Electrolysis questions

soul cyster · 03-08-2006, 12:04 AM

I am thinking about having electrolysis done, if I can afford it. I have a couple of questions for those of you who have had it done: how many times does a hair have to be "zapped" before it goes away permanently? how long is the average session? Thanks!

tariana · 03-08-2006, 12:21 AM

I went once a week for two hours at a time for about 16 weeks and it helped A LOT. It obviously isn't totally permanent as I was pretty much totally hairless when the treatments were done and now I'm back to shaving nearly every day, but the hair is nowhere near as much as it used to be, and it's really only been in the last few months that I've needed to shave, so I have had 4 basically hairless years.

aggie · 03-08-2006, 11:50 PM

hurt like heck, i'm scarred,and didn't help much but my hormones were out of wack and didn't know it. I still would NEVER do it again

soul cyster · 03-09-2006, 12:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tariana

I went once a week for two hours at a time for about 16 weeks and it helped A LOT. It obviously isn't totally permanent as I was pretty much totally hairless when the treatments were done and now I'm back to shaving nearly every day, but the hair is nowhere near as much as it used to be, and it's really only been in the last few months that I've needed to shave, so I have had 4 basically hairless years.

Is your facial hair coarse, like a man's beard? Why do you think the hair came back? Hormonal imbalance?

soul cyster · 03-09-2006, 12:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aggie

hurt like heck, i'm scarred,and didn't help much but my hormones were out of wack and didn't know it. I still would NEVER do it again

Well...., I still think I'm going to try it and see for myself. I really want to do something about this hair.

cec414 · 03-09-2006, 01:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tariana

I went once a week for two hours at a time for about 16 weeks and it helped A LOT. It obviously isn't totally permanent as I was pretty much totally hairless when the treatments were done and now I'm back to shaving nearly every day, but the hair is nowhere near as much as it used to be, and it's really only been in the last few months that I've needed to shave, so I have had 4 basically hairless years.

I was told by the electrologist I am seeing that I will only begin to see a difference in 4 months, so you probably needed to another 6-8 months before it would have been permanent.

Electrolysis takes a long time, sometimes years, I only pay $20 a session but it's going to wind up probably costing me between $500-$1000 to get it permanently done over the course of a year. It's cheaper than laser which costs $300 a session and takes at least 6-8 sessions to work, and then it might not even be permanent, which is why I am getting electrolysis.

tariana · 03-09-2006, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by soul cyster

Is your facial hair coarse, like a man's beard? Why do you think the hair came back? Hormonal imbalance?

My hair was VERY coarse; now it's less so. I assume it came back because I made the mistake of going off the birth control pills for a few months and my hormones got out of whack again.

joyblack · 03-09-2006, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tariana

My hair was VERY coarse; now it's less so. I assume it came back because I made the mistake of going off the birth control pills for a few months and my hormones got out of whack again.

Going off birth control pills would indeed shift your hormone balance in a male direction and when there's already a predisposition to male-type beard growth one could expect the growth to recommence. For many of us with PCOS the natural predisposition is to have male-type beard growth. Birth control pills are one way of giving a more female type of hormone balance and thus keeping beard growth under control.

tariana · 03-09-2006, 07:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joyblack

Going off birth control pills would indeed shift your hormone balance in a male direction and when there's already a predisposition to male-type beard growth one could expect the growth to recommence. For many of us with PCOS the natural predisposition is to have male-type beard growth. Birth control pills are one way of giving a more female type of hormone balance and thus keeping beard growth under control.

Well, unfortunately, I didn't know that before I went off them. My doctor didn't tell me, and my DH had promised we could TTC and then changed his mind after I'd been off the pills for a couple of months. So by that time it was too late. And I assume that even though I'm back on the pills, that since the hair already started growing back in that in order to get rid of it again I would have to have more electrolysis or laser or something -- I assume the pills themselves won't make it any better. I wish I hadn't been so dumb, but I was so excited about the possibility of TTC (that turned out not to happen anyway) that I let that outweigh my common sense and now I'm going to be paying for that for a long time, both emotionally because I feel so gross, and financially if I decide to do more laser or electrolysis.

strongernow · 03-10-2006, 10:22 PM

I've spent a couple hundred on electrology..and its not true that scarring is only caused by a bad electrologist..different people have different levels of sensitivity. I got mine on my belly. about 5 sessions, and its now scarred..I wont go back because of that reason, but the hair is lessoned and thinner. If I didnt scar I would continue to go absolutley.

Faith, Hope, Love ... · 03-29-2006, 06:47 AM

Does anybody recommend a good electrolysis center in Atlanta?

Thank you for your help, advice ...

Phoenix Rising ^^^ · 03-29-2006, 04:35 PM

I had very coarse facial hair. I started having electrolysis sessions for 1 hour per week and I went every week for about 18 months. I found it very effective. I haven't been since 8/04 and I have a very small amount of regrowth now. I really should go back for clean ups about once a month but, I haven't been able to afford that. It is a slow process, but it works. I had the electrologist start with my neck right in the crease and work her way up towards my chin. Then we went for the sides of my face. each week she went over the area from the week before zapping anything that grew back. So, sometimes it was hard to see the progress. But, eventually you do see it. It is so worth it.

