Electrolysis

[Kathryn Martin]

I guess it is official. I had my introductory consultation with test patch on Thursday afternoon. My expert, Sarah is simply wonderful. I explained to her that confidentiality and discretion was mandatory. I hammered that home. And then alas I came out to a complete stranger whom I am looking to to assist in my transition.

She told me that she never had the privilege to work with a TS person. She said that one of her best friends has been working with TS for many years and had built her practice around it. She explained the process.

Then I was asked to lie on the treatment bed and she removed (hallelujah) from a quarter sized part of my face just below my left corner of the mouth all hair. Even today I can feel the smooth spot. Beginning on the 29th of October, 2010, I will have two sessions a week until the first round across my face is done.

The pain was more than bearable. I have a high tolerance, and she went from setting 1-3 in a minute and I will be able to manage. Let alone all the euphoric chemicals released in my brain about getting smoothed. She also suggested that if I needed Lidocaine, to use a gel not a spray and to cover the gel with saran wrap on the face because it would penetrate deeper that way. And to apply it 45 and 15 minutes before treatment.

I was tearful all the way home, not from pain (in fact the irritation was so unnoticeable that Elizabeth couldn't even identify where she had worked without touching) but from relief.

[Traci Elizabeth]

Talk about ENVY! You go girl. Unlike you, I have an extremely low tolerance to pain. I just don't know if I could do that even with having very few whiskers.

Did she estimate how many sessions it would take and how long each session would be?

[Kathryn Martin]

My impression was that it would be very intense in the first 2-3 months that is about 24-30 one hour sessions. After that its maintenance and mop up for about another 20 months about once a months. In addition to my face I will get my seven chest hairs (Elizabeth says that) and my fuzzy belly done. I am told by my therapist that she uses lidocaine inside her mouth as well and takes Tylenol extra strength and Advil before the session. I may lower my pain tolerance once on hormones, but I have had a lot of back pain in my life (too tall, levers way to long, delicately boned) and as long as I can I will go without pain killers.

Can I ask what you have done to get rid of the hair?

[Kaitlyn Michele]

Kathryn it takes from 200 to 400 hours..and mileage varies..sometimes after 100-150 hours enough hair is gone that girls just live with it...
if your hair is not too dense,you should have better luck than me!! my first electrologist called it a "bandit science" because you can never really tell how it's gonna work out , and you can not really say WHY it turns out better for some than others..

i recently had a huge REGROWTH of hair, post srs, post 250 hrs of electrolysis..and i'm shaving every day again...

i'm not being a party pooper, but i have to admit i didn't expect this at all and it made me very depressed for a while...

[Traci Elizabeth]

Can I ask what you have done to get rid of the hair?

Genes I guess, and I have always had low T. At puberty, I just never grew any chest, abdominal, or back hair. And I never had much facial hair either. One could actually count my facial hairs. That is great now but caused me issues at different times in "male" presentation in my past. Like when I was in a war zone and all my buddies had beards and I could grow nothing. Talk about being singled out with jokes, I was.

My leg and arm hairs where very few as well and now just on HRT for only 8 months almost all of that has turned to what I would call "peach fuzz" and grows very slowly.

[Kathryn Martin]

Kaytlyn, I have always been relatively hairless. Until age 32 I did not need to shave, on a regular basis and everything stayed peach fuzz. I shaved once a week from then and only at age 36 did I start shaving daily, not because I needed it necessarily but because I started lawyering and needed to look groomed. (sigh). I guess I am paying for it now. My growth is relatively thin still and I have never been able to grow a beard. Too patchy. It must be very disappointing, when it all of a sudden comes back with a patch. I would be devastated.

Traci, you are a lucky one. While my testosterone levels have always been low, they still did their job unfortunately.But I swear to high heaven, 7 freakin' chesthairs and they keep growing back, long back and ugly, and right in my cleavage.

