yep...started electro today. it wasn't half as bad as I was expecting, though still hurt. Laser on the top lip definitely hurts more
Thanks for the heads-up. I start laser on Jan 19. I've been advised to schedule electro between laser appointments.
Laser is a bitch on areas densely populated by hair.
I had my first laser appointment last week. They did not have the numbing cream ready so we went on just with eis. After half of my face done I had to break up because it was unbearable. I broke down with my whole body shaking and then I started crying uncontrollably. I'm going next week to finish the other half of my face and they are assuring me that the cream makes big difference.
I have pale face and have black very coarse hair in my face. There is definitely less pain when going over less hairy areas and away from bones. There is absolutely no damage to my skin though so I am confidente it is the right kind of laser setting.
This sounds very similar to my experience, the cream does make a difference but you might have to grit your teeth and get through it >:(
i managed to never swear at my laser tecnician, though i did end up with nail gouges in the palm of my hands a couple of times.
electro certainly seems a lot less intense pain wise...though it's a weird as hell feeling
Can I just say...I'm really nervous about this! I have a full thick beard(the DREAD OF MY LIFE!), and its gonna take them some work to get it all! I've got tattoos...so I know a little bit about bearing through it. If you have tattoos, is it anything akin to that?
I am not done yet, but I have had both. (stupid grey beard hairs) and although laser hurts worse, it is over alot faster so I can take it more than electro.
If I had too sugest one over the other I would sugest going with laser.
My laser tech will not allow me too use any pain killer creams. She says that it causes more long term damage to the skin to use the pain cream.
To help alieviate the pain I make Sevan go with me and ze does a reflexology massage on my hands as I am getting the treatments. Having that distraction makes the pain of the laser alot more tolerable. Unfortunatly I can't have hir do that for me at electrolosis.
I don't have any tattoos but from what I was told it should be similar to the extent that there is repetitive stimulation and after a while you could/should be somewhat desensitized. I experienced it as mixture of electrocution and burn. I've experience with both separately so I am pretty sure of my experience for myself. For me the pain grew exponentially and I was not able to get used to it after a while. What I am surprised about is that I actually do have pretty high tolerance for pain. Or may be I use to have it prior to the HRT, it's impossible to tell now.
For now I only hope that the cream would help to the extent that I can make it through one whole sitting without having to split the sessions in half.
Quote from: Double_Rainbow on December 31, 2010, 02:53:37 PM
Can I just say...I'm really nervous about this! I have a full thick beard(the DREAD OF MY LIFE!), and its gonna take them some work to get it all! I've got tattoos...so I know a little bit about bearing through it. If you have tattoos, is it anything akin to that?
No. It's worse. I've found that with my tattoos the pain slowly builds and builds until it's pretty agonising. With the laser it's pretty much an instant hit of pain. The top lip is one of the most excruciating things i've had to endure...and that's including shattering my elbow.
(i'm really not selling this am i? :laugh:)
However...The pain is temporary and it's for a good cause, just do what i do which is consume a couple of ibuprofen tablets as soon as you're finished...it reduces the swelling and makes you feel a lot better.
yes the pain sux big time but it is worth it
once the shadow is gone passing is so much easier
I use lidocaine cream to numb the area. The place I have it done also will give me a couple of stress balls to squeeze during the session and that helps a lot too.
Is it true that laser will only work on certain types of hair? I have a combination of both thick and thin black, brown, blond, and white facial hair
Luckily, I never was able to grow a full beard so it'd pretty much just be the upper lip and chin area and a few odd strays
*Hearing about how painful it is makes her squirm in her seat a bit* :o
I didn't think laser was too bad. I mean there were plenty of times where I twitched a lot and said "ow ow ow ow ow!", but it was only periodically. The woman doing the treatment told me that she was surprised how well I was taking it, but I tend to think she was just being friendly because I know I have a pretty low pain tolerance.
I have noticed that it's gotten more painful as my skin thins out more so getting it done before hrt is probably a good idea.
Quote from: Ayaname on December 31, 2010, 04:03:57 PM
I have noticed that it's gotten more painful as my skin thins out more so getting it done before hrt is probably a good idea.
I'm not so sure as I had so much regrowth pre hrt that I think it was a bit of a waste of time. I'm no expert though.
I'm gonna set up an electrolysis consultation next week. :'( So scared. I'm not bothering with laser cuz the only place I found is an hour away and I don't have that much dark hair anyways. Theirs an electro place 30 minutes from me so that's beter.
Yeah, once i started HRT it stopped growing back...before that you'd have significant regrowth...which sucked.
