Electrolysis - Rates and Timeline - my current experience compared to yours

[inessa]

I have just come to an agreement with a seemingly nice person to perform electrolysis hair removal. She is asking for $75 an hour and recommends 2 hours per session, once a week. Although, of course, you cannot know my beard coverage, I am fairly confident in is on the lesser side of normal (maybe just slightly or is that wishful thinking?:) ) She suggested that the removal timeline coul dbe one year or more with one hour a week and possibly noticeably shorter with two hours per week. Does the rate sounds ok to you and is this timeline normal? Is two hours per session about right?

Thanks!

[ReneeT]

$75/hr seems about average. I pay anywhere from $65to $105/hr depending on where i am. The amount of time needed depends heavily on the density of your facial hair. I have a very dense beard and am approx 100 hrs into treatment, going approx 6 hrs per week. I figure i have at east another 100 hrs to go. My sessions now are 2 hrs each, but that is a lot to start with. I would suggest starting with 30 min and increasing from there. Good luck, and be patient! It is worth every minute and every penny!

[ReineD]

200 hours @ $75 = $15,000 in total for electrolysis - is this just the face or the entire body?

[Stephenie S]

Just the face. There are approximately 40,000 individual hairs on a male face. Each one has to be done and often more than once.

Stephie

[Aprilrain]

Sounds about right. Hair removal can be close to the most expensive and certainly is the most time consuming part of transition.

[Badtranny]

Facial hair removal is the reason why so many TS girls seem so bitchy. I wasted a few months on one hour sessions. Don't do it, you can't get anything done. My girl gets so much more done in the second hour because she's on a roll and in the zone and so am I. My last session was 4 hours because I won't be having another one for quite awhile after my impending FFS. You can count on 200 hours as a good baseline before you're anywhere close to being "done".

The process is long and grueling but you get used to it after awhile. The important thing is don't waste any time, and anything less than 2 hours a week is a waste of time. $75 is a little on the higher end, my girl is only $55 and I love her.

[Diane Elizabeth]

Sounds just a bit above the normal price. Around here in the Twin Cities the average about $65/hour. Two hour session about $120.

[ReineD]

Ouch. I had no idea it was this time consuming and expensive.

Is there any chance that the hair follicle might revive in later years or are you guaranteed permanent results?

[Sharon]

Once a follicle is dead, it's dead for good. However, new follicles always erupt and touch-ups are necessary every now and then.

I had 2-hour/weekly sessions for a year, followed by 1-hour sessions each week for another year-and-a-half. I paid $60 per hour, but my last session was three years ago. Yes, Reine, it's very time consuming and expensive, not to mention painful. :)

[Kirsty_D]

How does Laser hair removal compare to Electrolysis?

I've started Laser but I'm hearing that electrolysis is more painful, takes longer but is more permanent and that I'll probably have to go back and do laser again at some point.

[Badtranny]

it's very time consuming and expensive, not to mention painful. :)

It's awful and even worse after you begin HRT. For some reason, the hormones make your face more sensitive. My blessed doctor gives me a Norco prescription for my damn sessions. 2 hours ever Wednesday night like clockwork. Hopefully I'll be done in the next 20 years.

[Aprilrain]

How does Laser hair removal compare to Electrolysis?

I've started Laser but I'm hearing that electrolysis is more painful, takes longer but is more permanent and that I'll probably have to go back and do laser again at some point.

My experience is that laser is not less painful, personally the area where electro is most painful is the "cupids bow" which is a tiny spot the rest of it is pretty tolerable. Laser can't claim permanent hair removal just permanent hair reduction. That being said many get permanent results while others waste a lot of money. Laser has been great on my legs but I don't care if there is some hair on my legs (the hair is so light that i really dont even need to shave it) the point was to get rid of that thick fast growing man hair, especially on my upper legs where I'd get really bad razor burn. Electrolysis is permanent but like Sharon said hairs can pop up from time to time. The big thing with all hair removal is patients! One sesion of either isn't going to do anything

[Kirsty_D]

Thanks April, I have 5 more session's to go on this package, I was never the sort of person who had to shave every day, normally every 3 day's so if Laser can reduce this I'll be happy but it sounds like I'll have to go the electrolyses route at some point later.

One other question, does HRT significantly reduce beard growth?

[Aprilrain]

HRT will reduce the speed at which your hair grows and will make either hair removal process more effective but it will not diminish the amount of hair on your face. some people lose much of their body hair with HRT but body hair is different than facial or pubic hair.

[Katesback]

It is impossible to say my experience is going to be like anyone elses.

I got six or seven sessions of laser on my face. Laser was a breeze and didnt hurt at all except under my nose. It appeared to have some effect. I still had to shave every day thereafter.

Today I tweeze my face and dont shave. It takes about 20 min a day and I am either nuts or optimistic to say it seems to be slowly stopping the hair growth.

I will say that either the laser or the hormones did cause me to loose 99% of the facial hair except for the gotee area. That is what remains and what I tweeze.

Katie

[Laura Evans]

Electrolysis going on 2 years now once a week for 1 hr at $70./hr. I have a thick beard and it will take some time to remove it all but I am already seeing results.

