I hope that this is the proper place for this topic. I am transitioning and facial hair removal is a big part of it for me. The story below is how I have been approaching my beard removal.
I am currently working through the lengthy, arduous, expensive and painful process of facial hair removal and I decided to annotate my struggles in hopes that it either help others on this path or at least elicit sympathy or humor.
My identity of Anne showed up about a year and a half ago and my painful bloodletting ceremonies began. Soon after that point I began searching for a better solution. Being 67 years old and having a salt and pepper beard I decided to begin with laser for the dark stuff and then move to electrolysis to clean things up. At this time I was blissfully ignorant of the cost, duration or pain levels involved.
The laser went fairly well, 6 sessions for $650. They hurt a bit but it was manageable. The first four sessions reduced the dark hairs at a good pace but the final two sessions seemed to be creating more dark hairs than they removed. Time to move on to an electrologist.
I found a local electrologist that used the Thermolysis Method and had considerable experience working with tg folks. And she was transgender herself. We hit it off well and I being a newbie in this world enjoyed having someone to share stories with. My first big disillusionment was that she judge my beard to be in the 300 plus hour range for full clearing. My second was the degree of pain. I have never before found anything that I could not stick it out through. I have handled considerable levels of pain before but this floored me. After 6 or 8 hours, in 1 to 2 hour sessions, I realized that I would not be able to do this weekly for the next 3 to 4 years that would be required. I was devastated and my dream of coming out as Anne was not tenable. Talk about tears time!
I searched the net for alternatives and came across E3000 in Lewisville Texas. They provide Lidocaine injections and pairs of technicians to temporarily clear your face in one visit. For me it was one day, seven and a half hours in the chair. They say that their typical clients require 8 to 10 sessions separated by 6 to 8 weeks to totally clear my face with a typical total of 90 technician hours. And all sort of pain free.
My first session was ~2 months ago. I went in with the requisite 4 day growth, signed some papers and sat down in the chair. I will not lie to you, the lidocaine injections sting quite a bit, but nowhere near the amount of pain experienced in even 5 minutes of normal electrolysis. After the injections took hold, they began clearing my face. By midafternoon not a hair was left. With instructions of care and lots of ice packs I returned to my room to begin recovery. Twenty minutes on and off ice cycles kept the swelling manageable. There was considerable swelling that took 3+ days to clear and discoloration for a few more. And not a hair on my face for 2 weeks before some regrowth started to show up.
I just finished my second session with them earliertoday, 2 months after my first. This time it was 5 hours in the chair with 2 gals working on my face. Injection still stung pretty bad but right now I have not a single hair on my face.
The staff at E3000 is courteous and very tg friendly, using names and pronouns of my choosing. A couple of months ago I had lost hope that Anne's dream could be achieved but Denise McCaa and the rest of the staff have revived my hopes. By the way, I have no affiliations with this operation other than being a very happy client.
I will continue with updates as my sessions continue.
Anne
