Had my first hour of electrolysis today.  Wowwie Zowie that hurt!  Girl was maybe a little slow, but I don't think I could have handled it much faster.  Did it all straight up to see how bad it would be and it felt like a bee sting (I have bees) and hurt most on my upper lip under my nose.  We just concentrated on the darkest hairs for this first go around.  My chin and elsewhere were pretty tolerable and operator said she thought it was going very well.  She said they have quite a few trans people and was very polite and name and pronoun sensitive.  Going back for another hour next week and then eventually do two or three hour sessions.  I just figure that each sting is one step closer to where I want to be and it gets me through. 

You did the upper lip and under the nose without pain control?  Wow!  Your a tougher girl than I am!  Congratulations on getting the process started.

I have been using Emla cream for most of my electrolysis.  But even with it, I couldn't handle the upper lip.  I have just this week finished the initial clearing of my upper and lower lips, but I got my dentist to freeze the areas first.  That worked well: the electrologist was able to work fast with a high power setting without any pain at all.  (Of course, she likes to colour outside the lines, so the session wasn't totally painless, but still a huge improvement.)

I'm amazed you did the upper lip first. The rest of the face hurts way less!  Welcome to the club though.  Once you find a good Electrologist, half the battle is won.  I love mine.

Bari Jo

uhhh... I hope I will not chicken out. After month of dreading, I made my first electrolysis apt. this Friday.

Quote from: Toni on November 29, 2017, 06:43:29 PM
Had my first hour of electrolysis today.  Wowwie Zowie that hurt!  Girl was maybe a little slow, but I don't think I could have handled it much faster.  Did it all straight up to see how bad it would be and it felt like a bee sting (I have bees) and hurt most on my upper lip under my nose.  We just concentrated on the darkest hairs for this first go around.  My chin and elsewhere were pretty tolerable and operator said she thought it was going very well.  She said they have quite a few trans people and was very polite and name and pronoun sensitive.  Going back for another hour next week and then eventually do two or three hour sessions.  I just figure that each sting is one step closer to where I want to be and it gets me through. 

     I have been doing electrolysis for 6 months but am having to take a break while my doctor researches weather I can continue while on eliquis I had a DVT and will be on elequis and off HRT for a while does anyone know about electrolysis and blood thinners

    bobbisue

Nah!  I'm not that tough, just driven, or maybe a bit crazy!  I always go for the toughest first while I have the most reserves, then I can always handle the easier stuff later.  I may have some light FFS when I have my SRS in a couple months so I wanted certain areas cleared before then.  I will be getting some skin deadener creme for my next sessions, I'm not a masochist. 
     One down side for me though, I have to let my beard grow for about four days for hair to be long enough to work with, and then it's a couple days after treatment before I can shave again.  I'm pretty much full time and showing facial hair just gives me the willies.  Kind of forces me back to guy mode a little and I don't like it at all anymore.  I could schedule more time in between but then this will take longer, what a conundrum.
     My wife was kind of laughing and saying, "see, it takes a lot of work to be a g......" and I poked her in the shoulder and said, "don't go there!  Yeah, I know!  But you were like I want to be out of the gate!", and she just laughed.  I just can't get no respect!

Quote from: bobbisue on November 29, 2017, 11:00:30 PM
     I have been doing electrolysis for 6 months but am having to take a break while my doctor researches weather I can continue while on eliquis I had a DVT and will be on elequis and off HRT for a while does anyone know about electrolysis and blood thinners

    bobbisue

I have been on blood thinners since "93". Been getting electrolysis for the last year without problem. I am on rat poison (warfarin). Nanci can't go as aggressively as with other clients for fear of creating bruises. But Nancy has been doing this for awhile and knows how to handle it. Actually my face is taking it quite well. Meanwhile I have made a great friend in Nanci.

Quote from: Toni on November 30, 2017, 08:13:29 AMI have to let my beard grow for about four days for hair to be long enough to work with, and then it's a couple days after treatment before I can shave again.  I'm pretty much full time and showing facial hair just gives me the willies.  Kind of forces me back to guy mode a little and I don't like it at all anymore.

I hear you on the stubble.  I am full-time, too, so the only thing I can do is to own it:  "Yeah, I'm a transwoman with stubble.  You got a problem with that?"  So far, no one has had a problem with it except me.  I'm lucky that mine is almost all white, so it is not very visible.

I grow mine for three days.  But I pre-arrange with my electrologist what area she's going to work on, so I leave that and a bit more, and shave the rest. 

I have a regular dance event in the evening of the same day as my regular electrolysis appointment.  I am not going dancing unshaven, so I do a light shave to clean up the leftover stubble before I go out in the evening.  It doesn't seem to irritate the skin any more than it already is.