What about other parts? I'm not trying to gross anybody out here....but you know...like the taint area and buttocks area?
Unless it's horrific then I'd wait to see what hrt does to body hair and then get what needs to be done done. I don't worry too much about body hair as a) I don't have a lot b) Lots of women have to get some stuff waxed. The face however is causing me sleepless nights!! >:(
Quote from: MillieB on December 31, 2010, 04:30:49 PM
Unless it's horrific then I'd wait to see what hrt does to body hair and then get what needs to be done done. I don't worry too much about body hair as a) I don't have a lot b) Lots of women have to get some stuff waxed. The face however is causing me sleepless nights!! >:(
Yeah...its pretty horrific. Really it just disgusts me so much! I tried shaving once and HOOBOY that was a nightmare!
I'm currently leaving those bits alone...cause I'm scared mainly, but i've been getting back chest and tummy waxed for months and now I'm on hrt it's getting a lot lighter. i was told last time they won't even charge for doing my back as there's so little there now.
QuoteI am not done yet, but I have had both. (stupid grey beard hairs)
Amen, sister! Sure wish I'd had the courage to transition early in life... ::)
QuoteQuotefrom: MillieB on Today at 05:30:49 pm
Unless it's horrific then I'd wait to see what hrt does to body hair and then get what needs to be done done. I don't worry too much about body hair as a) I don't have a lot b) Lots of women have to get some stuff waxed. The face however is causing me sleepless nights!! >:(
Yeah...its pretty horrific. Really it just disgusts me so much! I tried shaving once and HOOBOY that was a nightmare!
I did talk to my laser tech at the consultation about body hair. I've so far tried shaving, waxing and epilator, and she said that waxing and epilation will cause more ingrown hairs than shaving or depilatory cremes. So now I'm using Nair pretty much everywhere, haven't yet got to where I'm totally hairless ever, and sometimes I end up having to shave legs or arms (ALWAYS shave underarms!), but it's a lot better. Some friends have had their legs, arms and bodies lasered, but that is expensive!! I figure I'll wait to see what magic HRT does on the body hair before I do much more than use Nair or shave. And yeah, the buttockal area is the biggest pain in the *ss, lol! But I think Nair there will give me the nice smooth bum I want...
I shave it all. Like everything. ;D
My legs, nether regions, and torso I only need to do about once every 2 weeks. Face every other day.
But that is only cause I am on HRT. Before hrt I couldnt shave any of it and it be worth it cause it would be stubley within a few hours.
Quote from: cynthialee on December 31, 2010, 05:28:34 PM
I shave it all. Like everything. ;D
My legs, nether regions, and torso I only need to do about once every 2 weeks. Face every other day.
But that is only cause I am on HRT. Before hrt I couldnt shave any of it and it be worth it cause it would be stubley within a few hours.
Stupid testosterone....I can't wait till I get HRT!
One thing you gals who are not on HRT yet can do for your body hair is to start drinking spearmint tea daily. (It MUST be spearmint. No other mint will do.)
There is a chemical in the tea that inhibits hair growth. It really works and for some of us it works like a charm.
Look it up, it's not a wives tale.
**I drink a quart of strong tea a day.
Also if you are one of the rare people who it doesnt work on then consider....You just had a pot of tea....That is good for you on its' own right.
Quote from: cynthialee on December 31, 2010, 06:51:11 PM
...You just had a pot of tea....That is good for you on its' own right.
:laugh: :laugh: You sound like my mum! :laugh:
I dont have any hair on my body so i can't relate, but i have had to get a wax and that is a pain in the ARSE!
Quote from: cynthialee on December 31, 2010, 06:51:11 PM
One thing you gals who are not on HRT yet can do for your body hair is to start drinking spearmint tea daily. (It MUST be spearmint. No other mint will do.)
There is a chemical in the tea that inhibits hair growth. It really works and for some of us it works like a charm.
Look it up, it's not a wives tale.
**I drink a quart of strong tea a day.
Also if you are one of the rare people who it doesnt work on then consider....You just had a pot of tea....That is good for you on its' own right.
Can I buy some online?
Spearmint is available at just about any herbalist shop.
I am sure finding an online suplyer will be easy enough.
Personaly I just go down to the local herbalist and get it in 1lb bags. It isnt expensive at all.
Quote from: Colleen Ireland on December 31, 2010, 09:05:07 AM
Thanks for the heads-up. I start laser on Jan 19. I've been advised to schedule electro between laser appointments.
