Facial Electrolysis and Plucking

[Butterfly]

This might seem like a weird question.

Right now I'm in the process of having electrolysis done to remove what little facial hair I ever had. And it seems to be going well, which is great! My electrologist always misses a few hairs though, probably because of how light they are. Normally I would just shave them or pluck them out, but I'm kind of fed up with shaving, and at my last two sessions, the electrologist I see made a point of asking me whether I've been plucking my facial hair. This is probably because I told her at my first session that I used to sometimes pluck the hair there rather than shaving it. According to her, plucking facial hair causes it to grow back more coarse, thereby undoing some of the work that she's doing on my face. But that doesn't make sense to me because plucking a hair, if it does anything, should only damage the follicle and cause the hair to grow back lighter and finer. Right?

The reason I'm asking about this now is that I did end up plucking out the remaining hairs the other day, because my next session isn't for a couple of weeks and I got grossed out feeling the wispy hairs on my chin (facial hair just isn't for me). It hasn't really been long enough yet for the hairs to really grow back, so I'm curious as to whether I might actually be hindering my progress. To me, it seems like my electrologist is just using some weird minor scare tactic, but I can't figure out what the point of that would be. The hair will have grown back by my next session either way, so she'll still be removing it. The only difference isn't that I don't have to feel the coarseness of shaved hairs on my face in the meantime. Plus, I feel like I probably do more damage to my skin by shaving than by plucking, if that's her concern.

But should I be concerned? Should I avoid plucking my facial hair? If so, why? And if not, then why is my electrologist telling me I shouldn't be doing it?

[RoseH]

This might seem like a weird question.

Right now I'm in the process of having electrolysis done to remove what little facial hair I ever had. And it seems to be going well, which is great! My electrologist always misses a few hairs though, probably because of how light they are. Normally I would just shave them or pluck them out, but I'm kind of fed up with shaving, and at my last two sessions, the electrologist I see made a point of asking me whether I've been plucking my facial hair. This is probably because I told her at my first session that I used to sometimes pluck the hair there rather than shaving it. According to her, plucking facial hair causes it to grow back more coarse, thereby undoing some of the work that she's doing on my face. But that doesn't make sense to me because plucking a hair, if it does anything, should only damage the follicle and cause the hair to grow back lighter and finer. Right?

The reason I'm asking about this now is that I did end up plucking out the remaining hairs the other day, because my next session isn't for a couple of weeks and I got grossed out feeling the wispy hairs on my chin (facial hair just isn't for me). It hasn't really been long enough yet for the hairs to really grow back, so I'm curious as to whether I might actually be hindering my progress. To me, it seems like my electrologist is just using some weird minor scare tactic, but I can't figure out what the point of that would be. The hair will have grown back by my next session either way, so she'll still be removing it. The only difference isn't that I don't have to feel the coarseness of shaved hairs on my face in the meantime. Plus, I feel like I probably do more damage to my skin by shaving than by plucking, if that's her concern.

But should I be concerned? Should I avoid plucking my facial hair? If so, why? And if not, then why is my electrologist telling me I shouldn't be doing it?

It is recommended that you don't pluck or wax the area 4 weeks prior to a treatment.
As I understand it, it's because the hairs take approximately that time to all grow out enough to be treated.
Furthermore, if you should pluck a hair after a treatment rather than letting it fall out by itself, you're reversing the effect of the treatment in the follicle.
This is what I have been told anyway.

The clinic should offer you a brochure explaining this in detail, or at least link to resources online.

[Butterfly]

Hm... well. Okay then. I guess I'll go back to shaving. Or just be even more queer than ever and stop giving a youknowwhat. I mean, I've already given up on shaving everywhere else besides my armpits.

Minor note: I'm not going to a clinic, I'm actually seeing an electrologist with a private practice because there aren't any clinics in the city I frequent. And as far as I'm aware, she doesn't have any kind of information available about the things she's telling me about plucking - hence why I felt skeptical in the first place.

Actually, in hindsight, this whole thing is really stupid. I had stopped plucking completely, and then I started again because she put the thought of it into my head and it's one of my fallback methods for dealing with anxiety and depression. If she hadn't kept bringing it up in the first place, I probably wouldn't have done it again, because i wouldn't have even been thinking about it. Human psychology is weird.

[RoseH]

Hm... well. Okay then. I guess I'll go back to shaving. Or just be even more queer than ever and stop giving a youknowwhat. I mean, I've already given up on shaving everywhere else besides my armpits.

Minor note: I'm not going to a clinic, I'm actually seeing an electrologist with a private practice because there aren't any clinics in the city I frequent. And as far as I'm aware, she doesn't have any kind of information available about the things she's telling me about plucking - hence why I felt skeptical in the first place.

Actually, in hindsight, this whole thing is really stupid. I had stopped plucking completely, and then I started again because she put the thought of it into my head and it's one of my fallback methods for dealing with anxiety and depression. If she hadn't kept bringing it up in the first place, I probably wouldn't have done it again, because i wouldn't have even been thinking about it. Human psychology is weird.

I understand 
Well, you will also be able to find more information on most clinic websites if you do a search for 'electrolysis'. There will be a few links to water electrolysis, but it's easy to ignore those. The general information is more or less the same.
Best of luck!