I've considered the same, Kathy, about letting hair grow in specific areas.  When you do clean up after electrolysis do you use a razor or electric and do you use any lubricant?  The E girl thought my skin was in great shape and there was almost no swelling or redness an hour after.  I just don't want to put anything on (shave cream) that might cause a problem.  I just use the aloe stuff they recommended.  Toni

Toni,  like Kathy I shave when I get home from the electrolysis appointment.  I don't normally use any shaving cream instead opting for shaving soap and safety razor.   So far it hasn't seemed to irritate my skin anymore than regular shaving.  I do use a very light hand when shaving then moisturize a ton.

Hah, three days or four days growth.  You ladies are lucky.  Mine is dark, noticeable even right after I shave and literally I can have just one day of stubble for my Electrologist. I usually shave twice a day to keep the GD any bay.

I posted a pict of myself in Tokyo a while back, that was 3 hours after shaving.  I hate my beard.

Bari Jo

Quote from: Toni on November 30, 2017, 11:11:56 AMWhen you do clean up after electrolysis do you use a razor or electric and do you use any lubricant?

Most mornings, I use soap and a three-blade disposable razor.  When I clean up after electrolysis, I shave dry with the disposable, using a very light touch.  I am not going for smooth skin in that case, just nothing visible.  I stopped using the electric a long time ago, because it just couldn't get close enough.

I get my first round of electro tomorrow 

I've made it through 10 rounds of laser, I can make it through this.  I'm more worried about the downstairs work than anything though.

Quote from: Colleen_definitely on December 01, 2017, 11:00:10 AM
I get my first round of electro tomorrow 

I've made it through 10 rounds of laser, I can make it through this.  I'm more worried about the downstairs work than anything though.

  Hi Colleen,

   Good luck with your first efforts at electrolysis tomorrow. I hope you have read and plan to follow the prep advice given here in many thread on electrolysis. Such as no caffeine, taking a non aspirin pain relieve about 1/2 hour ahead of the session, being well hydrated in advance of the session and if you can use a numbing cream and cover it with plastic wrap. I start the numbing cream an hour in advance of the session and start by rubbing the firtst application into the skin as you would moisturizer. I then add a thicker application and cover two areas I want Christina to work on separately. For my last 5 one hour sessions I prepped my mustache area covering left and right separately.

  Of course if you  want to see if you can take the pain without prep have your tech do a little right below your nose right in the middle. That will tell you what the worst pain will be.
  As for the southern parts I hear it isn't as bad as the face.

Good luck
  Laurie

P.S. I like your new avatar also. ((Hugs))

I hope it's ok for me to jump in here. If I'm not following etiquette, please let me know as I'm new here.

My son starts HRT today (hopefully, fingers crossed) and I had some questions about his facial hair. Is this "torture" that you speak of something that all transgender women have to go through. He is 19 and doesn't really have a full beard, but he does need to shave at least once a week.  Will HRT help with that?


Just an FYI, I am still referring to him as my son because that is what he wants for now, I'm sure that will be changing soon. 

Yea I'm pretty sure hrt and blockers should stop what facial hair hasn't shown up yet. Lucky kid you got and you are awesome for being supportive

LJH24, Any facial hair he has will continue to grow.  HRT doesn't really help with that.  He'll most likely need some kind of laser or electrolysis to get rid of it permanently.  Fortunately, since he doesn't have a full beard it shouldn't be that difficult to get rid of what is there.  If he does decide to get permanent hair removal, I would start that process as soon as possible because it takes a long time.  For some it's really painful but for others it's not that bad.  Maybe he'll be one of the lucky ones

Thanks to Jillian and Flower!

Jillian, he doesn't have a very high tolerance for pain, so I'm not looking forward to that part of this journey for him.

Quote from: LJH24 on December 01, 2017, 12:34:53 PMIs this "torture" that you speak of something that all transgender women have to go through. He is 19 and doesn't really have a full beard, but he does need to shave at least once a week.  Will HRT help with that?

Since he has a beard, he will have to have it removed.  HRT will slow it down a bit, but he will need laser and/or electrolysis to get rid of it.

If he is only shaving it once a week, it is probably not fully developed yet and likely won't require a high-power zap to deal with it.  I find that there is a big difference in pain level between a full-power shot on the heavy bristly hairs and the lower-power shots on the peach fuzz.

Quote from: LJH24 on December 01, 2017, 01:39:43 PM
Thanks to Jillian and Flower!

Jillian, he doesn't have a very high tolerance for pain, so I'm not looking forward to that part of this journey for him.

Hi again LJH24,

   One reason for getting the electrolysis or laser started is that it can be more painful when HRT has started. I started electrolysis after beginning hrt at a lower dose and it wasn't too painful. But shortly after a dosage doubling it was quite a bit more painful and still is. There are various methods that help reduce the pain from being well hydrated. numbing creams to dental blocks.

Hugs,
   Laurie