How long did electrolysis take to clear your face?

[Charlotte Kitty ✅]

I've had 12 laser sessions but a load of black hairs not getting the message. So now doing electrolysis.  Only about 4 small patches on corners of mouth, under mouth and under nose. Hopefully not too many sessions.

[Petunia]

I think I've had 8 laser sessions which had me at greys only for a while.

Now my top lip looks dirty.

I knew laser would not be enough but I didn't expect to feel so good having a beard that doesn't stand out.

Electrolysis.... let's see how much it hurts

[Allie Jayne]

I am finally at the end of my electrolysis journey, all up almost 300 hours of blend. I was having 3 hours every week when I first started in 2019, but moderated that over the years, and now I get a 40 minute session 3 times a year to clean up the stubborn hairs. I have a high pain tolerance, but it is still a session I dread. I tried 3 different operators, and experienced 3 different levels of pain, and I know that the pain level is related to effectiveness.

I'm in Australia, and the costs were around AUD$100/hour, which makes it one of the more expensive procedures in MTF transition. I would like those who keep saying transitioning is a choice to experience 10% of what we go through and see what they think then!

Hugs,

Allie

[Tills]

I just started electrolysis (the blend variety) on my face. We started working on the chin; and after three hours, there is just the part under my lower lip and as narrow section down the center of my chin to finish. I'm taking two hours next week, and we should be able to clear that area. I have a terrific electrologist; she started giving me a discount.

I'm curious as to your experiences with electro. How long did it take to clear your face? What method was used? How much did it cost per hour?

Love-
-Barb

Good morning Barb,

A LOT depends on how you are when you start. If you have a thick stubble with many hair follicles it will take a lot longer. Think the difference between, say, George Clooney and Orlando Bloom.

I was lucky never to have much but I still had 60 hours on my face not including my upper lip. Then I had six sessions of laser hair removal. Even now, I'm going back for another laser treatment package of six. But I really have very little hair left now thankfully.

I've found the laser to be surprisingly effective but that's probably only because of the prior electrolysis.

I hope this helps a bit?

xx

[Stottie Girl]

60 hours? Groan! I have not started my electrolysis journey yet, i have such a long and expensive road ahead! I am more in the Orlando Bloom camp. I can have three day stubble that still does not show shadow and can be easilly hidden with tinted moisturiser. My hair goes auburn once it's more than a few mm long so Electrolysis is probably my only option.

I need to get started really but there are so many other competing things to pay for. I wish I was richer!

[Courtney G]

I had dense hairs on my chin and we're starting to see a real difference lately, but it has been a journey. I've seen my electrologist every week for just over a year, with 10 weeks missed due to surgeries (both mine and my electrologist's). Each of my sessions has been an hour.

That's what it takes. Stubborn, dense, deeply-rooted chin hairs require multiple "clearances." You have to keep going back.

That was the most dense area of growth on my face but I still have thousands of hairs on my lower cheeks and my neck. I expect it will be at least 3-4 more years of weekly visits before we can taper off to shorter and/or less frequent sessions. Eventually, we'll get to a maintenance level, where I'll see her on occasion as pesky hairs pop up.

I'm in school to become a licensed electrologist and I've learned a few things:

1. It's necessary to destroy the entire hair root structure and all cells responsible for reproduction or the hairs will regenerate
2. The anagen (growth) phase is the ideal time to treat hairs, but many of the hairs treated won't be in that phase, so treatment is less effective and re-treatment will be required. There's no way for your electrologist to look at your hairs and determine what phase of growth they're in. They have to remove them first. Sticking to the schedule established by your electrologist is the best way to maximize treatment effectiveness.
3. Laser is effective and is the way to go if you have darker hairs/lighter skin but paradoxical hypertrichosis is a real thing, so it's something to be aware of. The laser can stimulate hair growth and make hairs stronger, so your laser tech needs to know what they're doing in order to minimize the possibility of that happening.
4. Faster treatment (more hairs removed per hour) doesn't mean better results. The quality of the treatment is most important. A good electrologist will "zap" the bulb, bulge and papilla and will often remove a juicy hair that has been destroyed properly. In some cases, galvanic or blend modalities are required. They take longer but can be more effective.
5. Don't pluck! Plucking and epilation often causes hairs to grow back stronger and it usually deforms the roots, which makes subsequent electrolysis treatment less effective.