[Vickie_CDTV]

When comparing electrologists rates, remember, it is hairs per dollar, not dollars per hour that counts. An electrologist with the latest cutting edge equipment and extensive experience on male facial hair might be able to get hair counts into the high hundreds per hour, another electrologist with older equipment and/or less experience working on male facial hair may only be able to treat 150-200 per hour on the exact same hair. With all other things being equal, both can achieve true permanent hair removal but the one who can do 700 per hour at $125 an hour is cheaper than the one at 200 per hour a $65 an hour. If you are unsure, ask them how many they are treating in an hour (modern electrolysis machines have insertion counters which can give you a rough idea of their speed.)

It is best to have full clearances each time, if possible, to reduce time and cost. It is not always possible to do in the beginning, since the time to do a virgin beard can be extensive and expensive, but it is best in the long run if possible. If not, at least have them do a full clearance of one troublesome area to start, and then spread out from there, doing full clearances of the previously cleared areas and moving a bit further out, until the whole face can be cleared in a few hours. Not all electrologists can do long sessions of over 4 hours a day on one person, so that is something else to consider when choosing an electrologist; it is better if they can, but if not at least they can spread it out as described above. If one cannot find someone local who can do a full clearance on their beard the first 4-6 times, it might be cheaper to travel to an electrologist with a high hair per hour count and who can do those initial long clearances, and then do the remaining hours with someone local.

(To give one an idea of how much hair is on a virgin beard, it can take anywhere from 10-35 hours to clear a beard the first time in one multi-day marathon session, depending on how the dense the beard is!)

[arbon]

Did 8 sessions of laser for $2400, last session was about a year. Did a decent job, but some still comes back so I do electrolysis once a month - 40min session @$70 which keeps it pretty clear,. Kinda spendy but she is the only local that does electrolysis. I liked laser because the sessions only took 10min so pain was over quick It did hurt a lot worse then electrolysis I thought though.

[Kathryn Martin]

$40 per hour, 2x per week for one hour 78 weeks = $6240 and 55 weeks to go. My face is done to the jawline working mustache area and chin after that only neck left anticipated total cost is $ 11000.

[Kirsty_D]

Thanks Kate, I hope the laser does as half decent job and later the hormones reduce the facial hair.



Did 8 sessions of laser for $2400, last session was about a year. Did a decent job, but some still comes back so I do electrolysis once a month - 40min session @$70 which keeps it pretty clear,. Kinda spendy but she is the only local that does electrolysis. I liked laser because the sessions only took 10min so pain was over quick It did hurt a lot worse then electrolysis I thought though.

My session's with laser are 50 mins each and the pain is just at the point of being unbearable especially around my chin. The price of laser here in a top class clinic (specializes in cosmetic medical tourism mainly for American's) is 36,000 peso's (about $800) for 6 sessions.

[Diane Elizabeth]

PAIN!!! OUCH!!! Before HRT I could tolerate the electrolysis. After I started HRT I can only go for about 15 minutes of pain. Now I use Activan to tolerate the pain. I've only had 1 session this year. Money is getting too tight for me.

Anyway, the pain quota is determined by the person going thru the hell of electrolysis. I did try laser but the setting was too low to be very effective. Now I have almost all gray hair.

[Kristy_K]

When comparing electrologists rates, remember, it is hairs per dollar, not dollars per hour that counts. An electrologist with the latest cutting edge equipment and extensive experience on male facial hair might be able to get hair counts into the high hundreds per hour, another electrologist with older equipment and/or less experience working on male facial hair may only be able to treat 150-200 per hour on the exact same hair. With all other things being equal, both can achieve true permanent hair removal but the one who can do 700 per hour at $125 an hour is cheaper than the one at 200 per hour a $65 an hour. If you are unsure, ask them how many they are treating in an hour (modern electrolysis machines have insertion counters which can give you a rough idea of their speed.)

It is best to have full clearances each time, if possible, to reduce time and cost. It is not always possible to do in the beginning, since the time to do a virgin beard can be extensive and expensive, but it is best in the long run if possible. If not, at least have them do a full clearance of one troublesome area to start, and then spread out from there, doing full clearances of the previously cleared areas and moving a bit further out, until the whole face can be cleared in a few hours. Not all electrologists can do long sessions of over 4 hours a day on one person, so that is something else to consider when choosing an electrologist; it is better if they can, but if not at least they can spread it out as described above. If one cannot find someone local who can do a full clearance on their beard the first 4-6 times, it might be cheaper to travel to an electrologist with a high hair per hour count and who can do those initial long clearances, and then do the remaining hours with someone local.

(To give one an idea of how much hair is on a virgin beard, it can take anywhere from 10-35 hours to clear a beard the first time in one multi-day marathon session, depending on how the dense the beard is!)

Thank you for the information Vickie. I will compare that with what my electrolysis does.

I usually do 4 hrs. sessions at $50. an hour. I have 56 hrs. and around the lips are almost clear. Can't do any more for a few months until the FFS heals.

Kristy