Electrolysis

[CathyS]

I am about four months away from finishing electrolysis and yet to start HRT. My electrolysis lady, who has numerous transgendered clients, has urged me to delay commencing HRT until I have finished as she claims the pain will increase significantly.

I don't really want to delay unless this is true. Has anyone experienced electrolysis before and after HRT?

[leacobb]

I had electrolysis while on hrt and yes it was painful at first but the body gets used to it and then it is just uncomfortable. But everyones pain thresh hold is different. So i guess it just depends on yours... I never started electrolysis before i was on hrt so i dont know the comparison between them both.

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[Butterfly]

I was also already on HRT before I even started electrolysis, so I can't compare either. But in my experience, it really isn't that painful at all. Granted, as leacobb said, everyone's pain threshold is different, but I still find it hard to believe that it would be ~that~ much less painful if I wasn't on HRT. It's barely worth being called "pain" as it is. More like "intensely sharp but brief discomfort," like the shock you get from static build-up, and not even as bad as that, really.

Obviously you know your own threshold for pain better than anyone else, but if I were you, I would make HRT a priority. Since you don't know for sure that HRT will make electrolysis significantly more painful (it's supposedly a bit different for everyone), it seems poor sense to delay HRT solely for that reason. And in my personal experience, four months is a really long time to wait...

I think the warning against undergoing electrolysis while on HRT is generally directed at people who haven't started either process and are planning to start HRT before starting electrolysis (that was the impression my electrologist gave me). You're probably better prepared for any changes that might occur, because your body has already had some time to adjust to the experience of electrolysis and the level of the pain you receive. So even if HRT does increase your pain level slightly, your body can probably readjust more quickly than someone who is new to the process.

Good luck.

[Mariah]

Hi Cathy, welcome to Susan's It's going to painful either way. Like Lea all of my experience is post HRT. It takes so long to do Electro you might be waiting a long time. You sure that is something you can do? I look forward to seeing you around the forums. Good luck and Hugs
Mariah

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[Qrachel]

Speaking personally, yes it got more painful but still manageable.  After a hundred hours it just became an uncomfortable chore x2 per week x2 hrs per session.  Counting gentile removal, ~350 hrs total.  I also had several 6-8 hr mega sessions (ouch), but they were done with local anesthesia and were relatively painless until after the session.  Total time was ~ 30 months.

Take care,

Rachel

[Dena]

I started electrolysis after I started HRT and before laser was available. I found the pain to be uncomfortable but livable. I also didn't use pain medication to block the pain. Even after you finish the primary cleaning, there will be a few hair that pop up so you may want a cleanup session once every few weeks. You will be treated after you start HRT unless you want to delay HRT for a long time.

[iKate]

Hi Cathy, welcome to Susan's It's going to painful either way. Like Lea all of my experience is post HRT. It takes so long to do Electro you might be waiting a long time. You sure that is something you can do? I look forward to seeing you around the forums. Good luck and Hugs
Mariah

I was wondering the same thing.

CathyS - you said you are nearly done with electrolysis? I was told it takes at least a year, if not 2 in some cases. Laser may be faster.

I would not delay HRT to finish up electrolysis, as Mariah said, it's going to hurt either way.

You can always use numbing cream to reduce the pain somewhat.

My previous therapist told me to delay HRT and get electrolysis done because she did not want me with a shadow on my face and "popping breasts." I guess she never heard of makeup and baggy clothing.

[jeni]

Since HRT may slow the regrowth, I think you're better off starting it sooner rather than later. I was on HRT for 2 months before my first electro session, but I on a low dose, and I can't say I've felt any difference in the pain. (Though I am getting lidocaine injections, so it's a little different.)

[Sharon Anne McC]

*
I also am not aware of that protocol.  I began ERT in 1979 but did not start electrolysis for a few more years because I plucked my hairs - it took about an hour before bedtime and gave me clean skin that lasted a day or two to a week.  I began with 24-hour shadow that required make-up for coverage; I had no more shadow once I started plucking and reduced / eliminated face make-up.

My electrologist told me that plucking can hide the follicle cycles if you are trying to finish electrolysis quickly.  She also said that the good news is that it can damage the hair roots; root damage was good news for my M-F perspective.  She told me that plucking established a pain level allowing her to use a maximum setting to zap more hairs per session and thus lessened the number of treatments.

My electrologist applied witch hazel to my face; I felt no pain during treatment.  She recommended that I splash my face with cool water and also apply witch hazel at home a few times. 

My schedule was one Saturday per month for an hour at a time during a few years; that schedule was fine for me.  It seemed that once the balance between her zapping and my plucking turned in her favour, the electrolysis went faster and soon she was doing touch-ups til done.

