Photo credit Flickr

Guest post by Cheryl White 

Janet always enters my electrolysis clinic to the music of
Sarah Brightman, her favourite singer.  That is what is on her MP3 player and what she listens to during her session with me. Since she will be with me for 1 hour, I always encourage her to bring her music with her to the appointment to help her
relax during the process.  She is actually one of my clients who routinely dozes off during her treatment.

Marilyn on the other hand came to see me for a consultation and sample treatment (always insist on one before starting electrolysis) directly from a night in the ER at the local Richmond Hill hospital with her 9-year-old son.  This woman had several tattoos and I was sure a small bikini sample treatment would be a walk in the park.  Not so. She was exhausted, dehydrated and so pumped with caffeine that she winced and squirmed for each insertion of the probe.  After hearing about her evening and sensing her fatigue, I encouraged her to try again when she was rested and hydrated.  Now Marilyn has a permanently hair free bikini line. I see her before the summer and before a vacation for a 15 minute touch-up.

Clearly the process can be comfortable and rewarding. Here are some steps you can take for a more relaxing and positive electrolysis experience. 
 

Before Your Appointment:

1) Never make an appointment when you know you will be rushed, stressed or tired.  Give yourself this time.
 
2) Do not make appointments just before or during your period if you know you are irritable or sensitive at this time of the month.

 3) Avoid caffeine before your appointment.  It can act as a stimulant and make you irritable and jumpy.

 4) Try to avoid direct sun exposure 48 hours before your treatment to avoid dilation of blood vessels.

 5) Drink water.  A hydrated follicle is easier to treat.

 6) Some clients feel less discomfort if they have a full meal before their appointment.

 7) Some clients find a Tylenol or Advil 30 minutes before their session helpful.

8) If acceptable, shave or use a cream depilatory 5-7 days before the scheduled appointment. This will ensure a higher 
Anagen ratio with smoother insertions and epilations.

 9) If needed, apply EMLA 2.5% numbing cream thickly to the area to be treated 1 hour before the scheduled appointment
time and cover the area with Saran to ensure the penetration
and avoid evaporation of the topical.

 10) Bring your own favourite music on your phone or MP3 player.

After your appointment:

1) Do not scratch or touch the treated area.  Bacteria from all the surfaces you've touched after you have left the treatment room can cause a breakout.

2) Do not wear makeup over the treated area for 24 hours.  It can cause irritation.

3) Avoid alcohol based products on your skin as they can have a drying effect.

4) If unusualredness occurs mix a small dab of Polysporin with a small dab of .5% Cortate cream using a clean Q tip and apply to the affected area twice a day.

5) Avoid direct sun after treatment to avoid hyper pigmentation .

6) If small scabs occur do not pick or scratch them.  Keep the area moisturized and they will fall off on their own.

If you keep these pointers in mind when you book your electrolysis appointment, you, like Janet, should have a positive experience with positive end results -
smooth, hair-free skin and radiant confidence!

 
About the Author:

The Hair Growth Cycle

Electrolysis successfully kills off hairs in the growing part of the hair cycle. Since not all your hairs are growing at the same time, you will need a series of appointments over time to get all cycles of growth. 

When people come to see me, they are usually in three possible situations: 1) they are plucking or waxing a given area or 2) shaving or trimming a given area or 3) just leaving the hair untouched.

Each situation has hairs in different parts of the hair cycle, and different quantity of hair to be removed. Therefore some individuals will require more treatment time then others. 

Hair Follicle distortion

This refers to hairs that grow bent below and above the skin. Some hair is naturally distorted like pubic hair, darker skinned people naturally have wavy or curly hair on their face and head and people who pluck and wax can have damaged many follicles over time and caused this distortion factor. 

Distorted follicles will be broken down by electrolysis first, their growth trajectory corrected ( hair will thin and slow considerably) and then permanently disabled over a series of treatments. 

So how long or how many times does one hair take to die? It can be just once for simpler hair or upwards of 3-4 times for badly distorted hair.  This is why consistent appointments following the growth cycle permanently gets rid of everything. 

No Electrologist can assess anybody's situation to give an estimate of time and cost without seeing the person!! This is why consultations are mandatory at my clinic. This helps to establish the amount of hair to be removed, and to assess the variables that will come into play for that individual to get to permanent results.

No one person has the same expectation as the next of the hair they want removed in a given area. So estimates of time and price are always based on individual cases. My job is to make sure your treatments are as effective as possible so that you can be well on your way in no time.

The most common question I get asked is how many "sessions" it takes to do a given area? I understand why people initially think of it this way, especially because most people are inundated with this approach with laser. However electrolysis works differently. I give estimates based in hours and minutes as session lengths will be more frequent in the beginning and very little towards the end.

 When clients come to see me, I assess how long it will take to remove original growth ( original problem). This may take one or many appointments based on the severity of the situation.  Someone who has been a chronic plucker and has 40 hairs on their chin will need different initial treatment time then someone with long peach fuzz. Appointments will always be closer at the beginning to make sure all bothersome hair is removed to pave the road for regrowth treatments. Regrowth treatments are always less time and further apart then initial sessions. Some clients will have very few regrowth sessions ( such as clients with fine upper lip hair) and others will need more regrowth sessions because of a badly plucked area ( common on woman's faces) or a larger area needs to be covered (like a man's back)

Yes, Electrolysis takes time and money, it's an investment in yourself. It's a completely permanent solution. A client would need to decide whether it's worth it to them. Most people I meet however, are tired of plucking, shaving and whatever else they are doing to groom themselves and manage on a daily basis. It costs them time and money in many cases to do temporary methods and it often contributes to a bigger hair problem then before. Not having the embarrassment of facial hair or not having an irritated bikini area from shaving are well worth the investment. I work with many different kinds of budgets, and most people find a way to make it to appointments in their busy lives.

