Still red 5 days after first electrolysis session. Suggestions?

[AubreyN7]

So, after having 12 sessions of laser (one every 4 weeks), I started electrolysis on my face last Friday. She started on the left side of my upper lip. It was uncomfy but not what I'd consider to be very painful. After an hour, she had done a full clearing of the left side of my upper lip, from the corners of the mouth to the middle of my nose. It was red and a little puffy for a day or two afterward. The puffiness went down, but I now have this red "shadow" where she had done the electrolysis, and it's been 5 days. I plan to ask her about it at my session this coming Friday (2 hours this time), but to all the girls out there that have had facial electro, I wanted to ask if this is normal? Has anybody else experienced this? I'm a bit nervous here.

[Lana P]

If there is swelling I would put ice on it.

[AubreyN7]

No, there's no swelling. That was gone pretty much by day 2. It's just this persistent redness that won't go away.

[oh hai!]

As long as there are no excoriations, you could try and moisturize with a moisturizer with salicylic acid. Works pretty good for me for any redness next day after electro.

Lip seems to be the worst area for it, but as long as there is no persistent swelling white patches or oozing I doubt any permanent damage is being done. You might ask if she has any ideas or if switching to a different method (blend or galvanic if she is just using thermolysis,) might help.

[lilacwoman]

doing a single patch extensively at one session will make lots of burns under the skin - the needle tip does get red hot! - that perhaps all blend togeher to give the redness until all the burns are absorbed and healed.

I'd suggest spreading the next sessions over all the face to avoid redness.

[AubreyN7]

Thanks. I'll see if I can't find any moisturizer with salicylic acid in it. I'll also be sure to ask her if maybe something needs to be changed. I don't think there's any real permanent damage. It just increases the chance of me getting clocked, because the redness is actually darker than my shadow was before I started any kind of hair removal. I'm not a big fan of makeup, as I seem to do ok without it, and clogging my pores with some foreign goop seemed a bit counterproductive to me. In any case, I'll be seeing her tomorrow, so I'll let y'all know what she says.

[Ms Grace]

As long as there are no infections it should be OK. I have the multi probe galvanic method and can have a number of tiny red spots for up to five or six days afterwards. I gently swab with sterile/alcohol wipes but other than that don't do anything else (at my electrolysist's say so) and it's fully healed within a week. It's one of the reasons I haven't gone full time yet, no way I could pass for a few days after a session...

[AubreyN7]

Update:

Went back for a 2 hour session today. She said that the discoloration is normal, and will fade in a little time. I had no scabbing, no pustules, and no signs of infection, which is a good thing. It's a little better this time, because as soon as I'd left her office and got in my car, I gently wiped my face with witch hazel and applied aloe vera gel liberally. After I got home, I held an ice bag to the area for awhile. It seemed to help, as my face doesn't look nearly as angry as last time. We will see once a few days have passed.

[Bardoux]

Has the redness gone away? I have much the same issue, it's been a month and what started as redness turned into dry, chapped skin, cracks and large amounts of flaky skin. It seems like the top, top layer of my skin needs to grow back. No idea what i can do other than drink lots of water. I found that keeping the skin moist via vitamin E cream, cocoa butter or savlon was only causing the skin to break up into small sheaths of skin that shed. So i stopped and it seems to have helped.

EDIT: and i totally get you about the clocking aspect, the redness is way darker than any shadow i may have had which was minimal. I can't actually shave either as the skin is just so sensitive and raw atm. I look abit ridiculous tbh lol

[AubreyN7]

The redness has diminished somewhat over the past two weeks, but it's still slightly there. I used ice immediately afterward this time and also used witch hazel and aloe vera gel for two days after I had it done and it seems to be doing much better this time. I'm still using the witch hazel twice a day and there is a little flaking, but it seems to be clearing up. Hopefully the redness will completely disappear with time. I never had much of a shadow to begin with either and the redness is much more noticeable when compared to my original shadow.