Electrolysis stories

[Dolly3656]

Hey everyone! I've recently gained a lot of dark coarse hairs on my upper lip and chin. I hear electrolysis can work for this but I'm worried about skin damage and if it is actually a permanent solution. Would love to hear from anyone who has had it done previously who could share their experience (how long ago they had it, what method and how their skin is since). Thanks so much! :)

[quote Dolly3656]@WhatDidISayAlan Thank you so much for sharing this, so pleased to hear how well it's worked for you and the impact it's had that sounds so positive!! I think I'm actually not too far from you (near Stoke on Trent) so that's amazing to hear there could be somewhere nearish to me to try that you've had success with!
Thanks for the detail around how skin reacts too, I have quite bad acne so wondering if it might make it worse temporarily but definitely helpful to know! I think the bar is for galvanic or blend methods so it's less heat (my skin is super sensitive so was looking into different methods but I know very little!). Did you have any issues with the texture of your skin after the redness calmed? My skin is ridiculously sensitive so a bit anxious over scars. Thank you again![/quote]
No issues with the texture of my skin (and mine is sensitive too) - my practitioner wipes the area with tea tree oil as soon as she's finished my session and I think that really helps. When I started I didn't get big breakouts, (and my PCOS can cause really bad acne sometimes) - it was just these little tiny pimples which only lasted overnight. My sessions are late afternoon/early evening and you'd never know I'd had it the following day.

I had a mixture. I think the coarser ones are a little more resistant to being zapped if I remember correctly, but they do die eventually.

The needle goes into the hair follicle so there shouldn’t be scarring unless the therapist is inept and pokes it into your skin.

It never worked for me. Pcos can be a right git like that.

@NeverDropYourMoonCup Ah I'm sorry to hear that, are you using any other methods? I'm super keen for something permanent so it's kind of led me to electrolysis but still learning

@Smallkeys Ah ok thank you, I was wondering like how far down it goes and if it'll leave holes? There's a site called hair tell with people who had it and got scarred - scared me to death!!

@BradleyCooperwillbemine oo that's good to know I have some very thick ones which really bother me, had been tweezing but think it's making it worse! Can't bleach them either they are so dark :(

@WhatDidISayAlan Ah this sounds great! Giving me so much hope I might get rid without damage! I think I was saying to someone else I'd been on hair tell and it just really scared me but hearing these stories it seems like the best option! Thank you again for sharing! :)

Coincidentally I had my December 30 min session last night - have (hopefully) attached pic taken 16 hrs later. Tiny little bumps are PCOS acne scars, there’s no trace of the electrolysis.

I’m a electrologist.

You do need to go to someone who does a lot of electrolysis hours a week. It’s something that is highly skilled.

The needle/ probe is actually finer than the hair. It slides in the hair follicle so doesn’t break the skin at all. The tip of the probe will emit a short burst of heat. This damages the blood supply to the hair. No blood supply and the hair follicle will die.

You can’t have enough heat on a single treatment as it would damage the skin and scar. Also you have to work with the growth cycle of the hair as well. It goes through three stages.

It is a permanent solution. It does work if your electrologist is skilled. But, it is an investment. It takes time. The hair will weaken gradually and then become soft and downy. The hair growth cycle will get longer and longer. Eventually the hair won’t return.

There are three types of electrolysis.

Short wave diathermy
Galvanic ( old fashioned not really around now)
Blend, which is a mix of diathermy and galvanic. For this and galvanic you need to hold the bar. This creates an electrical circuit.

Sterex needles will give heat on the very tip.
Ballet needles have heat all around the needle. These are lovely to use as you can bend the needle for tricky hair follicles.

Obviously all needles are disposable and need to go into a sharps box.

Happy to answer any questions.

I am interested in having electrolysis. Where are you based ?

I have had that and laser done and if it's a hormonal imbalances then it just grows back. The thing I use now is an epilator and use a face scrub before and after. First few times apply aloe Vera after. I used to have it on my lip and chin and it plagued my life until I got the epilator. Wish I had done it sooner and I would be richer if I had as laser was painful and expensive!

Meant to say mine is caused by pcos.

