I've been having electrolysis for about a year. My electrologist seems very keen on 'clearing' , rather than 'thinning'. She did thinning for a while and we didn't seem to be making much progress. Then all of a sudden she decided to clear two large areas in one 2 hour session. This left me with a very puffed up face for 4 or 5 days and with reddness that is slowly fading after 3 weeks. The skin had  some kind of weird hardness to it for a day or two.

I also noticed a small pit has appeared in the last few days. Sometimes she keeps the current going for 10 seconds and it really hurts. She keeps saying it's because the hairs are 'so deep'.

Last session was quite painful and I kept hearing quite a few pops as she was zapping the folicle. Sometimes the hairs feel more like they are being tweezed out.

I am starting to wonder how competent she is. She is registered with a professional organisation. She uses a footswitch machine and a mix of blend and thermolysis.

I do have fairly coarse hair, so is it a case of you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs? Is it normal to have reddness, swelling, bumps etc that last for days? Most the stuff I read says all that should go away after 24hrs?

I could try another electrologist, but she is the only one in my area registered to treat TG clients. Another electrologist asked me a few weeks ago whether I ever thought about switching electrologists, but she is based a long way away.

Basically, can someone with coarse facial hair let me know if my experience so far reflects electrology done competently?

I've never had anything like that with my electrologist...... at all.....

The machine mine uses works in milliseconds and there is never any popping/zapping.  Usually pulling out the zapped hairs is more painful than the actual zap (unless she's working on my upper lip or just under my lower lip, the most sensitive areas).  Sometimes if a hair is particularly tough she'll hit it twice before pulling it but that's it. 

I'm always amazed to look down after a session to see how long the hairs are that she's taken out since I only give about 36 hours of growth time before a session they're usually pretty short at the surface when I get there so I know mine go pretty deep.

I usually have some redness after an appointment but it's minor and usually gone by that afternoon so I can shave the rest off and return to normal life the same day.

Maybe yours is using a different technique but your experience is a lot different from what mine has been from what you describe.

I was cleared with the blend and the setting is very important. If you have pitting there is a problem. My operator had pitting as the result of treatment she received so she was very careful about the settings. Some soreness after the treatment is normal but it should fade pretty fast.

We didn't have people trained to treat TG people as the operators knew how to treat men as well as women. Some men have problems with ingrown hair and this is a solution to the problem.

Usually after a longer session, say two hours, my chin is pretty swollen and red, and it will take a few days for my skin to recover (my chin can feel hard and lumpy when it's swollen but like I say this will last about 2-3 days max). In my case, she slides the needle down the side of the hair follicle and zaps it once (occasionally twice). It's a short sharp snap. I haven't had any pitting. Sometimes I get the occasional ingrown hair but that's rare.

It's not something you should take a chance with (in my opinion), if you feel like she's damaging your skin it's well worth at least paying a different technician a visit for a second opinion.

Wow, Sarah, I cannot even imagine my electrologist leaving the current on a follicle for 10 seconds!   One or two seconds with blended electrolysis, and usually less for straight thermolysis.  My electrologist usually does quick pulses.  Some hairs take a few more taps on the foot switch, but nothing like you are describing.

When I first started, my skin got very red and swollen, and it would take two or three days to heal.  Now, for whatever reason, my skin is less sensitive and I hardly get much redness or swelling.  I have never had any pitting. Something is definitely wrong.  I would at least try this other electrologist you mentioned, just to see if it's any different.

Back in 2011, I found a new electrolygist after not going for a few years before. She left me red for a few days, I mean my neck was lobster red and when I went in public, I tucked my chin in my chest. I didn't stick around for more than a few sessions. In 2012, I found my new electrolygist and stuck with her off and on until a few months ago. She never held the needle in more than a second I don't think. Sometimes I could definatly smell the burned hairs so I know there was some powerful zappage going on there. There were times I had punishing 3 hour sessions but it's only physical pain.

I asked once or twice what kind of method she was using but ultimatly I don't care too much. Last month I finally had laser and lemme tell ya, it worked brilliantly. As much as I hate to admit it, I did have "thick whiskers" at one point in my life but now my face is baby smooth.

Sarah, that sound unfortunate and should have been avoidable. I would also question her skill. There are electrologists out there who will say they're experienced, they've been doing it for ten years they'll say. Only problem is they may only fire up the machine once or twice a month to clear some old lady's chin hair for a thirty minute session. They've never really cleared trans women beard hair and they use the wrong settings and approach, both of which can be wildly ineffective and can cause scarring. My electro specialises in trans women beard removal, uses galvanic and after 120 hours I'm almost fully cleared - fortunately without any problems or scars (my bank balance is a lot lighter though).

  I've only ever experienced swelling (lasted 3-4 days) when a less-experienced technician had to fill-in once for the main tech.  The settings you're getting from your tech are definitely too strong or too long.  You most certainly should not be getting audible snaps or pops.  If your hairs are especially coarse or your follicles very large you may wish to do as I did and start with laser first for a while to reduce the strength of the hairs/follicles before returning to electro.

  I'm at about 288 hours of electrolysis right now.  Even with all the progress I still suffer from chronic ingrowns.  The frequency of treatment, two 3-hour sessions per week, is critical to keep these under control and to get all the hairs before they can grow a strong root.  Even with this frequency I still occasionally get deeply-embedded ingrowns which cause nasty infected spots that visually take weeks to heal and shed the scabbing.  We are now experimenting with microdermabrasion to see if it will help cut down on the number of ingrowns.  In my case hair removal has been as much about improving the health of my skin as it has been about purely transitioning.

