Shaving is fine, it does not "mess with the natural growth of hair follicle". Be sure to clean your skin and disinfect the razor before shaving.

DO NOT wax or pluck hair if you will be doing electrolysis or laser in the future.

Best of the day to you
-Cindi

Thanks so much Cindi

I have never heard of having disinfecting the razor, i shall do that.

Eyebrows are fine for plucking though right? i have to do that lol, they get out of hand pretty quick otherwise

Quote from: shiney on April 09, 2014, 11:17:19 AM
Thankyou so much for the posts everyone, lots of excellent info here

Hey, you beat me to it!

  I've been feeling really awkward over the past week because I've had to grow out my beard for the first time in almost two years.  It wasn't too bad because most of it is white now and the hairs are so much finer from the laser but it was still weird.  (The insiders at work seemed to be wondering what the hell I was doing since they'd been informed only very recently of my transition plans!)  I'm trying not to freak out because I was finally feeling so good about my appearance.  Tough luck for me for the next year or so???

  I'll be going for my second electrolysis session tonight so I should end up much better off if they remove as many hairs as the first time.  When traveling as a bearded lady I'm trying to keep in mind that many of the electrolysis clients at this clinic are cis females going through the same struggle with facial hair.  They unfortunately don't really have a choice about how they present day to day.  I at least have the 'benefit' of guy-mode still for much of my week.

my bad

QuoteI at least have the 'benefit' of guy-mode still for much of my week

there you go. there is always a positive

Did you have to grow it to make the electrolysis session easier?


Good luck tonight!!

Quote from: shiney on April 11, 2014, 12:11:36 PM
Did you have to grow it to make the electrolysis session easier?

  The technician asked for roughly an 1/16" minimum to be able to grip each hair properly (about 3-days growth for me).  A week later, having continued to grow what they didn't pluck due to sheer volume, the remaining long hairs are now 1/8" to 3/16" length.  Doesn't seem like much in a single hair but over my entire face and neck its now like a carpet!   God, I'm thankful most of it is white!

Yep now I'm officially afraid of electrolysis. I cried during my first and second laser session. Thankfully laser has cleared like 85% of my hair. I think the next session should finish the rest off. Idk if I'll start electrolysis, after laser yet. My pain tolerance is terribly low 

Oh my... Perhaps I shouldn't have read this thread as I have my first appointment tomorrow... From what you girls have said here I am glad it is just a consult, but I know sooner or later I will be the one going. Perhaps I may get some pain meds from my doctor first... I'm such a sissy when it comes to pain...

QuoteThe technician asked for roughly an 1/16" minimum to be able to grip each hair properly

ahhh i thought it might be something along those lines.

How'd you session go?

Had a three hour session yesterday - for some reason it was one of the least painful sessions I've ever had. Not that I'm complaining!! 

Not as much swelling or spotting as usual either.

BTW, I made my electrologist cry! I was telling her about how my family had been very accepting of me when I came out to them a few weeks back - she had to stop for a minute because she was tearing up so much she couldn't see properly. Sweet. She's great, my electro.

Mine's not bad either.

That's good to know because I'll be playing tag with mine and yours in a month or two. It was the only way I could keep my fortnightly sessions moving forward.

I'd like to add some actual advice here since I pretty much ranted last time.    I don't know if this is obvious or not, but my electrolygist has a machine that has settings from 1 to 10. Usually they will dial it down if you tell them it's too painful, depending on what type machine is used. They will also use different settings on each part of the face.

Well, I made it though my first meeting with my electrolygist, and have my first appointment set in stone. She was very nice and answered all my questions. Also she was totally nonjudgmental as to my transition. I really did feel good about the whole meeting in general. She also made some good suggestions as to topical treatments I can get from my doctor as well to help with the pain. So, all in all a great first meeting.

Quote from: Christine Eryn on April 12, 2014, 01:58:52 PM
I'd like to add some actual advice here since I pretty much ranted last time.    I don't know if this is obvious or not, but my electrolygist has a machine that has settings from 1 to 10. Usually they will dial it down if you tell them it's too painful, depending on what type machine is used. They will also use different settings on each part of the face.

This is true, mine uses a lower setting for upper lip compared to the rest. Although of course, too low and it might not be effective in killing the follicle - sadly, the tougher the hair the more zap it needs and beard hairs are of course about as tough as they get

Quote from: Veronica M on April 12, 2014, 04:17:44 PM
Well, I made it though my first meeting with my electrolygist, and have my first appointment set in stone. She was very nice and answered all my questions. Also she was totally nonjudgmental as to my transition. I really did feel good about the whole meeting in general. She also made some good suggestions as to topical treatments I can get from my doctor as well to help with the pain. So, all in all a great first meeting.

That's great. Many won't be very judgemental. My electro has a lot of m2f trans* clients (obviously, no f2m!!) and even advertises in LGBT media to that effect. I'm sure we're the bread and butter for a lot of electrologists.

My electrologists is MtF trans so we have a lot to talk about and share tips. She started transitioning almost 2 years ago, so she has a head start. 2 weeks ago she gave me some great hair tips and I was giving her some nail (gels) tips.

Quote from: shiney on April 11, 2014, 10:18:38 PM
How'd your session go?

  My second session started off weird.  I was randomly getting what felt like an electric shock that would give me quite a twitch.  The tech said "maybe there's something wrong with my cathode".  After some sort of adjustment or maybe reconnection everything was fine.  Fine as in the usual torture!

  For a bit things seemed to be going easier but quickly it became just as painful as the first time.  I'd taken an acetaminophen beforehand as an experiment but it seemed to have no effect.  I think I was whimpering more throughout.  Hair count is probably down to about a third of what I started with before the first session.  Of course this is only temporary but I'm glad for any improvement.

Quote from: luna nyan on April 08, 2014, 05:39:56 AM
5.  Dental injection - a full cartridge injection of lignocaine with adrenaline or prilocaine with octapressin will give 2-3 hours of anaethesia.  If you're lucky and your dentist does a lot of surgery, they may have bupivicaine which will last a lot longer.

What is the legality of this for non-dental applications?

Quote from: Gwendolyn Mia Jennell (Gwynne) on April 13, 2014, 09:53:40 PM
What is the legality of this for non-dental applications?

As with a lot of things in the medical world, it would probably be classified as off label use as the lips are anaesthetised as a side effect of numbing the teeth for dental work.

Medico legally, so long as you've filled out a medical history form, and have had a consultation, an injection can be administered regardless of the purpose.  The definition of a dentist is a health practitioner specialised in treatment of the soft and hard tissues of the mouth and associated structures, so strictly speaking, this does fall within the purvue of a dentist.

Quote from: luna nyan on April 13, 2014, 10:36:59 PM
As with a lot of things in the medical world, it would probably be classified as off label use as the lips are anaesthetised as a side effect of numbing the teeth for dental work.

Medico legally, so long as you've filled out a medical history form, and have had a consultation, an injection can be administered regardless of the purpose.  The definition of a dentist is a health practitioner specialised in treatment of the soft and hard tissues of the mouth and associated structures, so strictly speaking, this does fall within the purvue of a dentist.

That was my sense. Now I'm curious whether any of the professional colleges have established formal guidelines on the matter.

Quote from: Gwendolyn Mia Jennell (Gwynne) on April 13, 2014, 10:49:14 PM
That was my sense. Now I'm curious whether any of the professional colleges have established formal guidelines on the matter.

I doubt that this has even crossed their minds.  The occurrence rate would be small, and other matters of greater concern exist in most professional bodies.

Anaesthetic in general is safe, and so long as the injection sites are within a profession's area of expertise, there is no issue.