[BreenaDion]

Im just lucky in one aspect is that im disabled. I Take 2 oxycodone for pain, for the back cuz I cant get up after treatment and also for treatment itself. I take them 1 hour before as to get full effect of dozage. Next 1/2 hour before treatment I apply L.M.X lidocaine, great tropical anesthetic, numbs the upper lip and lower very well, thats the only place I use it. When she starts ( my 5th electrologist BTW) on my mouth erea an works to the nose, helps desensitize the nerves that cross the center line of the face. Then its the eye brows and ears. Eyes and ears are just a mop up now been working on them almost 2 yrs off an on. I had laser done on the face to remove dark hairs,just doesnt remove my white ones though. BUMMER. Face is looking good now all the red pigment is gone, nice complexion. Now its a never ending battle to get the neck. 1 1/2 hours to do the eyes,ears, lips an face, 1/2 hour she works on the neck. Had at least 100 sessions range from 1/2 hour in the beginning to 7 hours a week in june. Now its just 2 hours a week. I am in search for my 6th, because once the face is under controll I need the scrotum to get done for SRS. That worries me.
Love Breena.

[Traci Elizabeth]

i recently had a huge REGROWTH of hair, post srs, post 250 hrs of electrolysis..and i'm shaving every day again...

Damn, I thought electrolysis was PERMINATE? That is NOT what I want to hear. Plus I thought that POST-SRS you had almost zero-T?

Have you asked anyone how or why this happened?

[Kaitlyn Michele]

its permanent...BUT.....when you get electrolysis only live hairs in a specific "phase" are actually eliminated. the other hairs/follicles are damaged and many do not come back, but the others do...and there is no way to tell when a hair is in it's kill phase..

a good estimate is that 30% of the stubble on your face is permanently killable at any one time...

as far the hormones, i had to get off estrogen for the month prior and 2 weeks after surgery...i have been tested and i don't a big resurgence of t or any problems with my current HRT prescription so it looks like that was a one time thing...we'll see..

[CharleneT]

Damn, I thought electrolysis was PERMINATE? That is NOT what I want to hear. Plus I thought that POST-SRS you had almost zero-T?

Have you asked anyone how or why this happened?

As for the post-op T level, there are other organs that produce testosterone - just not lots of it. But, stopping testosterone doesn't really affect your face .... a thing that is waaayy tooo baddd !!

I have never been able to find a consistent answer to "how many follicles are truly killed by being zapped via electrolysis ...". The most common answer I have noted was 70% as a best case value ( depends on many factors ). If only 30% are available at one time (see above), then you realize why it takes so long for many of us to have our faces totally cleared.

[Traci Elizabeth]

iso it looks like that was a one time thing...we'll see..

I hope it was. With a little luck, you can kiss those razers goodbye!

[Kaitlyn Michele]

The bottom line turns out to be you either do it, and just keep going until you are done, or you shave... i talk to folks that say do it this way, or only do it that way...but i think you just kill hairs..over and over until they are gone

i don't have to shave mywhole face...just some spots where it seems i can't rid myself of the hair...even those areas are getting better with time...

btw...the worst thing you can do is pluck..it destroys follicles but not hairs so you get even more crooked cranky hairs to kill and electrloysis needles like skinny straight hairs best

[Kathryn Martin]

btw...the worst thing you can do is pluck..it destroys follicles but not hairs so you get even more crooked cranky hairs to kill and electrloysis needles like skinny straight hairs best

My electrolysicist (is that a word?) said the same thing. If you want to get rid of easier just let it grow and it will get killed in time or shave.

[Stephenie S]

So, let's set a few things straight here.

Electrolysis IS permanent. Once a hair follicle is killed, that hair will never grow back again. As someone mentioned above, however, all hairs are not growing in the same phase. You can clear your entire face and three to five months later have an entire face full of hair back again. Again, as someone mentioned already, the only thing to do is keep going until they are all gone.

If you have a normal male beard, the original estimate of 2-3 months is wildly optimistic. Try 2-3 YEARS. It's true that a whole lot can be accomplished in a year, but remember those pesky growth cycles. The darn stuff just keeps coming back.

Two years of intense electrolysis should make a huge difference. After that, or maybe after only a year if you have a light beard, you may be lucky enough to be in the mopping up stage.

