I have completed about 125 hours of electrolysis. I started about the same time I began HRT in May of 2016. My HRT regimen started off with very conservative dosing and the levels were increased gradually over the the following 12 months with the increases permitted only after quarterly satisfactory blood work results.

At first, I managed the electrolysis pretty well with a 10%/10% prilocaine/lidocaine analgesic prescription. Unfortunately, as my skin started changing from the hormones (a very desirable change), the effectiveness of the topical numbing solution decreased substantially. For me it was never a walk in the park even though I have a generally high(er) pain tolerance.  Let it suffice that Electrolysis has tested my transition commitment and thanks to sheer determination I am finally able to see light at the end of the (very dark) tunnel.

For those who haven't started HRT, I recommend starting electrolysis as early as possible and ahead of starting HRT.  If you've already started hormone therapy, get as much done as quickly as you can. It's a long process unless you can afford the "marathon" sessions.

Quote from: trish33455 on August 22, 2017, 05:42:43 PM
  ...................Let it suffice that Electrolysis has tested my transition commitment and thanks to sheer determination I am finally able to see light at the end of the (very dark) tunnel.

For those who haven't started HRT, I recommend starting electrolysis as early as possible and ahead of starting HRT.  ........................

Hi Trish

I am heading for a workout today to clear my neck...It should only take an hour...I agree with your assessment  of the increase in pain as this happened with me as well. I can now mange with the numbing cream and the reduced currents far better than I did. I too can see the light at the tunnel. But I still have one more full dental block (number 9 I think) in a couple of weeks and will be growing that out for 7 -10 days as you cannot feel much of what I have any more, as the hair is too soft, so it has to be long enough to be seen. Thank goodness no more facial injections...I had about 20 sessions of those...without them I would not be where I am. We are looking to be in maintenance mode sometime within the next 4 - 6 hours of work.

I agree the more you can get done the prior to HRT the more comfortable you will be with it.

Quote from: Wendy Lynn on July 03, 2017, 08:37:06 PM
There's a prescription product I'm excited about, but it has not been available for some time, as the licensing rights get shuffled around.  It's called Pliaglis.  It's 7%/7%  Lido/Tetra  and is self-occluding -- turns into a peelable film after it dries.  I have a prescription from my Kaiser doc but waiting for the new licensee, Taro pharmaceuticals, to get it out to pharmacies.

I got my endo to prescribe Pliaglis, but I'm completely striking out in all the pharmacies around here. Galderma sent me to Crescita, which has apparently licensed it to Taro. I have emails out to both of them, but I'm not hopeful.

Might be out of luck, and have to get BLT cream and buy stock in Saran Wrap. This is taking too much time, and I need to get started.

Steph

Quote from: Steph2.0 on August 28, 2017, 02:26:56 PM

I got my endo to prescribe Pliaglis, but I'm completely striking out in all the pharmacies around here. Galderma sent me to Crescita, which has apparently licensed it to Taro. I have emails out to both of them, but I'm not hopeful.

Got a reply from the VP of R&D at Crescita:

Quote

Thanks for your interest in Pliaglis and we'll be in a position to resume fulfilling orders for Pliaglis in a few months once we have a new batch of product made available from our manufacturer.  I'll provide further details as soon as we have a firm delivery date (hope to have this in the new week or 2) but anticipated delivery is looking to be close to the end of the year.  There is no other product available until we receive the new batch so we're working to expedite this as much as possible.  Let me know if you have any questions and we hope to have further details to share very soon!

So it's back to BLT cream and plastic wrap. Since Laurie says clear is the new black, I'll be stylin'.

Steph

Interesting info on Pliaglis - let us know when you hear more on availability. 

My electrologist is on the board of the American Electrology Association, and she wants to know more about Pliaglis as a potential improvement over Lidocaine & Prilocaine.

Quote from: Kendra on August 28, 2017, 11:15:49 PM
Interesting info on Pliaglis - let us know when you hear more on availability. 

My electrologist is on the board of the American Electrology Association, and she wants to know more about Pliaglis as a potential improvement over Lidocaine & Prilocaine.

I'll let you all know as soon as I hear more.

Considering it's 7% Lido + 7% Prilo, and self occluding, it sounds really good. But I haven't used anything at all yet, so I don't have a baseline. I just emailed my doctor about BLT cream so I can get started ASAP. At this point I've gotten myself all freaked out about the pain to come. I need to figure out how Michelle does her mindfulness/self-hypnosis stuff.

Steph

I use a 20% lidocaine/prilocaine compound that is custom mixed by "Custom Scripts Pharmacy" in Wesley Chapel FL (near Tampa).  It's available by prescription only and runs about $39 including shipping for 30 gm tube.  While it helps a lot it i recommend getting as much electrolysis done before starting or at least as early into HRT as possible as discomfort increases as the skin changes despite the analgesic compound.... At least that has been my experience.

