Facial Hair Removal After Going F/T

[AlyssaJ]

Well so much for those plans. I've decided just to go full bore with Electrolysis the whole way. Had my first trial run last night and am going back today for a one hour treatment. A little nervous because the trial caused a lot of swelling which is still there even now almost 18 hours later. My electrologist assured me it's nothing to worry about. However I'm hoping this hour long treatment doesn't create the same amount of swelling on a much larger patch. Going to take anti-inflammatory and allergy relief tablets before I go tonight, I've been told that could help prevent the swelling.

I third that motion..

its not just a waste but everything you do that is not permanent (plucking included) that damages the channel where the follicle is will result in a risk that electrolysis is more difficult...

I asked my electrologist about this and according to her this isn't exactly accurate. Plucking is a problem because the way it damages the follicle can leave pieces of the bulb under the skin which can cause complications. However, she said IPL won't make electrolysis more difficult but it could cause hairs to go dormant for a long period and then reappear at a point later when we thought the job was almost complete. I did stop IPL on my face after seeing these posts and I still think it was a good idea to stop, but I wanted to share that little factoid in case anyone found it useful.

[AllieSF]

Not sure of you job position and working conditions, but many men have some type of facial hair as part of their professional presentation or come in on Monday morning with a bit of scruff because they did not feel like shaving. My plan was that if during the 4 years of electrology on my face I went back to work, I would schedule my appoints for early Monday morning or at noon. That way I could full shave after that with that 3 days of weekend beard growth normally enough for electrolysis to work.

[Lauri K]

Alyssa

Most of the swelling should be gone by the 18 hour mark, but when I first began it hung on way longer and in fact a few times for days especially above the lip.

My other suggestion is to have cataphoresis with Aloe gel immediately after treatment and then maybe a little ice in the evening to help reduce swelling.

If you continue to have significant swelling or any peeling / dryness PM me and I can share a few tips.

Everyone reacts differently to treatment. It gets better after, just never give up.

[AlyssaJ]

Thanks Lauri. She told me yesterday when doing the test patch that she normally does do cataphoresis when she's don't but didn't yesterday because it was such a small patch (5 minute trial run). I just got back from my first 60 minute session and she did do the cataphoresis at the end. While it's more red than the patch she did yesterday, it doesn't so far appear to be swelling up the same. I've got some bumps like mosquito bites but that seems to be it so far. Hopefully either the cataphoresis or the other meds I took before the session (or both) are helping to keep things under control.

[AllieSF]

When I started my long process my electrologist asked how I would like to proceed, work on one concentrated spot or area at a time, or just work the whole face for every session, balancing out the pain and redness and swelling. I wanted it to come off uniform so that if I did stop shaving for any period of time, The hair would grow and give the same look as before, except the density would be less. She did concentrate above the chin and jaw line first then eventually got to the neck, which was and is one of the more painful areas. She concentrated on the thicker black hair, then the thicker white hairs and eventually all the rest. That approach worked very well for me. I mostly got those little pimple like spots where hair was growing out. I hate them and pick at them until the hidden hair is released causing little scabs in the process from all the picking. My bad, a little like biting your nails when you know it is bad.

[Jesse Six]

Hi Alyssa,
A comment on the whole "doing hair removal while being FT".

It's not just Electrolysis that's difficult to hide, so is laser (I had quite a bit). So either way, the more hair removal you can do before coming out and presenting female all the time, the better for you.

I found two difficult things:

1) Immediately following laser, I'd have major swelling. I mean, red face, fat Popeye chin, absolutely no way to look feminine. It would fade same day. Don't book it in the middle of your work day as a FT transitioner.

2) For the next week or so, the hairs would continue to slowly "grow", but they'd be very difficult to shave. They would act like they were sitting in rubber - you pass the razor over them, but they'd still be there. They tell me that the hairs aren't actually growing, they're fried and dead, but the skin is ejecting the dead shaft that's still under the skin. This takes 7-10 days. While the skin is slowly pushing them out, those little singed dark hairs are really visible. I find in the days following laser that I can't get a decent shave, and find it difficult to present female. 10 days later, they all fall out, and you're as smooth as a baby's bottom.

[Vickie_CDTV]

The after electrolysis treatment swelling will usually decrease as you go along, as density is reduced (but it will vary, I still swell up and I have had 100 hours... but I have facial hair from hell, including distorted follicles from years of plucking.) Another reason to rigidly stick to appointments is to keep the treated hair per session down, and therefore minimize swelling.

And don't pluck! An old electrolysis industry joke, "Only pluck the (beard) hair you want to keep." Follicular distortion can occur over time, and it makes treatment slower and more painful (and more expensive!)