I would not mix electro with laser. My dermatologist, electrologist, as well as several pieces of literature I've read recommend against this. Electro will damage the hair follicle in such a way that the laser will not work properly, and if anything it will only aggravate the follicle further w/o killing the hair.
Most laser providers will tell you to stop electrolysis at least 6 weeks in advance of beginning laser.
Quote from: JennX on January 01, 2011, 10:25:36 AM
I would not mix electro with laser. My dermatologist, electrologist, as well as several pieces of literature I've read recommend against this. Electro will damage the hair follicle in such a way that the laser will not work properly, and if anything it will only aggravate the follicle further w/o killing the hair.
Most laser providers will tell you to stop electrolysis at least 6 weeks in advance of beginning laser.
I've heard this too.
I have a hairy neck but not so much on the face. I've had about 20 hours worth of electro done and it wasn't really that bad, most of the times it hurt, sometimes I feel asleep in a session... the last tech I had wasn't getting a good zap on the hair and was essentially plucking them, so I switched to laser.
Laser hurts more, but a session only takes like 10 minutes, so it's easy to deal with. I've only had one session thus far, 3 weeks ago and didn't notice much shedding other than my chin. I have however always found it impossible to get a smooth shave since most of my hair grows in random directions, after the session I've been able to get a nice smooth shave and my skin feels nice. This is the first time in my life I've been able to shave on a daily basis without having a neck covered in blood.
Unfortunately I have a hairy chest and belly and my chest is almost impossible to shave smooth (hair in every direction). I'll be starting HRT in a few weeks, so I'll give that a few months and then do some lase, hopefully it will have the same effect as it did on my neck.
~Sara
Quote from: Helena on December 31, 2010, 03:07:25 PM
With the laser it's pretty much an instant hit of pain. The top lip is one of the most excruciating things i've had to endure...and that's including shattering my elbow.
I found my side burns to be the worst of all. The upper lip/soul patch area were a close second though.
Quote from: Maddie Secutura on January 01, 2011, 11:41:23 PM
I found my side burns to be the worst of all. The upper lip/soul patch area were a close second though.
Much hair in those areas? My tech told me the lip would hurt like h*ll and it didn't hurt at all, but I don't have much there.
~Sara
Quote from: JennX on January 01, 2011, 10:25:36 AM
I would not mix electro with laser. My dermatologist, electrologist, as well as several pieces of literature I've read recommend against this. Electro will damage the hair follicle in such a way that the laser will not work properly, and if anything it will only aggravate the follicle further w/o killing the hair.
Most laser providers will tell you to stop electrolysis at least 6 weeks in advance of beginning laser.
We may not be talking about the same thing. My beard is a salt-and-pepper affair, there's significant gray. Those gray hairs will not be affected by the laser, although apparently there's a chance that a number of them will still have some pigmentation at the root. Anyway, I will need significant electrolysis to get rid of the gray hairs that the laser doesn't get. Her suggestion was that we could work on those gray hairs in between laser sessions, so as to get to a nice smooth face more quickly. She
teaches these concepts, she runs the school, so I figure she wouldn't steer me wrong.
When I see my electrologist after a laser apointment she sticks to the grey hairs and there is no issue.
Thank makes sense, didn't think of that, duh :icon_blink:
~Sara
The high costs and pain really steered me away from electrolysis. It hurt less over time, but it was still pretty bad. My girlfriend had her eyebrows done and she said it was about equal in pain with the tattoo on her foot. The rate for laser is just ridiculous. I've been looking into some home systems. I've heard some good things about the TRIA system (http://www.triabeauty.com/tria-laser-hair-removal-system (http://www.triabeauty.com/tria-laser-hair-removal-system)) and I plan on giving this a try once I have $500 to spare. My plan is to use this to tidy up the rest of my face and body hair and after a year or so to go back in and have any stragglers cleaned up by electrolysis, since it should be extremely thin by then and take a lot less time, money, and pain.
Quote from: Colleen Ireland on January 02, 2011, 07:20:20 AM
We may not be talking about the same thing. My beard is a salt-and-pepper affair, there's significant gray. Those gray hairs will not be affected by the laser, although apparently there's a chance that a number of them will still have some pigmentation at the root. Anyway, I will need significant electrolysis to get rid of the gray hairs that the laser doesn't get. Her suggestion was that we could work on those gray hairs in between laser sessions, so as to get to a nice smooth face more quickly. She teaches these concepts, she runs the school, so I figure she wouldn't steer me wrong.
I have dark brown hair, so with blond/grey/white/red hair the mileage may vary. I know laser doesn't work so great on these colors. I'd actually like to do what you mention above, as the faster the better for me.