Proper electrolysis treatment should not be very painful.  If it is then they are doing something wrong. 

Quote from: MyMichele on September 03, 2017, 05:23:51 AM
Proper electrolysis treatment should not be very painful.  If it is then they are doing something wrong.

Hi MyMichele

Can I ask you to explain a bit more of what you mean by this. I am always looking to find ways to reduce the discomfort.

Quote from: ElizabethK on September 03, 2017, 05:41:48 AM

Quote from: MyMichele on September 03, 2017, 05:23:51 AM
Proper electrolysis treatment should not be very painful.  If it is then they are doing something wrong. 

Hi MyMichele

Can I ask you to explain a bit more of what you mean by this. I am always looking to find ways to reduce the discomfort.

My first electrologist used a thermal machine that was very old and even though she had it on a lower setting, every zap was painful and I was using a prescription strength numbing cream. Her technique was good. The pain was caused by just that the machine was an older model.

My present electrologist is using a blended machine that has thermal and galvanic pulses. She sets the area to be worked on in the machine and the machine sets the zap level. She can adjust the level setting somewhat for my comfort, but the machine makes the primary setting.

She tells me that of all her patients, I have one of the highest settings she can use for a given area. Technique is important, but to kill a follicle the needle must be in the base of the follicle. Newer computer controlled machines are much for comfortable than the older manual machines.

 
  I follow the recommendations I've seen here and from my electrologist to lessen the pain. But in a weird twisted sort of way I welcome it. With every sting I am forced to ask myself "is this really worth it?" The answer better damn well be yes for why else would I put myself through electrolysis and all the other pain my condition has caused me? Either it is worth it or I'm freaking insane. I'm not too sure about either atm.

laurie

Quote from: ElizabethK on September 03, 2017, 05:41:48 AM
Hi MyMichele

Can I ask you to explain a bit more of what you mean by this. I am always looking to find ways to reduce the discomfort.

Elizabeth,

I think the main problem is technicians using the wrong modality.  Not every hair is the same.  The thick terminal hairs need pure galvanic or blend.  This takes more time for each hair, but it is more of a constant energy (and chemical reaction) being applied and hardly any pain at all.

Also remember that your technicians are human and can get tired.  From my experience the times I felt pain was when they are not being careful enough putting the probe in and taking it out.  You have to be very vocal with them if they are hurting you. Sometimes they need to stretch the skin to get the probe in at the right angle and then after they zap the follicle and before they remove the probe they let go of your skin which then retracts like a rubber band which in effect shoves the probe inadvertently past the point where it needs to be causing pain and skin damage.

This is also why I don't believe numbing injections are a good idea.  You really have no idea what is going on.  You need to be vocal with them.  I know we all go in there and the technicians become our best friend.  But they can always learn from you.  They are the experts, but you are the expert on your own body.

I also go to a thermolysis only electrologist, but that is because I am at the point where I'm really getting the fine peach fuzz hairs, not all of them, just the ones that grow long because those are the ones that can develop back into terminals from what I can see.  I did allow her to remove a few stray terminals and it was a mistake.  Skin damage.  I was burned.  My skin turned black at the point of treatment. A dot about a millimeter wide in a few places on my upper lip.

The first electrologist was a very bad experience and she charged less than half of what the others charge.  Maybe that was a sign, but according to my latest technician, she said that the first must have been manually applying the current.  I would feel the zap, but it was more of a long zap.  She would do this up to 4 times for each hair, which I believe is the limit.  My latest said she would never go that high, but high settings are needed to kill the terminals, and most of the time it can't and it just gets half killed and then plucked.  Then it grows back.

Sorry for the long winded post, but my best advice, find a blend electrologist and let them know you want galvanic. It is slower, but more effective and less pain. You know you have blend if you're holding the wet probe.  That is what you want.  And again, if it hurts then tell them because pain is not fun, but skin damage is even less fun. 

Quote from: Dani on September 03, 2017, 06:24:16 AM
Hi MyMichele

Can I ask you to explain a bit more of what you mean by this. I am always looking to find ways to reduce the discomfort.


My first electrologist used a thermal machine that was very old and even though she had it on a lower setting, every zap was painful and I was using a prescription strength numbing cream. Her technique was good. The pain was caused by just that the machine was an older model.

My present electrologist is using a blended machine that has thermal and galvanic pulses. She sets the area to be worked on in the machine and the machine sets the zap level. She can adjust the level setting somewhat for my comfort, but the machine makes the primary setting.

She tells me that of all her patients, I have one of the highest settings she can use for a given area. Technique is important, but to kill a follicle the needle must be in the base of the follicle. Newer computer controlled machines are much for comfortable than the older manual machines.

I wish I read this before I posted! You explained it better than me.

