First electrolysis session -- so happy

[Cheryl123]

I completed my first electrolysis session yesterday, and it was one of the greatest days of my life. (For those of you who have been here and done this, please try not to laugh too hard at all of this gushing!). It was only a 15 min session, and yes it hurt, but this morning when I awoke, I looked in the mirror and found this little circle of beautiful, clear and smooth skin. I’ve spent all day just rubbing my finger over it to make sure it was real. (Like I said, don’t laugh too hard!)

But even more important for me was that this was the first occasion I’ve truly presented myself in public. Oh, I’ve been out before a few times, but I’ve never walked into an office and said “Hello, my name is Cheryl and I have an appointment. “ And even though my presentation is far from perfect (and this is something I’m working very hard on), this was the first time I’ve ever been treated as perfectly normal, treated as a woman, treated as who I really am.

Of course this was a very supportive environment but I just loved the fact that I could be myself .. be silly, be effeminate, I even flirted a little (playfully) with some of the staff. I could do all of this and be accepted as a woman, maybe one who is a bit outlandish, but still a woman. What an affirmation!

And when I left the office I drove across the street to the shopping mall where I spent a half hour walking about window shopping. I was so much into being the real me ( and not acting like someone trying to be a woman) I really didn’t care if anyone gave me strange looks or thought ill of me – and I don’t believe anyone did.

I still have a long way to go. I have not actually gone shopping. I would love to have a wing-girl to accompany me, but I will go on my own very soon. I just had to share my happiness with all of you because I know you will understand. Thank you for reading all of this silliness!

[Dianne S]

Congratulations!!! That sounds wonderful!

I've yet to experience electrolysis... finished 3 of a planned 12 or so laser sessions and already I can see a big difference. But I will need electro to mop up the light-colored hairs.

[Angela Campbell]

Cool , just 300 or so more hours to go

[Eryn]

Congratulations on joining the Sisterhood of Electrolysis!

Yes, the smooth feeling is great, but of course you'll soon get a small letdown when the hairs start popping out again. You've got about 1/3 of the total hair if she cleared the spot and of that she's probably killed about half of those follicles. Still, it's a start and all it takes is time and money to play the game of follicular whack-a-mole.

Keep doing electrolysis and you might well end up with a winggirl from the electrologist's other clients. I've met a couple of good friends through mine! It takes a while until she gets comfortable with you and coincidence allows an introduction. Electrology clients tend to get used to seeing each other as they arrive and depart and sometimes things can get social!

[Cheryl123]

Thanks Eryn for the dose of realism. My friend in Georgia has told me the same thing, But I still love my little smooth spot eventhough it won't last. And it would be so cool to find a friend at the electrolysis office.

@Angela..300 more hours? Lol. Do you promise? It's like my orthodonsist when I asked her how long would I need to wear the braces. Nine months, maybe a year. Nine months, a year goes by, nope. A year and 3 months. Finally she removed them at a year and 5 months. She wasn't messing with me. There's just no way of predicting how quickly teeth will move. I think electrolysis is the same way. It'll be done when it's done.

@Dianne. Congradulations to you too! I think it's so wonderful that we've started down this road. We'll be so beautiful one day soon. I just know it.

[Angela Campbell]

300, 400, whatever it takes. I am at about 130 hrs, but not too far from done. I will likely be under 200 when done. I started a year ago.

[stefan37]

I've been going about 2-1/4 years. I have completed over 330+ hours and still go every week. Thankfully I get cleared in 2 hours now.

I can relate to the feeling you experienced as I experienced the same when I first started.

[Eryn]

Total time depends upon exactly how much you have done, how dense your hair is, how faithful you are about your appointments, and that unpredictable factor of how effective the electrolysis is on an individual.

I've been doing two hours weekly for about two years now. My face is pretty much clear and I haven't touched my shaver in months. My electrologist now runs out of work on my face in about an hour so we've moved on to other places. Ears, eyebrows, lower back, and chest all want their piece of attention as well! My electrologist tells me that I'm a little faster than most but I'm also very consistent with my treatments. I hate going a week without a treatment as it seems like a setback to me.

One key to making electrolysis as effective as possible is to provide feedback to the electrologist. You want the machine turned up as much as you can tolerate for the area she's treating. If she's working away and I'm not feeling the zaps I tell her to turn it up. If she turns it up too much she can tell by the skin reaction to the zap. Turning the machine up increases the chances that the follicle will be killed and also allows the electrologist to work faster, as one zap is almost always enough for each hair. At a lower level she might have to make two zaps before the hair slides out nicely. The old saw "No Pain, No Gain" definitely applies here and I'm willing to grit out a little discomfort if it means that the hair doesn't have to be treated again!

[Cheryl123]

Thanks so much Eryn for this info! This is so helpful to me because I don't know the "ins and outs" of electrolysis. I will certainly talk to my electrologist about this .. she's very experienced and would know exactly what you are talking about. But without your input here, I wouldn't know enough to ask. So thanks again.

[tina99]

Congratulations. I've had several sessions of both facial and genital electrolysis (in preparation for SRS). I always use some prescription Lidocaine-Prilocaine cream and take a few Ibuprofen tablets before I go in. The genital electrolysis does not hurt nearly as much as the facial electrolysis. I was full time as Tina for 11 years before starting electrolysis. My beard is white, so as long as I shave twice a week, apparently no one notices it :) .