Susan's Place Transgender Resources

So I have an appointment booked for next week for HRT but I am thinking I should wait until at least a couple of treatment of electrolysis. I have decided for electrolysis over laser because of the long term benefits even though I  will barely be able to afford it. Anyways, I understand that once I start HRT I the hair on my face will become thinner and might not respond well to any kind of treatment. So how long should I wait to actually start HRT?

The order doesn't really matter. I started Electro before HRT and frankly electro is something you want to get going on as soon as you since it takes forever. It was't any less affective and remember all HRT will do is slow down the hair growth in regards to the face. Hugs
Mariah

My personal view is yesterday. HRT doesn't have much of an effect on facial hair and electrolysis can work with some pretty fine hair up to the really corse stuff. The few hairs I have that escaped are just as corse as ever. I haven't had them treated because my facial hair was always on the light side so they don't show that much. Depending on what you have, electrolysis can take 200 hours or more to clear so you might have to wait a long time before starting HRT if you wait for your face to be cleared.

HRT doesn't seem to affect beard hair much, at least in the first months.  (I wish it were otherwise.) I started electrolysis first because I could.  It didn't need any approvals or letters, just a check that cleared.  :)

My insurer, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, won't pay for electrolysis under a gender dysphoria diagnosis until someone has been on HRT at least six months.  I suppose they are hoping it will remove the need for some treatment, probably body hair removal.  Body hair tends to thin a bit from HRT.  Facial hair, not so much. :(

On the plus side, I don't have any body hair worth mentioning.  My spouse and daughters have much more than I do. ;)

Okay, so I am extremely confused. I don't really live close enough to any electrologist that is any good. But I do close enough to a laser hair removal place. I am a perfect candidate for laser and can afford it. But my confusion is, does laser actually work? I understand that electrolysis definitely works, but I've heard mixed reviews on laser. Is it actually worth it? will I still have to shave the really thin blonde hairs every couple of weeks?

Quote from: supergirl23 on October 11, 2016, 09:48:01 AM
Okay, so I am extremely confused. I don't really live close enough to any electrologist that is any good. But I do close enough to a laser hair removal place. I am a perfect candidate for laser and can afford it. But my confusion is, does laser actually work? I understand that electrolysis definitely works, but I've heard mixed reviews on laser. Is it actually worth it? will I still have to shave the really thin blonde hairs every couple of weeks?

Good medical grade laser treatment definitely works.  My understanding is that a relatively dark hair and light skin combination is ideal.  The Kaiser Permanente operation in Northern California has a new laser hair removal facility for us folks (and paying cosmetic laser customers).  Alas, I'm not a good candidate for that.

There are weaker 'hair removal lasers' and flash lamps out there, often in spas, that tend to stun but not kill follicle cells, leading to immediate hair loss and some hair regrowth.  There are also folks who will happily wave blue LEDs over our skin and claim wonderful things.  Personally, I would stick with medical facilities and actual dermatologists and NPs for laser hair removal if I could go that route.

I started electrolysis about a month before hrt.  It is slow and somewhat painful but worth it.  I have less and less regrowth each time.  It is expensive, though.   My electrolyist is 90 an hour.

Quote from: supergirl23 on October 11, 2016, 09:48:01 AM
Okay, so I am extremely confused. I don't really live close enough to any electrologist that is any good. But I do close enough to a laser hair removal place. I am a perfect candidate for laser and can afford it. But my confusion is, does laser actually work? I understand that electrolysis definitely works, but I've heard mixed reviews on laser. Is it actually worth it? will I still have to shave the really thin blonde hairs every couple of weeks?

Hi Supergirls123

This is my opinion based only on my experience over the last 18 months or so.

I have both laser and Electrolysis by the same technician. Her thoughts are the black hair will go with the laser which is far better on the skin...it will take quite some time to eliminate the majority and they will never tell you that they will kill every hair because you could have a hair killed today and the follicle beside it is dormant...it may remain that way for 5 years before it pops its ugly little head up. Your perspective is that you already have had treatment on that portion of your face and now your are getting re-growth ...what you have is actually NEW growth but appears to be re-growth. Hence you say to them you didn't permanently remove my hair...see some came back and in some instances both with laser and electrolysis it can happen

Hair lives in 3 cycles and the only cycle that will kill the hair is the active cycle, using laser during the dying off or dormant cycle will not irradiate the hair. Hence the term regrowth. Once a hair is dead it is dead you cannot regrow a new hair

With Electrolysis you cannot kill the dormant ones but you can kill the ones in the other two cycles. The problem is that the zap has to be strong enough to turn the follicle into lye. The hair should slide out with no tugging or ripping sensation.

Again once dead the follicle is dead, however the follicle that is dormant beside it may OK for another 5 years before it rears its ugly head. The other possibility is if the zap is not strong enough and a lye solution is not formed the foplicle can go on producing new hairs hence we get re-growth.

With a combination of Laser for the Dark hair and Electrolysis for the greys I am looking pretty good in the hair removal area. The last two session I have had the tech keep the strength of the4 laser up because I am getting a god Shed of hair at that strength. About two weeks after the treatment the black hairs start to fall out, for me it is more like 9 days when the very first ones begin to go. After about 3 weeks it reaches the maximum shedding. After this you will soon see a noticeable difference. I missed about 2 months of treatment and my cheeks remained very clear of dark hair without treatment the entire time.

Laser will work but you have to have the right skin and hair. You will have to do multiple session to kill off the majority of your dark hair. Every less zap with Electrolysis you can have the better it will be for your skin. I am very much a fan of combination and there is nothing quite like the satisfaction of pulling out shedding laser hairs.

I hope some of that helps

Liz

I never had dark enough hair to do laser, but if you do, I'd go for laser treatment first.  How well it works seems to vary from person to person, but it's likely to thin out your beard which is important before you start electrolysis.  Flash thermolysis (RF heat) done on skin densely populated with facial hair risks dermal damage (deep scarring).  Blend electrolysis (galvanic + flash) which produces heated lye to kill the hair root is safer, but takes longer and, therefore, costs more even though the kill rate is much higher. 

Note: I'm post-everything now, and facial hair removal was my most expensive transition procedure.  I have logged 230 hours of electrolysis over 23 months at a cost of $23,000 to clear 99% of the hair on my face and neck.  It may not take as long for you (again this is something that varies from person to person), but don't assume that it's going to be a quick and easy process. 

Since some people say HRT doesn't affect facial hair, some say it does, it probably just varies from person to person. Regardless though, it might slow the hair growth down and change the texture of the hair (in my case it got a lot finer and less course), but it won't stop it from growing entirely. So it wouldn't hurt to start now. Like other people have said, electrolysis takes a while, so you'll probably still be doing it well into your HRT. Better to start it early :)

Start HRT and facial removal immediately, the order doesn't matter.  Both will take time, which is always in short supply.

When it comes to hair removal, what matters the most is operator skill.  This goes for laser or electrolysis, blend or thermolysis. If you have a good operator, you'll get good results. A bad operator, OTOH, can damage you or (best case scenario) just end up taking your money. 

I agree that multiple modalities would be quickest, with electrolysis following laser, assuming you've got a quality operator.