I've had a lot of electrolysis over the last 25 years. It works. I'm fair skinned with very coarse black hairs, chin, neck, upper lip. I don't want to imagine what life would have been like if it didn't exist. Ay first I used to go weekly, bit sore for a few hours but soon settled down. Having a skilled therapist with good equipment is important. Most importantly, if you feel the hair being plucked out it's not being done properly. The pulse should kill the hair so that it slides out. Give it a go, but check around the places that offer it, and switch if you aren't 100% happy. Check the quals of the therapist. They won't mind if they are good. Best of luck!

I had electrolysis on my top lip about 20 years ago when I was early 30s, stopped when I became pregnant. No skin damage at all.
It was quite painful as pp have said.

Don’t know if anyone is interested. I love this, but appreciate its a bit unique to me.

The tweezers used are special electrolysis tweezers so they literally can’t “tweeze”. They are only for lifting the hair out of the follicle.

The teeny muscle which hold the hair in place relaxes when the hair has been treated.( Sometimes you actually see the hair ping a bit up )The hair is no longer attached and you can lift it out.

Attached a cross section picture. The blue line is the probe/needle. As you can see it needs to go down to the end of the hair shaft where the capillary is. Too short and it will damage the skin. Too long and you will go through the hair shaft. It’s so precise.

@Monolithique Ah thank you for sharing - did you find it worked ok? Do you remember if you held a bar when you had it? I'm curious as to what method people have had, my skin is really sensitive so worried I'd get skin damage - sounds amazing that you had no problems like that so this really helps to hear - thank you :)

@emmylousings Thank you so much for sharing your experience and advice! This is super helpful, I didn't realize about the sliding out with the pulse so will definitely keep a watch for this. I've managed to find someone who is on the BIAE site so I'm hoping to make an appointment in the new year. I'd been putting it off thinking it might turn out badly (read the hairtell site which didnt help!) But everyone's comments here as really helped me feel this is a good choice for me! Did you find it helped with getting rid of the hair permanently or did it come back? Many thanks again for your help! :)

@Mousemay Ah thanks for sharing this, I'm not really sure what's started it tbh. I was on the pill for 10 or so years came off three years ago and I'd say it began maybe a year or so after that. I am back on the pill now but only six months or so hoping it might control it a bit but was hoping that something like electrolysis might get rid of it permanently. I am dark haired and I've always had to bleach my top lip it's just now they seem coarser in places and I'm getting the odd few darker ones on my chin so wanted to get it dealt with really. I got my hormones checked and they said it was in normal range but I don't really know whether it's worth to get it looked into further or if it's usual to get this type of hair.
Really sorry to hear laser and electrolysis didn't work but the epilator sounds great! Thanks for sharing your tips on how to do it too must admit I don't think I've ever used one before - does it hurt much to do? Thank you again for your reply! :)

@WhatDidISayAlan Aw thanks so much for sharing this I really appreciate it! Your skin looks really good and definitely not like it's been treated! I was worried it might swell or be super red but this is so helpful to see - thanks again for sharing it!

@DobbyTheHouseElk Ah thank you so much for replying on here - I really appreciate all the detailed information you've shared!
With regards to the skin and you mentioned how it doesn't fully break the skin, I was on the website hair tell and there seemed to be lots of people writing in with pictures of damage they had gotten from treatments and I was just wondering is it possible to scar from the process? Or is it as you say about the skilll of the practitioner? I have found someone on the BIAE site but other than that I'm a bit unsure how to determine how good they are until I'm having the treatment of that makes sense. Would you mind if I pm'd you some other questions? Thank you again!

@DobbyTheHouseElk ah thank you for this, the image really helps! It seems such a skilled job to know exactly how far to insert the needle! Really helpful diagram!!

I had electrolysis on my top lip nearly 30 years ago and it was the best thing I have ever done. I had dark hairs and a very definite moustache. It has not grown back.
I won't lie, it was a bit eye watering and had treatment over several days. I could not have had it all done at once - partly pain but partly due to my 12 month old sat in her buggy next to me
It was slightly red for a few hours but aloe gel helped.

I highly recommend electrolysis for the face, and small areas.
Laser is fantastic for legs and underarms.
I’ve had both types of treatment, laser on underarms means I’ve only had to run a razor over them twice i the three years since the treatments. Legs are a work in progress due to Covid, but the hair is finer.
I found the Electrolysis is very painful but worth it.

Just adding that I have had electrolysis on my chin for random hairs and that didn't work. I think perhaps the person doing it was not as skilled.