Surgery Draws Near... BUT!!!!!! HELP!

[jessilynn]

My surgery date draws near, but my Electrolysis referal is up. Yesterday was my last session. I still have hair in places that my electrologist was working. I do have one more Laser appointment.

So there's that. My surgery date is in April, and I also found out that Kaiser Mission Bay (San Fransisco, CA) does NOT do follicle scraping during surgery.

I am DEATHLY afraid of them dropping my surgery all together. It's been threatened before, do I have options?
My fiance is quick to call it "Medical Malpractice" should they drop my surgery.

[Dena]

If your hair removal isn't complete, you risk hair in the vagina. If that happens, removal will be impossible so you are better off delaying surgery than having hair in an unwanted place. It might be possible to step up hair removal by putting a push on electrolysis even if you have to pay out of pocket. Otherwise, you might want to discuss this with your surgeon so you understand what your options are.

[Kendra]

Every surgeon provides their own instructions.  Mine said electrolysis must stop two weeks before surgery.  In other words remove as much hair as possible from the surgical area - as early as possible since hair has a random growth cycle - and the window to do so hasn't closed for you. 

This isn't just an aesthetic issue.  When hair sheds after the normal growth cycle it has to go somewhere and you don't want potential long term complications.

[jessilynn]

They're not giving me another referral. So I don't know what to do.

I can only sit for about 45 minutes for electrolysis. And I can't use pain killers. I've tried Norco, but that was ALL bad. I use to have an addiction to opiates. So you can imagine what Norco actually does to me. It seems like I'm SOL at this point.

[Dena]

I cleared my  face with two appointments a week. You might be able to do two in a day if they are spaced out enough. There are several discussions in Hair Removal where they use topical pain killers or over the counter medication to control the pain. I controlled my pain with distraction by thinking about something other than what was going on with my face. Without more information about what you have used to control the pain, it's difficult to make suggestions.

[Kendra]

I only used topical pain relievers for electrolysis (EMLA or Lidocaine) and found what made a huge difference was zero caffeine that day, and drink lots of water.  Those two items may sound minor but is what helped enable me to endure it... especially the no-coffee rule. 

Estradiol increases sensitivity.  While staying within my prescription schedule I'd apply my patch after electrolysis, never before (or other equivalent delivery method). 

And take a couple ibuprofen. 

Without steps like that I probably would have needed some sort of prescription painkiller but I managed with just over-the-counter stuff and careful elimination of anything that potentially amplifies pain receptors (especially caffeine).  This definitely was not easy... nowhere near that.  Best wishes, wish I could squeeze your hand while you are dealing with this.

[Rachel]

Definitely get all the hair before GCS.

I had 6 sessions with injectable lidocaine at Papillion. The injections were painful but lasted 4 minutes. I do not know where you are but definitely get the hair off. Dr. McGinn also did scrapping. I have no hair.

At 6 months I had developed an odor. I was douching with water every day because of the odor but the odd odor as there. At my 6 month checkup Chrystal at Papillion found a loose hair in the back of my vagina that must have been on a dilator. After the hair was removed the strange odor went away.

[jessilynn]

A Little Update

Thanks for the help ladies.

I ended up emailing someone from the transitions team... And they finally decided to get back to me after about 3 weeks or so. They called my treatment a "failure" and decided to go a different route, they ended up prescribing a Benzocaine, Lidocaine, Tetracaine compound, and I swallowed 800 mg of ibuprofen.

It was still painful, but only after about 25-30 minutes.

[Kendra]

Awesome!  So glad to see this, and I can relate how painful this is without resorting to stronger medications. 

Something to look forward to is - although I'd never claim this is easy I found pain levels less intense with subsequent sessions. 

Persistence pays off, and far better than potential post-op complications. 

[Margaret_B]

A Little Update

Thanks for the help ladies.

I ended up emailing someone from the transitions team... And they finally decided to get back to me after about 3 weeks or so. They called my treatment a "failure" and decided to go a different route, they ended up prescribing a Benzocaine, Lidocaine, Tetracaine compound, and I swallowed 800 mg of ibuprofen.

It was still painful, but only after about 25-30 minutes.

When you put the ELMA on wrap or cover the area in a plastic bag (ones from the produce dept are amazing just put the writing on the outside or use a plastic wrap) let it sit 30+ mins before appointment, once I started doing that could take an hour session with minimal discomfort.