. The upper lip, yeah I was in tears. She could of gotten me to confess to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln if she wanted to.

[Guest Krisina]

Upper lip super painful, yeah. Well I guess it could be used as a tool for getting confessions lol.

When I looked in the mirror the other day in the not so great lighting of the bathroom, I thought I only had a couple of dark hairs. Wrong! I have quite a few, so I think I still need to get more laser work first before electrolysis. I sent off a pic to the person who does my laser to see what it looks like after a few days not shaving. If you take a black and white photo it can be really helpful for seeing the contrast.

So, I will see how things go...

Krisina

[Guest]

Hi Krisina,

I pretty much am done with electrolosys.

Two points I would make are:

Not all types of electrolosys are the same. My second used a machine without thermolysis, purely electrolosys. Much less painful and less skin damage afterwards.

HRT may not reduce the number of hairs but it made them change from whiskers to hairs. I still have stragglers missed from electro, but pluck them easily with a tweezer.

Good luck! However you do it, the result is so sweet - soft skin feels wonderful!

Love, Megan

[Guest Serene]

Depending on the growth rate of your hair you will need to let it grow out enough for the electrologist to get it, for me it is about two days. The hairs have to be in their first stage of their growth cycle to be permanently removed. As everyone has already attested, the upper lip and closest to the nos is the most sensative area, but the electrologist should have numbing cream to dull the pain. It does hurt more than laser but it's not unbearable, the probe has to reach root matricies in the folicles. A good electrologist can manage it with minimal pain. Since every hair may be in a different growth stage you will probably need to go over the same area a few times to get everything.

Afterwords the skin tissue will be irritated and swollen for a day or two and the advice I recieved was to use a warm compress and then hydrogen peroxide to keep the pores clean, no creams since they need to stay clear in order to heal. If the pores close and produce white bumps it means they are trying to open up again to heal. Oh and applying an ice pack over the area right after treatment can help with the swelling, but be sure to wrap the pack in a tissue or something so it's not directly freezing your skin.

I actually have conversations with my electrologist as she's working and it makes the time zoom by. But she's talented in her field and know's what's she's doing. So while the process is rather lengthy I am pleased with the results so far.

I wish you the best of luck!

*hugs*

Serene

[Guest Rebecca65]

I have had three treatments so far,on the chin area and below the lip.The Tecnician uses a numbing cream .I did not notice to much pain at all.I guess some area's are more sensitive than others.I have a pretty high pain tolerance.I think what is really needed is a lot of patience.The skin is a little bumpy & sore for about a day,but nice and smooth and soft after.

Hugs

" Rebecca"