Quote from: MyMichele on September 03, 2017, 06:06:19 PM
Sorry for the long winded post, but my best advice, find a blend electrologist and let them know you want galvanic. It is slower, but more effective and less pain. You know you have blend if you're holding the wet probe.  That is what you want.  And again, if it hurts then tell them because pain is not fun, but skin damage is even less fun.

+ 1 , very important to let your electrologist know when the zap is too much.

Thanks for your input both from Dani and Mymichelle... My tech uses the latest blend equipment and it is still painful.  the zapping is what gets me, rarely is it the insert of the probe

Mymichelle, I take your point about the injections however this has not been my experience ( I agree you should be careful) but I think this is also about the skill of my technician who is able to use the correct current for the correct hair type, strong enough to slide but not to burn. I think you make a good point about the operator/tech. My tech will not do any longer than a 1hr 15 minute session because she says she cannot maintain her standards and will not go above this time.

I think I am pretty lucky to have got her...I am on the last hours before hitting matinenenace mode and am having my hopefully last clearing of my lips next week but as we all know with hair nothing is ever guaranteed. I don't have any new scarring (yay) as my Tech is very careful. I have had "bad" electrolysis before and it hurt far more than what I am having now and I do have a couple of scars from that but lucky for me they are in the neck/ Jaw area.  After what I have read I will stick with the blend thanks I think the outcome will work better for me.


Thanks for taking the time to talk about your experiences.  I Was hoping you had found something new I could add to my arsenal of "better ways to cope with electrolysis"....I need all the help I can get
 
"Proper electrolysis treatment should not be very painful.  If it is then they are doing something wrong."

IMHO There are so many things that can affect a poor experience so thanks for your detailed explanation. I think prep is one of the Key things to improving your discomfort and with the addition of some kind of meditative help. Things that can make it better are things like getting as much treatment as you can prior to HRT, reduce caffeine , be well rested, be well hydrated just to kick off with a couple

I think my bad past experiences have put my current treatment in perspective. The pain now is nothing compared to what I have endured early on. Bad machine, bad technique. So many factors. I am in maintenance mode too now. But I could picture someone now who has no other choice but to go to an electrologist who is causing unnecessary pain and skin damage. That's why I say if it's so unbearable something is wrong.

Quote from: MyMichele on September 05, 2017, 08:17:35 AM
my current treatment

Nice pun.

The thermo electrolysis hardware my electrologist uses is described as high-end - a machine by Apilus, base price over $10k USD and the supplies for it aren't cheap.  Her business is doing great and I know she would buy something better if available.  She had her own electrolysis done in the 1950s and described that as something from a horror movie. 

The goal of high-end hardware is to deliver electricity in the fastest possible spike with enough duration to be effective and quickly stop so the nerve endings have less time to process what happened.  She said cheaper thermo electrolysis machines have a ramp-up and ramp-down curve - guaranteed to deliver the higher electrolysis pain levels from earlier decades.  Minimizing pain and complications requires high quality hardware and a skilled operator.

Something to think about before jumping on a Groupon Special. 

Quote from: MyMichele on September 05, 2017, 08:17:35 AM
I think my bad past experiences have put my current treatment in perspective. The pain now is nothing compared to what I have endured early on. Bad machine, bad technique. So many factors. I am in maintenance mode too now. But I could picture someone now who has no other choice but to go to an electrologist who is causing unnecessary pain and skin damage. That's why I say if it's so unbearable something is wrong.

I agree compared to what I got from "bad" treatment, now is very easy. I actually ached my back up off the table when she was doing my top lip and I could feel the constant tugging as she pulled the hairs out...nothing like my current tech.

I think you make a great point and agree whole heartedly " if it's so unbearable something is wrong

Quote from: Kendra on September 05, 2017, 12:40:25 PM

Something to think about before jumping on a Groupon Special. 

Absolutely

 Has anyone  noticed a very slight electrical ummm taste when getting electrolysis?

laurie

Quote from: Kendra on September 05, 2017, 12:40:25 PM
Nice pun.

cheaper thermo electrolysis machines have a ramp-up and ramp-down curve - guaranteed to deliver the higher electrolysis pain levels from earlier decades.  Minimizing pain and complications requires high quality hardware and a skilled operator.

This is exactly what it was. Each "zap" was more like a long pulse and she would do it up to 4 times for each hair.  I felt like it was going into my brain.  Kinda like a novacain injection, but for every single hair. Then she'd pluck it out anyway.  The machine clearly was not good enough for thick terminal hairs.

I thought at the time "this is how electrolysis is, just deal with it". I had her do my entire upper lip and most of the front of my chin in one 2 hour session.  My upper lip looked like Marge Simpson's for 3 days.  I had to call out sick for work it looked so bad. I also had so many tears coming out of my eyes that a bunch went down into my ear canal and caused more problems that the ENT had to take care of.

Nightmare!