Six treatments, still dark blotches. What to do?

[suzifrommd]

The plan was to get laser for the dark hairs on my face and then hire an electrologist to start the long process of clearing the gray and white hairs.

I paid a lot of money for the laser treatments. I get six treatments and an additional four if needed. The treatments took roughly 8 months and there are still large dark patches on my face that the laser didn't clear.

I'm full-time now, and need to put on heavy foundation every day just to leave the house.

I need to figure out which of these will result in my not needing foundation the earliest:

1. Use the additional four laser treatments (already paid for). This will probably delay electrolysis. By another 5-6 months. But might clear enough dark hair that I can go without makeup.

2. Give up on laser, start electrolysis right away.

Any thoughts?

[Christine167]

Change it up unless you already paid for the additional laser treatments. Don't look at it as failure. Look at it as attacking the problem from a new angle.

[JennX]

Finish up with the laser first. I took me more like 2 years of laser (going once every 4 weeks as facial hair grows faster than body hair) before finishing up with electro... And I didn't have much to begin with.

[Beth Andrea]

I did 12 laser sessions, and most of the (remaining) whiskers are gray, but there's still some shadow. I started electrolysis, but the cost is pretty high...I think I might do another 6-12 sessions before going back to electrolysis...I may try to find a nearby "executive electrolysis", where you have two techs working on each side of your face, while you're on "twilight sedation." Even if it's a couple grand it'd be worth it to not have to keep scheduling appointments...

eta: adjective

[abbyt89]

I did 12 laser sessions, and most of the whiskers are gray, but there's still some shadow. I started electrolysis, but the cost is pretty high...I think I might do another 6-12 sessions before going back to electrolysis...I may try to find a nearby "executive electrolysis", where you have two techs working on each side of your face, while you're on "twilight sedation." Even if it's a couple grand it'd be worth it to not have to keep scheduling appointments...

Where are you located? I've been going to a place called E3K just outside of Dallas, TX. It's way more convenient than standard electro but just be aware that it's not just one treatment and your done. Just like all hair removal due to the nature of growth cycles it's impossible to get everything in one trip. I'm about to have my 4th full clearing and will most likely have to go a total of 7-9 times.

[Beth Andrea]

Abby, I'm in the Seattle area...about how much for that?

Here, standard electro runs between $65/hour--$130/hour...laser is $100/15 minutes (iirc), but if you get a package (i.e., commit to buying 6) the price gets cut in half ($300/6 sessions)

[pebbles]

You might be unlucky, I had extremely thick facial hair, I'm extremely tough and tenacious unfortunately that means my monsters are also extremely tough and tenacious.

I've had, over 7 years (Even before my HRT and transition.)
6 Laser Treatments
3 ND:Yag Laser Treatments
1 year of electrolysis. (£3000 worth)
7 Sessions of IPL

And you know what... I still have facial hairs left. I've spent thousands of pounds trying to kill them. Although it is only a speck of what it once was, it's still there I still have to shave and I still need more treatments.

[A]

You can ask the technician if you're not sure, but if the dark stuff is anything significant, chances are laser is still better than electro. If it seems like they're very stubborn hairs and they won't go away no matter how many times they're hit, there might be a laser power/mode adjustment to be made.

When I switched laser places (because I was swindled at the first place) I'd had 7 treatments, and quite a lot of stuff was left. And then, at the new place, where they had the same machine, I told them about the stubborn hairs, they played with the settings, and boom, they started to fall.

Ask the technician. And you could also have them check the depth of those hairs. Sometimes, there's hair that grows so super deep in the skin it's impossible to get with laser, because heat dissipates before reaching the root.

[Penny Gurl]

So far for myself I've had ten laser sessions and two IPL sessions and FINALLY 99% of the dark beard is clear. so really over all it just takes time. i would really finish up with the laser sessions that are included with your package.

[suzifrommd]

Thanks girls. It sounds like for a lot of women six laser sessions wasn't enough, so even though it will kick the electrolysis can down the road, I'll go back for more.

[Madison Leigh]

Thanks girls. It sounds like for a lot of women six laser sessions wasn't enough, so even though it will kick the electrolysis can down the road, I'll go back for more.

