Quote from: TessaMarie on July 08, 2014, 12:18:16 AM
Hi Alaia,

I had my first electrolysis session this morning.  I counted 19 seconds between each cycle of pain.  It might be because she had to reduce the settings for my very low tolerance for pain.  This sounds like about 200 hairs/hour rather than the 600 you mentioned.  The cost was $38 for 35 mins, with $60/hour going forward.  Next session booked for Thursday afternoon.

Am I overpaying ?  (I live in Philly.  Electrologist is in a (nice) suburb just north of Philly.)

Or is it normal for the first session (or two) to appear relatively slow as the electrologist gets used to how much pain I can tolerate & which settings work best for my face/neck.

btw:  I did ask her to start with my neck, since that is the one area I really dislike shaving.

Thanks for any advice you may have.

Tessa

Hi Tessa,

I do the electrolysis thing too.  Mine charges $100/hr but I buy blocks of time from her and get a discount so it works out to about $85/hr.  It is expensive but she usually averages around 700 zaps in an hour.  I swear sometimes it feels like a sewing machine on my face when she really gets going!

My first few sessions were a little experimental finding the best needles and intensity setting for my face.  She was still pretty quick even then.  For me it was getting those things right to minimize after effects.  Redness, swelling etc....

Hope this helps!

I did the laser thing for about 18 months. It got rid of my dark hair and helped enormously with my confidence about my presentation. And since lot of presentation is about confidence, it was a great feedback loop. But being older, I have a lot of gray and blonde hairs on my face. With the laser and a good shave, they're not noticeable. But as I'm transitioning, I want them to all be gone, so I've started electrolysis. Mine charges about $75/hour (Wilmington Delaware region south of Philly). She does Blend. I've never counted how many zaps in an hour. I get from 1-2 hours a week. I think I'm on week 5 for just my upper lip. Most of it is gone but there are still a few stragglers. And we're both sure there are a bunch sleeping. Next week it's the cheeks and the chin. That will be a down payment on her next car

I've been doing electrolysis for almost a year, averaging two hours a week and am about half done.  So at $60USD per hour, I'll have about $12,000 into a smooth face before I'm finished.  Ka Ching!  This is easily the most expensive pre-op part of transition.  The sad part is there are lots of FTM guys who would love to grow a beard --so it goes, sigh.

Topical lidocaine helps a lot with the pain. 

It really is kind of annoying, of the 22,000 or so beard hairs on an average face, about half are in rest phase at any given time and since the whole cycle is several years in duration, new zapping targets will appear for the next couple of years.  It is so annoying to clear a section (particularly the upper lip which for some reason has more hair per sq mm than is even reasonable)  only to have it repopulate itself a few weeks later.  For me about the third clearing is getting pretty close to a charm.

In any case, I'm hoping to get to go out in the boat I'm buying for my electrolysist.

Happy Electrical Engineering,

Julie

Looks like you already have answers from others so I'll say that I suggest getting professional laser on your face and then get the Silk'n Sensepil device for your body. This device doesn't work well on my face but definitely gives me results on my body hair and saves you money, not to mention you have privacy.

Its to bad we can't trade our penis and facial hair for boobs and a vagina.

Quote from: JulieBlair on July 08, 2014, 10:34:59 AM
I've been doing electrolysis for almost a year, averaging two hours a week and am about half done.  So at $60USD per hour, I'll have about $12,000 into a smooth face before I'm finished.  Ka Ching!  This is easily the most expensive pre-op part of transition.  The sad part is there are lots of FTM guys who would love to grow a beard --so it goes, sigh.

Topical lidocaine helps a lot with the pain. 

It really is kind of annoying, of the 22,000 or so beard hairs on an average face, about half are in rest phase at any given time and since the whole cycle is several years in duration, new zapping targets will appear for the next couple of years.  It is so annoying to clear a section (particularly the upper lip which for some reason has more hair per sq mm than is even reasonable)  only to have it repopulate itself a few weeks later.  For me about the third clearing is getting pretty close to a charm.

In any case, I'm hoping to get to go out in the boat I'm buying for my electrolysist.