This happened to me.  I and the problem was compounded because there are still changes happening to my skin.  It is over treatment.  I ended up switching electrologists, and I am much happier now.

Maybe you could switch your electrologist? My current one is great. I have only little redness and no swelling after a two hour session.It is also not painful and I am nearly hair free for two or three weels. She uses thermolysis because I have small Titan screws in my head after FFS.

Before electrolysis I take some Ibuprofen, maybe it helps against swelling.

Quote from: Lara1969 on September 29, 2015, 02:22:59 PM
She uses thermolysis because I have small Titan screws in my head after FFS.

That's interesting.  I have three titanium bars in my jaw.  I was having blend done when I had the bad reactions, and often the reactions where near the bars.  I could never find anything that would say blend would interact with the titanium.  I am doing thermolysis and the reactions are minimal.

She said the blend method will or can cause bad reactions if someone has metal in his head. I was treated with thermolysis only. So I cannot compare both methods. Thermolysis works great and because of the anethesia of the upper lip by a dentist I nearly felt asleep the last time.

For taking Tretinoin cream worked wonders against large pores and against small scares. My facial skin is very smooth with less wrinkles since I take it. Together with electrolysis the look and feel of my facial skin improved so much.

I had my face cleared by an operator in Salt Lake City three times. Each time she cleared it, my face swelled to a soccer ball shape. I do believe she was using too much of something because I didn't have those effects after I found a new operator in California. In California, clearing two or three times a week was normal. I had a full time job to keep. My face was red but easily covered with a light foundation.

From what I understand, too much current can pock your face or lead to premature wrinkling. I suppose I am lucky I switched when I did. Although I now have wrinkles, I don't believe they are any worse than any other woman my age.

Cindi

I go to two technicians at the same place. One is there on Saturdays and the other on Sundays. Both have a lot of experience treating trans woman.

One technician leaves the probe in longer perhaps 6 at 7 seconds at a low level and the hairs in general come out easy. The other has the setting up higher and it is more painful but the probe is in there 2 seconds. She does 4 or 5 hairs at a time to allow more chemical reaction to occur. The hairs coming out hurt a little bit more. She gets three times as many hairs per unit time so the pain is tolerable. I had swelling when my chin was done but for 1 or 2 days and it was not bad.

I had only one ingrown hair on my chin where the hairs are very deep and thick. Glad to report my chin is bald . I never had a pit from electrolysis.

Definitely not normal. Could be caused by several factors: your sensitive to the process, tech lacks skill, too large/ too small of needle, or the machine the tech is using is out of date.

Are you holding on to a metal probe/wand in your hand while she inserts the needle? If not, it's straight thermolysis (not galvanic or blend), and the chance of scarring, and not permanently clearing the hair is far greater.

There are 3 types of electrolysis;  thermolysis, galvanic and blend (a combination of the two). they each have their pros and cons. I have been using thermolysis and have had around 250 sessions (2.5 years) and its effeciency is generally regarded as somewhat less than galvanic and blend but I'm satisified that I chose this method. I am familiar with the Blend and galvanic and yes the electric current has a longer duration and I believe 7 plus seconds on Blend is normal and hair follicle blowouts are common.

I have found that as my skin has changed in texture with HRT and that there is more chances for puffiness for an hour after. Sadly there are no other proven alternatives for us with light colored facial hairs. I've been in the clearing stage for the last few months but those pesky ones keep re appearing. Preserverence is needed.

At the end of my first laser session yesterday the dermatologist told me that some electrolysis sessions will be required for white hairs when removing dark hairs will be completed. Speaking about side effects of electolysis he said that there are none if the device is well tuned and well used. He said also that he has tried the device on himself before buying it and using it for treating his patients and that all practitioners should do that.

I've been doing electrolysis for almost a year now, and have logged 146 hours in 13 full face and neck clearing sessions.  The first four clearings were done with two technicians working simultaneously, one on the right, the other on the left side of my face.  Those initial clearings were traumatic with much swelling, redness and soreness that lasted for weeks.  Though they used the same epilator brand (27 mHz Apilus Platinum) and the same modality (flash thermolysis double pulse), my right cheek and neck saw much better results (both higher kill rate and less skin damage) than my left side.  My experience tells me that the skill of the operator is very important to get good results.  On sessions 5 through 13, I continued with just the woman I judged to be the better electrologist.  I asked her to use 6 sec blend as much as possible (for its higher kill rate and to minimize skin damage), followed by flash thermolysis as needed to clear the rest of my face and neck in a 5 to 6 hour session.  By session 10 she was using blend to clear my entire face and neck with no swelling, redness or soreness.  At this time, my right cheek has no hair remaining.  Six-second blend can treat at most 500 hairs an hour, so my face has been cleared of about 90% of the original amount which she called my 'lumberjack beard'.  I estimate I'll be virtually free of facial at 200 hours at a total expenditure of around $20K in 15 months. 

I consider this to be about as aggressive as one can be to get rid of facial hair, and I did suffer some skin damage in the early clearings.   My advice is to go easy in the beginning especially where the beard is very dense.  I may not have suffered 'pitting' per se, but there is some roughness that I don't like.  I've had one fractional CO2 laser skin resurfacing treatment to restore the smoothness to my skin, and will need another treatment as well.