My partner and I were just talking about this the other day.  I'm at three and have a lot of places where there is obvious progress; but I don't see any way I'd be done at six.

[abbyt89]

Abby, I'm in the Seattle area...about how much for that?

Here, standard electro runs between $65/hour--$130/hour...laser is $100/15 minutes (iirc), but if you get a package (i.e., commit to buying 6) the price gets cut in half ($300/6 sessions)

The rate is $110/hr per electrologist. My first three visits came out to about $1,800 each (2 electrologists for 8 hours.)

[A]

Eek! I figured it was 110 $ per hour for multiple people. 110 $ per electrologist sounds pretty expensive. I can imagine each of them is probably more effective than your regular electrologist, but I pay mine 45 $ per hour. I have trouble imagining that each of them is 2.4 times more effective than another professional with a degree. So I guess the biggest advantage there is to Electrology 3000 is that you can have multiple people and that they'll accept to do 8 hours in a row.

[Alaia]

Yeah, electrolysis can be expensive depending on where you live and where you go. My electrologist only charges $60/hr and she's great. Plus she offers 10 hour packages at 10% off. You may be able to find similar deals with your local electrologist.

[EmmaMcAllister]

I'm through 6 laser sessions, and I'm almost clear. I'll do two or three more before switching to electro.

[LizMarie]

E3000 is a highly specialized shop created to cater specifically to the needs of transgender women. They use their own unique electrolysis machines and have a doctor and nurses on site so they can administer local anesthesia for the areas of the face being worked up. Many transwomen report much higher kill rates of hair follicles with E3000 as well.

I stopped doing local electrolysis when I was unhappy with her kill rate which was making very slow impact on my facial hair. I am now saving up to go to E3000. I've repeatedly heard that 7-9 sessions are what are required to finish the job, about 6-8 weeks apart each.

One person had posted here at Susan's the following cost breakdown for her use of E3000. Note that costs dropped steadily over time as facial hair becomes thinner.

Sample E3000 Costs

Between each session you have to wait 6-8 weeks and grow your facial hair out for 3-4 days before your appointment.

Session #1 - 22.5 Hours - $2,646.50 (Two tech - 1.5 days)
Session #2 - 10.5 Hours - $1,102.50 (Two tech - 1 day)
Session #3 - 14.25 Hours - $1,503.60 (Two tech - 1 day)
Session #4 - 10 Hours - $960.90 (One Tech - 1.25 day)
Session #5 - 7.5 Hours - $619.65 (One Tech - 1)
Session #6 - 9 hours - $1,053.40(One Tech - 1.25 day) - At this stage shadow was gone - still shaved ever day - most people then go to a local electrologist to finish up after round  some continue with E3000 with other parts of the body - like the south pole!!!
Session #7 - 5 hours - $557.15 (One Tech - 0.75)
Total 78.75 Hours to Date

This method also has the advantage of not having to grow your facial hair out every week.

[A]

Wow, that's crazy. I think you had an awful electrologist, especially stubborn hair or something like that. So far my hair hasn't been coming back by any significant margin. And when a hair hasn't been burned properly, I can tell because it hurts when she pulls on it, so I tell her and she adjusts the machine. Of course I'm doing this after laser, so it may be different from someone who doesn't have any dark enough hair.

But honestly, yeah, it's really really expensive. Not to mention it's unique and requires plane tickets and hotel stay for whoever isn't close (which is a lot of people because it's in freaking Texas). The speed factor aside, I'm pretty sure you can get roughly the same quality for about half the price. Or at worst, you'll suffer a 10-15 % quality loss for a 50 % lower price, which is still probably advantageous.

Not like it's very useful for me to be discussing this anyway, considering I couldn't possibly afford it... maybe even after saving like crazy for a year.

[GendrKweer]

Might not be relevant, but you are on full HRT at the correct doses, right? Because as my laser lady told me a long time ago, with testosterone in your body, you will produce new hair follicles regularly on your face, so the first step was to have full HRT. Once that was under control, it took about 10-12 sessions for the whole thing to be permanent. There might be ten whiskers at the corners of my mouth that crop up every so often and which I pluck like any cisfemale. I'll get them zapped whenever I get around to it...