Happy Electrical Engineering,

Julie

Quote from: Urban Christina on July 08, 2014, 09:19:37 PM
Looks like you already have answers from others so I'll say that I suggest getting professional laser on your face and then get the Silk'n Sensepil device for your body. This device doesn't work well on my face but definitely gives me results on my body hair and saves you money, not to mention you have privacy.

Christina, are you happy with the Silk'n Sensepil? I'm thinking of the Flash n Go. Unlimited flashes for $100. Of course, it's only a bargain if it's effective.

Does anybody have any experience with these products?

http://www.silkn.com/sensepil/

An order made today would save $45 overall. Thoughts?

-Tegs

Body, yes. Face, no. Your facial hairs are buried deeper than the ones in your body so get professional for face then an IPL device like the Flash -n- go or Sensepil. Sensepil has a bigger window than the Flash -n-go. Either device works for body along with patience.

Quote from: awilliams1701 on July 08, 2014, 09:29:43 PM
Its to bad we can't trade our penis and facial hair for boobs and a vagina.

Ah-Ha!-wouldn't we all!, lol!!

Something else to take into consideration: facial hair is the most difficult to remove on the body. As Christina says they're buried deeper and much worse, at the time of your treatments up to 64% of the facial hair you have is in the resting phase, which can take several years before entering the growth phase again. This is why many feel the hairs come back after laser. They really aren't coming back, what they're seeing are the ones that were resting during the two years they were being treated entering their growth phase. I've done a lot of research on laser and IPL hair removal because I'm on a fixed income and must remove as much facial hair as I can myself before booking electro to get rid of the grays my lasers and IPL are ineffective on. So far over the last two or so years I've cleared all the dark hair and about 30% of the gray's effectively.

Ally

Here in Spain electrolysis has virtually disappeared in favour of laser, so it's quite expensive. 

I am paying around €75 for a 30-minute electrolysis session, and I'd say I am getting around 250 zaps per hour.

Oh well....

What's the best way to remove body hair? Laser? Is this laser called just laser? Thanks

Quote from: crowcrow223 on July 09, 2014, 03:24:29 AM
What's the best way to remove body hair? Laser? Is this laser called just laser? Thanks

If your body hair is dark and your skin is light, then laser is definitely good for your body hair.  I'm having the pubic region done and I've had exceptionally good results.  After one time I've seen a massive reduction in hair.  On my face as well, though I suspect that's not common.

If you have a full fledged beard vs just a couple of days of not shaving, does this affect it?

Quote from: Allyda on July 09, 2014, 12:48:19 AM
Ah-Ha!-wouldn't we all!, lol!!

Something else to take into consideration: facial hair is the most difficult to remove on the body. As Christina says they're buried deeper and much worse, at the time of your treatments up to 64% of the facial hair you have is in the resting phase, which can take several years before entering the growth phase again. This is why many feel the hairs come back after laser. They really aren't coming back, what they're seeing are the ones that were resting during the two years they were being treated entering their growth phase. I've done a lot of research on laser and IPL hair removal because I'm on a fixed income and must remove as much facial hair as I can myself before booking electro to get rid of the grays my lasers and IPL are ineffective on. So far over the last two or so years I've cleared all the dark hair and about 30% of the gray's effectively.

Ally

Quote from: awilliams1701 on July 09, 2014, 07:33:47 PM
If you have a full fledged beard vs just a couple of days of not shaving, does this affect it?

The more facial hair you have, the more treatments you'll need over a 2 to 3 year period to clear it all due to about 64-65% of it being either in the shedding, or resting phase. Lasers are only effective on hair while it's in the growth phase. Which for beard hair = about 30% total out of what you have completely.

Facial hair is nature's cruel joke.

Ally

Quote from: AnnaCannibal on July 09, 2014, 09:46:29 AM
If your body hair is dark and your skin is light, then laser is definitely good for your body hair.  I'm having the pubic region done and I've had exceptionally good results.  After one time I've seen a massive reduction in hair.  On my face as well, though I suspect that's not common.

Thanks so much for the response.
I'm still wondering what does "laser" mean? i.e., if I go to a salon, what should I request? Arent there like couple of variations of laser? I just want to make sure I choose the right one, thank You!

