I bought an epilator, OMG it hurts!!

[Jayne]

I recieved my redundancy pay yesterday & the first thing I bought was an epilator, it's a Remington with 42 tweezers & a two speed setting.

I did a small test patch as soon as I got home & oh boy did it hurt, I went out & bought a bottle of vodka & had a few drinks & then soaked in a bath for a while to soften the hairs up.
When I got out of the bath I set to work on my legs (at least that was the plan) I got the bottom half of my right leg done but when I got to my knees the pain was unbelievable.

I decided to leave it until today to finish the job as the part of my leg i'd done looked like i'd been rolling in stinging nettles so I wanted to see how well it cleared, I also wanted to be sure it wouldn't cause an outbreak of my exzema but when I woke up today my skin was fine so at least that's all good.

I was wondering if anyone had any tips to reduce the pain?
I know it will get easier with time so no matter how much it hurts i'll get this finished one way or the other but it would be nice to have it hurt a bit less this first time.

[Constance]

I had an EpiLady for a while, and it pulled my screams than hair from me. I eventually gave up and just went back to shaving.

[Jayne]

I've tried shaving but it's a terrible idea for me, as soon as the stubble starts growing my exzema goes nuts, my dermatologist has told me not to use razors on my skin.
I've tried waxing & once again it's out of the question with my skin so an epilator is the only solution that I can think of.

My skin is showing virtually no reaction to yesterdays test patch so I know that this is the best option for me, I just need to grit my teeth & stop being such a big girls blouse I guess

[Padma]

I'm reasonably certain epilators were invented by the catholic church. I'll bet they had a clockwork equivalent in the days of the inquisition.

[Jayne]

Ooh, imagine that! A wooden, hand cranked epilator used for torture.
It's bad enough with modern technology, if I keep that thought in mind then it may console me that it could be worse.

Thanks Padma
P.S. you look radiant in your new avatar pic 

[MariaMx]

Epilators are great! Sure they hurt a little bit, but that's mostly the first time. If you use it regularly there's very little pain.

[GypsySoul]

(As an SO this isnt really my forum but I have experience in this dept =D)

The first time is the worst! It gets better the more you do it. At least thats how it worked for me.... My wife still hates using it though. Also, (cant remember which brand sells it but) one of the waxing companies sells a 'numbing cream' that you can apply before waxing, should have the same effect with an epilator. Other than that the only advice I can offer is grin and bear it.... Or cringe and bear it? Wish I could offer more help!

[Padma]

I only used mine a couple of times, months and months ago, and my legs are still not recovered. I'm glad they work for some people, since they cost so much.

(thanks, Jayne *blush*)

[bullwinklle]

This is a bit time consuming to do, but you could always remove random individual hairs with tweezers to help thin out your leg hairs. Epilating mainly hurts because the hairs are being pulled from a densely packed area at a fast rate. Thinning out with tweezers means fewer hairs to epilate and thus less pain. Of course I'm not suggesting thinning the entirety of both legs in one sitting, rather just do a little bit intermittently over time.

[Jayne]

I managed to do two thirds of my legs so far but felt I should take a break before going higher, I suspect the higher regions may be a bit more tender.
I did find that areas further from bone hurt alot less, my calves & lower thighs hardly hurt at all but my ankles & knees were agony.
I was suprised to find that the double speed hurt much less than the slower speed, I put in on by accident when I stopped it to have a few sips (GULPS!) of vodka & tonic I accidentaly put it on high speed when I restarted it.

If anyone else is considering this then have a hot bath first as it seemed to get more uncomfortable the longer i'd spent out of the bath & make sure you stretch the skin as much as possible, if I discover anything else that helps then i'll let you all know

I'm off to sip some more V & T's because my legs feel very hot right now

Best wishes & a big hug to you all

Jayne

[Jayne]

 NekoKoNeko,

I've done most of my legs now but after a quick glance I may use your suggestion of tweezers for the individual hairs that have been missed

Thanks for the suggestion

Jayne

[Eve87]

A year ago I was yelping and taking breaks but it got *much* easier. I don't know if it's the HRT or repeated epilating but I barely feel anything now. It's so much more efficient than shaving but yeah, you have to stick with it for a bit.

[michelle666]

It gets better after a few times. I can do my legs all in one shot without any pain now. I was doing my chest and stomach, but am getting laser on them now and I could do them without pain. I use the epilator for the pubic area, hurt like hell the first few times, now it's nothing.

[Misato]

I wouldn't say I got to a point of no pain.  It did lessen.  And my legs no longer look like I did battle with 1,000 mosquito nests, and lost, afterward

I do like how epilating gives me a connected feeling to my womanhood.  It's an experience men don't have so while it would be nice if it wasn't a painful experience, it's something.

That and for me the pay off lasts a long time!  Stupid in-growns though. Grrr....

[sarah c]

When i first tried using one the pain was too much. This happened because the hairs were too long! Definately make sure the hairs are very short before using one.

Sarah

[Brooke777]

I use an epilator on my arms and legs. I don't think it is too bad. It really hurts on the bikini area, but that is a necessary pain. I used to do it on my chest until I started laser...I do not suggest you try that especially if you have started developing as I had. I find it hurts very little if I do it right after the shower while my skin is still a little damp. It also helps to exfoliate before you do it, and then put lotion on right when you are done.

[Stranger]

I bought one last week and have been trying it out. It hurts terribly (thin legs, lots of hair), but the hardest thing for me are the ingrowns and bumps... even after a determined regimen of exfoliating and antiseptic gels (aloe vera + tea tree). Thing is, I'm not sure whether I should wait for them all to clear up before I try to epilate again, but I'm afraid that if I wait for them to heal first I'll not manage to get my epilation tolerance level up... ugh.

It's not deterred me, but it's a definite challenge!

[Jayne]

I've not had any ingrowns yet but i've had alot of spots in certain areas, I can't exfoliate as I tried it once & it was very painfull on my sensitive skin, after epilating I rub a small amount of prescription moisuriser into my legs (I always start at the top & rub down only so as not to block pores), this works very well for most of my legs & leaves a very smooth, glossy finish.

The problem area is the tops of my legs, this could be because I have to epilate in all directions, my hairs at the innner tops of my legs grow in all directions & it takes ages to get them all.

[AudreyH]

Epilator gave me ingrown hairs on my legs, but I still use it on my body and it works a charm. I can handle the pain now.

[Pretend]

I've never used an epilator but I do know that when I wax my nether regions taking a tylenol about 30 minutes before along with a hot bath shower and make sure the skin stays tight.

I also use a sunburn lotion with aloe afterwards to help relieve the pain.