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My Electrolysis Journey
I have been wanting to do this treatment for a long time and I will stop at nothing to get this hair off of my face!!! I want to document my journey so that others can see what it is like.
A little about me first--I started growing hair on my face in my early 20's. I have male pattern hair growth that is very coarse & dark. It grows on my chin, jaw, sideburns, cheeks, and lips....it started out as a few black hairs that I could pluck but after a little while the hairs were coming in so quick that i could not keep up. I tried waxing--it did not get all the hairs, so it was useless. Eventually I started shaving everything but my lips and eyebrows!! I've tried Laser before and it did not work....not sure if it was because I have red hair or if the salon I went to just did not have powerful lasers, but for whatever reason 12 laser treatments over the course of a year did not work for me....though it also did not make my hair worse like some others have reported!! I have no medical condition that I have been diagnosed with (as the only symptom of any conditions is hirsutism), as it is really just hereditary. My mom shaves her face (only her chin/jaw area--the hair on her cheeks and sideburns comes in blonde--lucky her!) so I saw her doing this my whole life, not realizing that could be me one day! I recently found out my Aunt also has the same issue!
Before my appointment--I was so nervous beforehand for a variety of reasons....first, I actually had to let the hair grow out before my appointment (eww!), then I had to drive to my appointment, wait in the waiting room and talk to my electrologist all with this hair on my face. Again, eww! My appointment was on a Friday at 9 am and I stopped shaving Wednesday at 3 pm. I actually could have shaved Wednesday night and that would have been enough hair growth. I took a few ibuprofen the morning of, wish I would have had a Valium to help me relax! I also made sure to stock up on Witch Hazel and Aquaphor, as this is what my electrologist recommended. I opted out of doing any numbing cream the first time, but I might revisit this later!
My Consultation and first 15 min of electrolysis. I will not lie, it hurt!! We started with my chin and I felt every time the needle went into my hair follicle. Because I do not have a lot of fat on my face (I just recently lost 20 lbs) I felt the needle in my chin/jaw bone!! One side seemed to hurt more than the other side, but I think this is because I was super anxious/nervous and I was clenching up! Next appointment I want to try a mouth guard to see if this helps me not to clench my jaw and grind my teeth...will let you know if this helps!! I also tasted metal when she moved to the other side of my chin, but she said I taste that because of the fillings on that side of my mouth...makes sense. The 15 min seemed to go by fast, but my real test is next week when I sit for my 1st 1 hour appointment!
My face afterwards. I only treated a small area, but I can tell you that my chin was a little swollen for 1-3 hours, the area treated was red for 48 hours, and whiteheads appeared after 24 hours and subsided 48 hours or so later. And honestly I had some residual pain in my jaw/chin from where I felt the needles go in, but it was more of a very light pain feeling-and this subsided in less than 24 hours. Again, the real test for my face will be next week as we will have more time to treat a larger area.
Shaving afterwards--this was really important to me, as I have to shave 1-2 times a day. I did shave as soon as I got home, as my electrologist said go ahead and shave right after your appointment!! I did not get a close shave as I usually would have as I was afraid of doing anything wrong. Although a few days later I went and read what others had to say and they said shaving afterwards is best because the whiteheads have not formed yet, so shaving before these appear is optimal. This makes me happier about the process because after having to hide out and let the hair grow for a few days before my appointment, i was more than excited to come home and shave right away...and um feel like myself again!!!
A little more about me--I work from home, at least for the next 1 year or so. So this really is the best scenario for me to "hide" out during my treatments. Not sure how this whole process would go if I did not work from home. That is why I want to get as much done over the next year. I want to try and do as much as I can when I can so that I can see the whole process through. I am very excited at the thought of never having to shave again, but I know that this will be a long, expensive, and painful process. I will update you as much as possible and feel free to ask me anything!! I will also share some photos before and after my next appointment, as the area will be much larger and it will be more visible in a photo.
A little about me first--I started growing hair on my face in my early 20's. I have male pattern hair growth that is very coarse & dark. It grows on my chin, jaw, sideburns, cheeks, and lips....it started out as a few black hairs that I could pluck but after a little while the hairs were coming in so quick that i could not keep up. I tried waxing--it did not get all the hairs, so it was useless. Eventually I started shaving everything but my lips and eyebrows!! I've tried Laser before and it did not work....not sure if it was because I have red hair or if the salon I went to just did not have powerful lasers, but for whatever reason 12 laser treatments over the course of a year did not work for me....though it also did not make my hair worse like some others have reported!! I have no medical condition that I have been diagnosed with (as the only symptom of any conditions is hirsutism), as it is really just hereditary. My mom shaves her face (only her chin/jaw area--the hair on her cheeks and sideburns comes in blonde--lucky her!) so I saw her doing this my whole life, not realizing that could be me one day! I recently found out my Aunt also has the same issue!
Before my appointment--I was so nervous beforehand for a variety of reasons....first, I actually had to let the hair grow out before my appointment (eww!), then I had to drive to my appointment, wait in the waiting room and talk to my electrologist all with this hair on my face. Again, eww! My appointment was on a Friday at 9 am and I stopped shaving Wednesday at 3 pm. I actually could have shaved Wednesday night and that would have been enough hair growth. I took a few ibuprofen the morning of, wish I would have had a Valium to help me relax! I also made sure to stock up on Witch Hazel and Aquaphor, as this is what my electrologist recommended. I opted out of doing any numbing cream the first time, but I might revisit this later!
My Consultation and first 15 min of electrolysis. I will not lie, it hurt!! We started with my chin and I felt every time the needle went into my hair follicle. Because I do not have a lot of fat on my face (I just recently lost 20 lbs) I felt the needle in my chin/jaw bone!! One side seemed to hurt more than the other side, but I think this is because I was super anxious/nervous and I was clenching up! Next appointment I want to try a mouth guard to see if this helps me not to clench my jaw and grind my teeth...will let you know if this helps!! I also tasted metal when she moved to the other side of my chin, but she said I taste that because of the fillings on that side of my mouth...makes sense. The 15 min seemed to go by fast, but my real test is next week when I sit for my 1st 1 hour appointment!
My face afterwards. I only treated a small area, but I can tell you that my chin was a little swollen for 1-3 hours, the area treated was red for 48 hours, and whiteheads appeared after 24 hours and subsided 48 hours or so later. And honestly I had some residual pain in my jaw/chin from where I felt the needles go in, but it was more of a very light pain feeling-and this subsided in less than 24 hours. Again, the real test for my face will be next week as we will have more time to treat a larger area.
Shaving afterwards--this was really important to me, as I have to shave 1-2 times a day. I did shave as soon as I got home, as my electrologist said go ahead and shave right after your appointment!! I did not get a close shave as I usually would have as I was afraid of doing anything wrong. Although a few days later I went and read what others had to say and they said shaving afterwards is best because the whiteheads have not formed yet, so shaving before these appear is optimal. This makes me happier about the process because after having to hide out and let the hair grow for a few days before my appointment, i was more than excited to come home and shave right away...and um feel like myself again!!!
A little more about me--I work from home, at least for the next 1 year or so. So this really is the best scenario for me to "hide" out during my treatments. Not sure how this whole process would go if I did not work from home. That is why I want to get as much done over the next year. I want to try and do as much as I can when I can so that I can see the whole process through. I am very excited at the thought of never having to shave again, but I know that this will be a long, expensive, and painful process. I will update you as much as possible and feel free to ask me anything!! I will also share some photos before and after my next appointment, as the area will be much larger and it will be more visible in a photo.