I have found that electrologists often give unrealistic estimates at first. They certainly did for me, and it sounds like they did for the OP. The first "test" session always seems to be a fairly light one also. The fact remains that electrolysis hurts like the very dickens, especially around the nose and lips. That's an area of the face that's just packed with sensitive nerve endings. Why do you think we like to kiss so much?

Yes, there are several products that help with the pain. Emla cream is one that we use in the hospital often. It works well, but needs to be "occluded", (covered with something like Saran Wrap) to insure it's effectiveness. It's also white, which can give you the looks of a Saran wrapped mummy on your way to the electrolysis salon. Ick!

A visit to your dentist will provide the most effective solution to working on the lips and nose area. For about $25, your dentist can provide what is known as an "electrolysis numbing" which will give you two HOURS of blissful comfort while your electrologist works on that area. You may even fall asleep. Most dentists do this often for their female clients. Women often are very self conscious about their mustache area and work hard to get it removed.

Good luck with all this and congratulations on beginning.

Stephie

[jessicaheartt09]

Congratulations on beginning the process of hair removal! I remember my apprehension when I went to 3 different consultations for laser hair removal to determine best price. I was so nervous but afterward so relieved. I wish you the best in your journey.

[tommietv]

you mentioned laser I'm not super hairy and had thought about it but have much grey I take it that it don't work well?

[renee k]

Electrolysis is the way to go even, (especially) with gray hairs. I've been hair free for four years. I just go back every six seven months for a touch up. I've got this stubborn patch under my lower lip that just won't go away. But even it is getting smaller. Plus my electrologist keeps my eyebrows shaped as well. Kathryn the results are well worth the time and money.

Renee

[Hope]

Laser works if your skin is light, and your hair is dark, and the hair is in the right growth phase, and the tech is using the right equipment, and there are no solar flairs within 48 hours of your treatment, and if you happen to have magical pixie dust.

Does laser work? Probably, for some folks. Is it permanent? The FDA is unwilling to allow the laser industry to claim that it is - but that could be for any number of reasons. Once a follicle is dead, it is not simply going to spring back to life.

If you have light skin, and dark hair, a good plan is to have a few laser sessions to have the laser kill what it will - because laser is faster and cheaper. Much faster, and much cheeper. But you will reach a point where the laser will not do anything more, particularly for grey hair, and you will have to have electro finish the rest of that up.

If you do not have light skin and dark hair, laser is probably a waste of time.

[Kathryn Martin]

I had the first full session today. Took two Tylenol extra strength and one 400mg Ibuprofen. Sarah started at my request on my upper lip to clean the black hairs which are most concentrated there. I asked her to dial up to five after about 5 minutes. I am alive and well. Got a bunch of black hairs removed. Given my density and pain tolerance she thinks I'll be once fully removed after 4-6 months and we'll be into maintenance for the following 18 months. I am alive, feel great and have not s stitch of redness left. Awesome, she is gooooood.

[Louise C]

Hi Kathryn, Originally i had 3-4 sessions of laser to weaken the darker hairs, but now I go twice a week for my sessions, 45-60 minutes at a time. They are seriously painful somedays, others not so bad. Since i started in march i've seen a fair bit of clearance on my side burns, but the rest of my face and neck still need a lot of work. I imagine continual sessions will be needed for at least two years, but thats ok for me, as i really enjoy visiting the clinic - it makes me realise i'm actually doin' something after all these years. YAY!
I think a few months is indeed a very reserved estimate for complete clearance.

[Melody Moore]

Even natal females have fine facial hair.

A very dear friend of mine who transitioned way in 1978 and she as never had electrolysis in her life but she does have very fine light facial hair which she removes in a minute or two each week herself. So I've taken her advice & invested in an epilator as opposed to waxing and I'm also am going to also let the hormones do the work because each time the hairs are removed the hair follicle shrinks and the hair grows back even finer & is also easier to remove. However I am having some laser work done on my few dark facial hairs starting on the 8th of November.