Finally had a consult with the nearest reputable looking electrologist this morning. I was a little apprehensive, but she turned out to be great.

After talking a bit about the mechanics, she fairly delicately asked whether this was going to be followed up by other changes. It was impressive, because she didn't actually *ask*, but opened the door and made it clear that she was ok with that. I hadn't decided whether to bring it up, as obvious as it probably is when a guy shows up asking about full beard removal. Turns out that she was encouraged to go into electrology by a friend who was transitioning in the late 70s and desperately in need of help! She was completely cool with that, and even mentioned a few times that if it came necessary to remove hair for "other changes," she'd be happy to do that. 

It was also funny because she is just moving into a space in a fitness club that is accessed through the locker rooms. When I first got there, she apologized that I'd have to go through the men's locker room, which I realized later was because she "knew." She reiterated that later when I had clued in, and I thought it was really respectful. She also went on to say that when things got further along, maybe I'll just come in through the other locker room with her. That pretty much made my day, I'm new to people actually taking this seriously IRL.

Unfortunately, as much as I loved her and the experience, I don't know if I'll end up getting it done there. She does have a lot of experience with electrology in general (she's been doing it my entire life!), but not much with full male beards. She did a few as a demo (both galvanic and thermowhatever) and seemed pretty comfortable with it, so I'm not discounting her just because of that. It's also about an hour's drive each way, which is a pretty major inconvenience.

I'm considering booking something at E3000, at least for a couple cycles, then maybe coming to her when things are getting to be more manageable. They are just barely in driving range for me (12 or so hours each way). Though when you include two hours a week to get to and from the "local" option, I think that actually may work out to be the same, but more conveniently packed into a single awful week. I've sent photos to them and I'm waiting to hear back how long they want to schedule. It sounded like their next available was at a pretty convenient time for me, when I'd have a nice break for reccovery before having to show my face at work again.

If anyone has decided between local and E3000, I'd be interested in what you decided and whether you were happy with the decision. I'm also curious about how much I should worry about a lack of beard experience in an otherwise experienced electrologist. Anyone?

Well, answering myself... 

I just booked a couple days at E3K. The scheduling worked out pretty conveniently (almost but not quite perfect). Yippee! Looks like two techs the first day, one the second.

I think I'm going to think about it as the worst spa getaway vacation ever.

See my latest post in my E300 results thread for some thoughts on that, Jeni.

Thanks, Liz. Your thread was one of the resources I used when deciding whether to do the "local" or not. Glad you're happy with the results, and I am really hoping mine goes as well.

When it occurred to me that I'd probably have to miss all my kids weekend activities from now until what feels like forever to go down to the localish option, it became really apparent that I needed the convenience of a once-in-a-while marathon session. That coupled with such extensive experience with male beards really made the case pretty open and shut.

I will also note that the hourly price is inclusive and covers the costs of lidocaine injections in the face. A few lidocaine injections hurt. They hurt a lot. But it's a lot less torment than 5-7 hours in the chair of non-stop electrolysis without painkillers. I've even fallen asleep during a session.

Definitely a plus! It's a bit more expensive per hour than the nearby options, but not by a huge amount, even including travel. I suspect they'll be faster at E3k, so that will negate that by quite a bit.

Just as a follow-up, I just had my second full clearing last week. Really, really glad that I went this route. Travel has been hard on my family, but not terrible, and it's definitely easier to have an occasional hard week than my being gone once a week for a few hours.

The experience has not been as bad as I feared, though the lidocaine in the upper lip just below the septum is one of the worst pains I have experienced ever, period. But it's fairly brief... Even the swelling was not too bad. I was very diligent about icing constantly and smearing zinc oxide over and over and after my clearing on Tues/Weds last week, I'm now (Sat) pretty nearly back to normal. My face stlil looks a little chubby if you know me, but it's back in the realm of healthy human face shape. It was a tad worse last time, but I easily was able to go back to work the Monday after a Wednesay or Thursday clearing.

Anyway, happy to be moving along...

Congrats Jeni. I'm very happy to hear everything is going well. Hugs
Mariah

Update after round 3!

It still hurts! 

But it's nice to be one session closer to being done... this time was very similar to last. It actually took a bit longer, but not by much, and I was warned that is pretty common at the 3rd clearing. Hopefully next time is the start of the major reduction. Had the zappage done Monday and Tuesday morning, was recovered enough to go out for dinner with a friend late Tuesday night (though I looked like a very different person). On Friday, I can tell that there's a difference in the mirror, but I would not worry about other people noticing anything.

Starting to think about how many more sessions with E3K---the idea was to get down to sessions that are manageable at a nearer-by electrologist. I think I'll just have to wait and see how things go next time.

No idea if anyone is reading this any more, but I figure it's annoying when a thread like this cuts off before the end.

On my way home from my fourth clearing.

The first two were not only painful, but in a way demoralizing. The facial hair came back looking very much as it did before. Maybe a little lighter, but after a few weeks, I could have grown out a beard if I'd wanted to.

I did not know this yet the last time I posted, but the third clearing was a magic one. Hair came back, sure, but it was nothing like a beard. Even growing it out for four days for round four, from more than a few feet away nobody would mistake it for a beard. It was just a little shading on my face. Looking up close, the hairs were visibly scattered, not thatched together into a beard-like mass.

Electro round four was also really, really easy compared to the first three. Usually, we do about 3 hours before lunch break, and I go check out the progress only to be crushed realizing that what felt like endless zapping only cleared a few little patches. This time? It was all gone, save for my upper lip and the right sideburn and outer edge of the cheek.

Even with some work on my upper chest (so I can wear an open neck shirt without stubble, since I cannot shave that area well enough to get rid of visible stubble), we were done in less than five hours of chair time (still two techs). Even the lidocaine on my upper lip was only horrible, not terrible awful horrible unbearable like it had been in the past. I think that's just a function of pain fatigue.

So yeah, I finally believe that this electrolysis thing is a real hair removal thing, not just an expensive torture scam. (No, I did not believe that, but sometimes that's how it felt.) I'm sure I've got a lot of work left to be truly done, but I have definitely turned the corner. I think I could stop now and tolerate the shaving required if I had to. The critical thing is that post-shaving, I look clean, rather than having a 5 o'clock shadow that still persists even immediately after shaving.

So, yay!

Woo! Grats on the clean face! Thanks for posting followups, always nice to see a story carried out to the end

Congrats, I must say I am a lil jealous. This is the one thing I really want, dunno if I can afford it however.
If i may ask how much you spent and the number of sessions ? I am in so-cal desert so driving "is" a option for me.
I really want to take my RV and stay for a few weeks but i don't think I can swing the time off ?
Thanx Clear   

Jeni,

thanks for sharing your story I'm about to begin tomorrow with electro and laser,  congrats on making it through.

Hugs

I've had 4 sessions now, the total has been about $6200 for treatments (plus travel expenses). So it's quite an investment. I'm certainly not done yet, my upper lip in particular still has quite a bit of growth, but we're getting there.

An RV trip would be fun, but this is definitely something you will want to do more than once, so if limited vacation time is a problem, flying would probably be more practical. Incidentally, it looks like it's about $200 to fly from LA to Dallas at the moment, so even that is not too expensive. You'd need probably three nights in a hotel (first sessions are often scheduled as two days, and you really want to have the evening after the second day to recover). You can expect to be pretty swollen on the trip home, but for me at least, it's always been back into the range of normal. Anyone who didn't know me would just think I looked different than I do...