I will say this, electrolysis is not painfree. I used a cream called EMLA to help with the pain. It numbs the area. I think only the generic version is available now. There is also a cream called Elamax. That didn't work as well for me though. I also took Ibuprofen about an hour before each treatment.

Good Luck!

charlestontess · 04-03-2006, 06:32 AM

Ladies,

This is just what I needed tonite to convince me to actually go to the appointments I made for tomorow morning to see about getting electrolysis / lazer hair removal done. I went a few years ago for a few electrolysis sessions, but at that time I was not on BCP's and I guess when I didn't see favorable results I decided it wasnt worth the extra money & time to get it done.

I am now dealing with having to shave every morning and I feel less and less like a woman everyday because of this embarrassing problem. Although my hubby is very understanding I still cannot let him see me do it and usually either lock myself in the bathroom before he gets up for work or I do it in the shower behind the curtain. I also keep one of those little battery powered shavers in my purse just in case I need a touch-up during the day.

The places I called around here do electrolysis for between $18-23 a session and lazer hair removal for the face starts at $100 a session (6-8 required) so I am trying to decide which would be the best option for me. I have two appointments in the morning along with a visit planned to my Gyno to go back on BCP's for at least a good year. I have not menstruated in 6 months now and although my blood levels are within "normal" levels, after TTC for over 2 years I am exhausted emotionally from the not knowing what my body wants to do anymore. I decided this year I am going to get myself back on track with losing weight and doing this major thing for myself by getting the facial hair growth under control. Then maybe next year we will TTC again once I am feeling better about things. I'm just about to turn 35 in a few days so I know I still have some time but right now I need to focus on me.

I'll let you know how it goes. Other than having to let my hair grow out for 2 days (lets just say my husband did not get too close today) and feeling like the wolf-woman, I am ready for this.

So for my birthday I hope to be sporting to new less hairier me!

Phoenix Rising ^^^ · 04-03-2006, 08:40 PM

Tess,
I applaud you for taking this step! You are doing a good thing and you will be able to hold your head high because those hairs will be GONE! Please tell us how it goes.

Back in the mid 90's I tried electrolysis, and I thought it was a waste of money. Boy, was I wrong. I strongly believe it was because I wasn't on anything and I was only going for 30 minutes at a time, every few weeks. Once I committed myself to getting rid of the hair I started to get results.

Oh, I forgot to mention this, after my treatments I applied ice to the area for the whole ride home that was about 25 minutes. It really did help. Also, try not to touch it or rub it too much . That will irritate this skin and make it hurt more.

If you have any questions, I'd be glad to answer them if I can.

charlestontess · 04-03-2006, 10:14 PM

Gina,

Thanks for that advice which I used today! (About the icepack)

I went to two places today. The first was a one woman operation sharing office space with a spinal (chiropractor) office, which was pretty weird since there I was sitting in a waiting room with half a beard and feeling like I was a freak show while the other patients came in for adjustments. The technician did a good job of explaining how hair growth occurs, what to expect from electrolysis vs. lazer hair removal, then she did a small test area which was quite uncomfortable. She had an older lazer machine that looked and sounded like an old Hoover canister vac (I kid you not) and it was the kind where they put ice on your face then do a quick zap with the lazer. It was kind of weird as it made a "snap" each time. Her suggestion to me would be to lazer the bigger areas, then hit the rest with weekly electrolysis visits for the best results. Her package deal : $360 for 6 lazer treatments then $21 to $61 /week for the electrolysis and she estimated it would be 6-18 months of that! Wow I can see my husband's jaw drop when I tell him that!

The second place I went to was an upscale medical spa where an actual doctor talked to me briefly about lazer hair removal. Then two nice technicians took me to the comfortable procedure room where I had my entire neck, chin, upper lip and cheeks lazered with some new machine- called "Profile" which can target both dark pigmented and blonde hairs (I have both) They used a cool-glide application and lots of messy gel on my face but both of the ladies were very skilled and it was over within 15 minutes. Not very painful just felt kind of tingly in a couple of places. They had a special and only charged me $50 for this visit and I am supposed to go back in 6 week intervals for about 5-6 more sessions- all of which will run me $400 total (no surprises). The doctor suggested that some of his patients are able to get their insurance companies to pay for a portion of the services if it's medically related condition so I may try to see about getting some of it approved. This place had a full range of other cosmetic services (Botox, Micro-dermabrasion, etc. ) so they seem to do it all.

So that wasn't a bad experience the first time around getting lazered by two different people today!

Have to see if this treatment will do anything to slow down the hair growth. I do know that my face didnt swell/get as red with this as it did with the electrolysis and I liked it better because it was over with quicker. The surface of the skin where they did the treament feels a little numb but I think that's because of the gel they put on my face earlier to make it more comfortable. They even put a nice lotion/sunscreen on me before I left.

I'll keep ya posted on my results over the next few days and treatments ahead.

Thanks again for the advice & support!