Quote from: Allyda on July 09, 2014, 07:46:07 PM

Facial hair is nature's cruel joke.

#truth!

Quote from: crowcrow223 on July 10, 2014, 04:28:46 AM
Thanks so much for the response.
I'm still wondering what does "laser" mean? i.e., if I go to a salon, what should I request? Arent there like couple of variations of laser? I just want to make sure I choose the right one, thank You!

There are variations in laser type and it all depends on where youm go.  If you go to a laser spa with clinical certification, chances are they'll be using the most up to date, effective lasers.  A laser is exactly what you think it is, a laser.  It travels down the dark pigment of your hair to destroy the follicle and cluster so that hair won't grow back.  It will only work on hairs that are in a specific stage of growth which is why you must go back for multiple sessions.

It hurts, yes.  Especially the first time when you have a lot of hair to destroy.  One thing to take note of, in the US at least, is electrolysis is the only FDA approved permanent hair removal solution.  Laser falls under the permanent hair reduction category.  However, I think they have to call it that because it doesn't work on all hair types.

Your best bet is to search online in your area for a laser spa and read up on them to make sure they're certified.  Thats my suggestion.   

Thanks so much for the information, it helps a lot!

Quote from: TessaMarie on July 08, 2014, 12:18:16 AM
Hi Alaia,

I had my first electrolysis session this morning.  I counted 19 seconds between each cycle of pain.  It might be because she had to reduce the settings for my very low tolerance for pain.  This sounds like about 200 hairs/hour rather than the 600 you mentioned.  The cost was $38 for 35 mins, with $60/hour going forward.  Next session booked for Thursday afternoon.

Am I overpaying ?  (I live in Philly.  Electrologist is in a (nice) suburb just north of Philly.)

Or is it normal for the first session (or two) to appear relatively slow as the electrologist gets used to how much pain I can tolerate & which settings work best for my face/neck.

btw:  I did ask her to start with my neck, since that is the one area I really dislike shaving.

Thanks for any advice you may have.

Tessa

What type of machine and treatment method is she using (thermolysis, flash, blend, synchro, etc)? How many hairs does she treat in one pain cycle? It's difficult to say whether she's going too slow without knowing those details.

The hourly price seems about right though.

Quote from: Alaia on July 11, 2014, 04:34:29 AM
What type of machine and treatment method is she using (thermolysis, flash, blend, synchro, etc)? How many hairs does she treat in one pain cycle? It's difficult to say whether she's going too slow without knowing those details.

The hourly price seems about right though.

Thank you for the reply, Alaia     : o)

She is using a Fischer CB-X, & an Instantron SS-69.

I believe it was the Fischer machine she was using on me, because she was more successful using thermolysis than electrolysis.

Between my very low pain tolerance, phobia of needles, & hyper-sensitivty about anything touching my neck, each session was eye-wateringly painful.

I am hoping the Lidocaine she gave me will make next week's visit a little easier for me.

Tessa

Quote from: crowcrow223 on July 10, 2014, 04:28:46 AM
Thanks so much for the response.
I'm still wondering what does "laser" mean? i.e., if I go to a salon, what should I request? Arent there like couple of variations of laser? I just want to make sure I choose the right one, thank You!

I think there must be a lot of difference in the lasers based on everyone's treatment timetable.  My doctor estimates 4-5 treatments.  I started in May and should be done in September.  I see some people talking about 10+ treatments and years.  Perhaps she is overly optimistic, (I have only had two treatments) but she teaches at Washington University School of Medicine so I trust that she knows what she is doing.  She estimated a 25% reduction with each treatment and so far she is right on.  I had a very thick beard as well.  I paid $55/hr for electrolysis in May before I started laser, and will return to that for the grays.  I didn't think electrolysis was that bad, but the laser sucks ass even with their numbing cream.  I had a couple spots of discoloration on my face after electrolysis which is why I decided to go with a dermatologist for my laser.  I will also do a more thorough search for an experienced electrologist.  Don't skimp on your face if you don't have to. 

I don't go back until late July, but I will ask what she is using and post it after i do