The longest 5 seconds.

[lilacwoman]

If I open my eyes I see Chloe's eyes distorted through the big  illuminated mirror she has positioned over my face to give her a clear view of the face hairs she is zapping away.
I can chat - sort of stream of conscious stuff - or stay silent and she doesn't mind.
So mostly I lie there with my eyes shut and feel her left hand moving my skin to line up each follicle then there is the slight jab of the fine needle as she pushes it to base of the follicle and then I hear the slight squeak of the foot switch as she turns the power on to those awful long five seconds.
The pain goes from mild sting to toe curling agony with a definite sizzling sound and then it subsides as she withdraws the needle and searches for another follicle.
That is electrolysis on my face.  Curiously it was less painful on the skin of my scrotum except for the thickened line down the middle and that really stung!
next time you read a blurb about painless hair removal by electrolysis and see 'a current of electric is passed through the follicle' think in terms of the elements in a toaster glowing red hot.

The upside is that on a morning I have some very nice smooth patches on my chin and one day all the hairs will be gone.

[aubrey]

The zap is 5 seconds long? If so...sounds like time to invest in a new machine.

[pebbles]

The zap is 5 seconds long? If so...sounds like time to invest in a new machine.

Depends on the method They might be using Galvanic or blend where it's inserted for a long period of time... In my case they use Thermolysis/Diathermy so it's a *blip blip blip* with three stinging spikes of pain, getting hotter with each blip.

I book appointments which are 2hrs to 2.5hrs long of this it's pure torture painkillers have melted away EMLA is gone, Aspirin gone only grit left. I agree those last minutes sometimes can seem very long indeed.
I did ask at one point where do I (her only trans client) rate in terms of pain threshold to her normal natal female clients. She told me. "No other client lasts this long at this level."

Least I'm setting a good example as her first TS client

[Sinnyo]

Least I'm setting a good example as her first TS client

No pressure upon me, eh?

In some ways I'm glad to hear about the sort of pain I should be preparing myself for. In other ways I'm cowering in a bunker some miles away, hoping things will improve in the next couple of months to something utterly painless.

[aubrey]

Good point Pebbles I didn't think of galvanic. I was doing 2.5 hour sessions for quite a while but for some reason the last few sessions I started crying like a little girl after about 1.5 hours to the point we had to stop early and I couldn't go on. It's been 2.5 years since I started the 'mones why is this happening now?....yuck! It's gonna be a long ride to beardless-town.

[lilacwoman]

Brand new latest machines 'give controlled tissue destruction at base of follicle'     destruction = pain?