When you consider the impact your current situation is having on you, Electrolysis is well worth considering!!

You may have seen ads for laser hair removal that read something like "Virtually Painless Permanent Laser Hair Removal! - 100% Guanteed!!! If these ads set off your alarms bells then be aware that you're absolutely right to be skeptical.

I've heard people say that electrolysis is archaic and that laser can treat everybody. Neither are true but let's face it: the beauty industry is a billion dollar arena and this unfortunately lends itself to businesses and marketing that are far from moral due to lack of government regulation. In fact, laser services are so heavily marketed that a lot of people are not aware of electrolysis. This is leaving professionals like myself to always be aware of the most current valid information and to help educate people properly.
 
In addition to the comparison on the electrolysis vs laser on my website, I've laid out other factual evidence of the nature of both of these hair removal methods to help people make the best educated decisions that they can.

For your information and for the purpose of this blog post
LASER is the abbreviation for Light Amplified by Stimulated Emission Radiation. It is a monochromatic and specific wavelength beam of light that targets melanin (hair pigment). This is considered a medical device.

IPL is the abbreviation for Intense Pulsed Light and is the use of intense pulses of non-coherent light at various wavelengths. It is commonly mistaken for laser hair removal. This is considered a medical device.

Electrolysis has been around for over 130 years and is the only officially approved method by the US Federal Drug administration for complete permanent removal, it stays a fierce competitor to laser and IPL industry. It has been proven to be safe and effective both short term and long term as there is enough history and follow up research over time. It can treat any skin or hair colour and has a high kill rate as each hair is individually treated. It remains very popular because of its versatility and effectiveness.

In Canada there is no federal or provincial definition for permanent hair removal as there is in the United States. LASER or IPL in the US has been labeled by the FDA as permanent reduction since 1999. This is important, because even though electrolysis has been proven for a long time to be completely permanent in other countries, the lack of definition for permanent hair removal federally and provincially in Canada has allowed laser businesses to claim they can do complete permanent removal and mislead many clients both in its effectiveness and it's safety. 

To explain further, electrolysis is permanent because small amounts of electrical current create heat into the single probe that targets follicles individually. With a high kill rate and an effective electrologist, in most clients, electrolysis treatments are much faster overall than laser treatments. Lasers emit specific wavelengths of light that are absorbed by the pigment in the hair. Therefore, there needs to be enough hair pigment and contrast between the skin and the hair colour for the laser to be very effective at reducing the quantity of follicles. Also there needs to be enough follicle density for the laser beam to be drawn to. Please note that there are a variety of different laser and IPL's on the market. The higher end lasers  (such as the ND: YAG) of which there are only a few in Ottawa are the most effective machines. IPL's are not lasers. They use intense pulses of non-coherent light that burns the hair shaft. IPL's tend to heat up the surrounding tissue making it less effective at disabling hair and put darker skinned individuals at higher risk of burning. 

Sound familiar? These are the concerns I hear at consultations from women who are just managing to get by. In fact, it's likely that you know about every hair removal method under the sun, and probably tried them all. Maybe you've even tried laser but can't understand why it didn't work or maybe it made it worse?

Hormonal hair growth, especially on the face, is not limited to just Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome but also Cushing’s Syndrome, adrenal problems, thyroid disorders and more. Hormonal growth can also be caused by pregnancy and menopause.

This type of hair is tough to the touch, I quote the term "like tree trunks". The hairs are deep and sometimes surprisingly large. It's understandable that many woman would start the vicious cycle of plucking, shaving, using chemical depilatories etc. Unfortunatly, regular use of any of these methods can cause significant ingrown hairs and hyperpigmentation, worsening skin texture and feel. Thick hair can also spring up on many areas of the body, especially the abdomen, across the chest and the backs of the thighs. Hirsutism is a more accurate term to describe this male patterned growth and can range vastly in density and coarsness of hair.

While your MD may have prescribed medication to help you control your other
symptoms (ie. Weight gain, pre-diabetes, infertility..),  none of them can reverse the hair that has already grown. New topical creams such as Vaniqua can reduce the size of the hair but doesn’t work for everyone, and the effect wears off once you stop using it. Laser/IPL are very heavily marketed and can offer
temporary relief, but again isn’t suitable for all, will only reduce hair in a given area and in some cases it can trigger more hair growth!!

The only way to deal with a large problem like hormonal hair growth is to cut it down
into bite sized pieces. Facial skin is very delicate and removing too much deep chunky hair can overwhelm your skin. Instead of trying to ‘just get rid of it’ all in
one go (which can’t happen without taking your skin with it!) I suggest removing original growth over a few sessions, to keep skin calm. Electrolysis kill rate is very high when done properly, and noticable reduction will be evident in the first 8 weeks, with regrowth appointments dealing with difficult follicles after the original clearance.  It's not an instantaneous process (nothing is!) and very honestly, it can be tough going at first when you're feeling very vulnerable. I give many suggestions at consultations on how to bridge oneself between their current method of hair removal and electrolysis. Starting this permanent proccess takes courage but if you start and get it cleared, you'll see for yourself that hormonal facial hair really can be removed permanently. 

You'll be left with a sense of achievement, renewed confidence and better self esteem.

 The best to all of you on your hair removal journey