Electrolysis & Dark Skin, A Regimen?

[Guest Nab-Nab]

Hi,

My name is Nabela and I have dark skin, curly to wavy hair, and I'm interested in electrolysis. To my understanding the process is more expedient and effective than laser, and due to it working on all skintones a better choice overall. Over the past few days, I've been giving serious thought to placing this particular treatment within phase 1 of my transitioning plan, but I'm still having some misgivings. A few questions that I have are:

What sort of regimen for aftercare should I adopt? What products should it encompass?

I should begin aftercare immediately after the procedure? In the car or when I get home?

Is it possible to numb the area before treatment? If so, what should I use or request? Do treatment centers offer a numbing agent for an extra fee?

Whom are some of the notable and cost-efficient professionals or centers?

Thank you for your time and advice,

Nabela

[Guest Eh-lyssa]

Typically for electrolysis you need to shave the area about 3 or 4 days before your appointment and then stop shaving until your appointment so the technician can see which hairs are active (they are the ones that are growing) since they can only kill the active hairs.

For numbing I use emla cream which is a mix of lidocaine and prilocaine. I got mine online from amazon but you can find it in many places like pharmacies. You put the cream on about 1 hour before your appointment and then put saran wrap on over top to stop it from drying out. The numbing effect lasts for about 20 minutes or so after you remove it so its best to keep it on until the last minute.

After a while I found my neighborhood electrologist was too slow so I seeked out the expertise of E3000 in Carrollton TX because I wanted something faster. E3000 specialized in TG clients and they use a flash thermolysis technique that is much faster than the blend method my local electrologist was using. Where my local electrologist was $60/hr she would clear about 200-300 hairs per hour, E3000 is $110/hr and they go at about 2-3 times that speed and they also use lidocane injections so you don't feel anything except the lidocane shots. Since it only matters how many hairs per dollar E3000 worked out to be cheaper. At my first clearing at E3000 they had 2 techs working on me at once and it took 5 hours with 2 techs to clear all my facial hair. That was the first pass though. It takes multiple clearings to get all the hairs and with each clearing less hair comes back. After the 1st clearing about 60% remains and about 20% is removed with each clearing after. I am about to do clearing #5 soon on my face and #2 on my "south pole".

Good luck

Alyssa

[Guest Rita_Rodriguez]

Unfortunately I don't get any numbing agent when I do thermolysis but I only go for an hour a week. After going for about a year, I definitely have far less hairs.

[KathrynJulia]

Hello Nabela:

My doctor prescribes one oxycodone and one tablet of Lorazepam one hour before my treatment. The oxycodone helps with the pain and the lorazepam lowers the anxietry level. My technician rubs triple antibiotic ointment on the treated area after electrolysis. I often bring a cold pack in a plastic sandwich bag which keeps swelling down and I apply cold pak on the trip home. Then I reaply antibiotic ointment after I get home to prevent any skin infection or flareup.

I did an hour a week for the first year. Now that I'm approaching FFS surgery, I'm doing two hours a week which when I started was almost unthinkable going two hours. I'm a woos when it comes to pain. Now that I'm having electrolysis on the most tender area of the face, the upper lip, I don't need no stinkin pain relief, just kidding. Eoowww. Can I get general anesthesia for doing this area .

My technician uses the blend method of electrolysis. I would love to make a trip to Electrolysis 3000 or to the electrolysis technicians with Dr Zulowski in Chicago who uses light sedation. When you are comfortable in the hands of two experienced technicians and can get a complete clearing, that is the way to go. Also don't wait. Start treatment immediately as it does take some significant time to clear your entire face. Kathryn

[Guest]

Hi Nabela,

About the only thing I can add is that both of my electrologists recommended using a sunburn lotion afterwards, particularly with aloe. It did seem to help the redness, along with ice, as Julia mentioned.

Electrolysis bleached a couple of my moles out to invisibility. But, it also bleached my skin to some extent. I use makeup to cover. Youmight ask whether this could happen with you too. Of course, that's a problem with laser, one of the reasons I went with electrolysis alone.

Best of luck to you!

Love, Megan

[KathrynJulia]

I also recommend bringing a cold pack in a clean baggy and apply it for on the way home. It keeps swelling down After I get home, I lightly blot the treated area with witch hazel soaked cotton pad followed by reapplying an antibiotics ointment to kill skin bacteria.

No shaving for a minimum of 24 hours and be very gentle around the treated area. Or leave the treated area alone for a day or two to heal. Kathryn