Skin reaction to electrolysis???

[CMD042414]

I hope you ladies don't mind me stopping by to ask this question. I find you all have more experience with electrolysis than we do.

I have had about 10 treatments on my thigh, top to outer area. It will be used for my phalloplasty. I have light brown skin. My concern is that I have tiny brown spots all over my thigh. I don't know if it is technique or just my skin. I took a 7 month break from it after getting sick and have since picked up with a new electrologist. Has anyone experienced this? Did it correct itself? I'm scared that my penis will look this way.

[Dena]

My skin isn't dark but one of the things to watch out for is scaring from improper treatment. It can happen if the operator attempts to treat you to fast and burns the skin. My operator was very aware of it because she had been treated by somebody else and they left scars on her skin. I had the blend which is a combination of thermolysis and galvanic and it might take about 10 seconds a hair and after the redness left by the next day, there was no indication of treatment other than the missing hair.

[CMD042414]

I had no idea there was a hair removal section! My apologies for not actually looking first.

I've left the first electrologist and I really hope this is not scarring. I've read about hyperpigmentation in brown skin but now I don't know what to do. I'm going to ask the new operator about starting over on my other leg.

[Dena]

There are 314 boards on this site and the first few months as a moderator involved a lot of looking around for the right place to move a thread. It's common to do half a dozen moves a day so it's no big deal.

You  should definitely discuss scaring and if you have a knowledgable operator you should get answers. You might have test patch and see how that works before going into massive hair removal. The other possibility is multi needle galvanic. Because it concentrates on the root I suspect there would be less risk of damage than with thermolysis. Feel free to ask questions about treatment as the more you know, the better you will be able to judge the skill of the operator.

[CMD042414]

Good to know. A lot of the spots look like they have a tiny hair under them so maybe ingrowns but that doesn't explain why spots on the treated leg are darker than the untreated leg. You'd think they would be lighter.

[Virginia]

Electrolysis sometimes affects the skin cells that produce melanin. In my case it destroyed the pigment. I have small white spots all over my neck but none on my face. My understanding is that it is an unpredictable side effect and there is not much an electrologist can do to prevent it.

[Kendra]

I've had electrolysis pretty much everywhere and found different areas of the body react differently.  Some areas have different fat content or skin thickness.  I found areas that are more sensitive to pain required more healing time.  Pubic and facial areas were the most sensitive - different type of root. 

I ended up with a few spots on my legs from the more difficult roots (ingrown) but those completely healed within a month.  Most areas calmed down within a range of a few hours to a couple days. 

[CMD042414]

I'm going to my dermatologist Monday. Its been 7-9 months since the last session with the former electrologist. That is why I'm so concerned. I'm seriously thinking about starting over with the other thigh.

[Paige33455]

I recommend the website "hairtell.com - it's all about hair removal and is frequented by a multitude of professionals. I found it helpful learning about electrolysis as I was starting my facial hair removal journey. Good luck with yours.

[CMD042414]

Waiting to be approved by Hairtell so I can post. Great site.