You will love it when you are finished and can check off one more item on your to-do list.
*

[Jessie Ann]

I pretty much started both HRT and electrolyis at the same time. I have had at least 3 mega sessions of over 5 hours with 2 techs over the last 6 months using only numbing cream.  I have not noticed any difference in the pain level during this time. But as its already been stated everyone reacts differently.

[Promethea]

she did not want me with a shadow on my face and "popping breasts."

Did she even consider what YOU wanted?
For me, even though my breasts are not yet permanently attached to my body, a shadow on my face and breasts sure beats a shadow on my face and no breasts! Even without make-up.

[Asche]

My electrolysis lady, who has numerous transgendered clients, has urged me to delay commencing HRT until I have finished as she claims the pain will increase significantly.

Interesting.  My electrologist has encouraged me to start HRT now, because (she says) it makes the hairs thinner and makes the hairs less dense, which makes it easier to remove the hairs.  She says I have particularly dense and thick hairs, which is why it hurts so much.  (I have the feeling that pulling out the hair hurts more than the needle burning out the follicle.)

Anyway, I'm not yet on HRT, and it hurts a lot.  I have trouble standing it for 45 minutes.  (I also still see red spots where she's removed the hairs.)  I'm going to try going on HRT and see how it goes.

[Maybebaby56]

Hi Cathy,

I heard the same thing, so I started electrolysis well in advance of HRT. 

I have been doing laser/electrolysis for the last year, and started HRT two months ago.  While I can't say the pain is any different, my electrologist commented that the whiskers are coming out a lot easier now.

I am one of those unfortunate ones for whom electrolysis is a medieval torture. (I have a very similar experience to Asche.) When I first started electrolysis, the pain was almost unbearable, and my skin would turn red and my face would be swollen.  As the months went by, my skin did not react as much, and I learned to tolerate the pain better.  Take from that what you will.  My conclusion is that there is no easy road.

Terri 

[Rachel]

I did HRT well before laser and now electrolysis. The pain is manageable.

[jessical]

It does not matter much.  If anything I found it was less painful after, because being on HRT made my hairs finer, and a lower setting could be used.  A lower setting is less painful.

[CathyS]

I started lazer and electrolysis a year ago so I'm a long way through it anyway.

Thanks to everyone for your very helpful replies, which after considering I doubt I will wait very long at all before these little pills burn a hole in my pocket.

[CathyS]

I waited two days! 

[katrinaw]

Welcome to Susan's Cathy

Nearly done, wow excellent.

I have been on HRT for a long, long time and just about to start electro in Sydney near where I work... And I am not underestimating the discomfort! But she tells me she won't hit the upper lip first and will get me into it with thermal before Galvanic... looking very nervously forward to starting at long last!

Don't wait go start HRT if you're nearly done, you shouldn't notice much difference I'd guess 

Oh I look forward to seeing you about the forum's.

L Katy   

I waited two days! 

LoL

[CathyS]

I had a two hour electrolysis session yesterday on my lips and chin. But beforehand I went to a cosmetic surgery for an anaesthetic. Wow was that the best money I ever spent! Couldn't feel a thing for the first hour and significantly reduced pain for the next.

[Samantha C]

Cathy S

Everyone's pain threshold is different; During FtM HRT many have softening of the skin and less oil production, the dermal layer can become thinner during and after HRT which in some people can make the skin more sensitive.  The dermal layer in children is often only 1/3rd the thickness of an adult making their nerve endings very close to the surface and hence they get a bump and they cry much easier we forget as adults.

The brain is very adaptable and in most people after 10-15 minutes of pain or discomfort the brain triggers the release of endorphin it is the bodies natural pain killer and why people can have injuries and not really feel that much pain till the endorphin subsides.  The body will produce larger amounts like any gland if it is repeatedly needed.  A lot of people call this developing pain tolerance and may be why for most it starts a bit stingy and settles to a tolerable level.  You'll just have to see how you body adjusts. 

Doing HRT with/after/before electrolysis is really up to you and as many have shared the order is also.  Your body is going to adjust, how much is very individual I would not let it be the sole basis for making a decision of when to start HRT.

I have been doing laser for about 4months and some electrologist in the past (I have to fine a new one).  There are area's that do not bother me much at all and others bring me to tears.  I very much appreiciate your sharing the cosmetic surgery anesthetic tip, that is going to be very helpful for me.  I have not started HRT which is why I do not feel electrolysis is not relevant to HRT or not.  Laser or Electrolysis on any part of my face is off the rails (for other perhaps not so much).  I have them start someplace less sensitive and get the body used to it then once I become adjusted to the discomfort there we move to the more sensitive areas for me that would be the face.

I would much rather just do a longer session and get it done, so cosmetic surgery anesthetic sounds like a good fit for those of us who have areas to do that are just a bit overly sensitive.