electrolysis/laser hair removal

[dawn]

Hi, advice as to where to go and as to what to go for:confused:there doesn't seem to be many people doing electrolysis in the area! have had conflicting reports about effectivness of the laser treatment. I have studdied different things written on the web which has only confused me more. Anyone who can shed light on what and where and who I should go to from their own experience would help no end.
Hugs dawn

[Christina Johnson]

Hi Dawn, The issue of 'to laser or not to laser' does seem to be quite a minefield; and just to confuse things a bit more, a lot of operators state that they a registered with the Healthcare Commission as some sort of badge of excellance, when in fact it is a requirement. There is however a commission to monitor their standards of service - CHAI - the report is long and boring - after all why use one word when 1000 will do just as well. If asked, they have to show it to you, but an easier method is downloading the info from the CHAI website http://www.healthcarecommission.org.uk/homepage.cfm To find a clinic / salon , just type the town, county etc into the 'entry field' BE warned, select independant, cosmetic (btw there are only 5 in lancashire) - Have plenty of coffee to hand - you'll need it, You can skip most of it , and just look for info relating to recommendations

On Electrolysis, they're not governed by CHAI, and many are not even registered with any commission at all, just with the council for a permit to operate (thats not the same as being able or trained to do it) - their agency is - BAIE http://directory.electrolysis.co.uk/

Bet you wish you never asked now lol

Personally, I went for a few sessions of laser first, to remove facial hair, and then went for electrolysis to remove hairs that were left, and remove the hairs as they regrew.

With electrolysis, a couple of tips, take a paracetamol before you go, and you may want to get some EMLA cream too (topical anaesthetic) which is available from any chemist, you have to ask for it, but just say your doctor advised you to use it for electrolysis. And, try not to wear makeup for at least 24hrs after.
BTW I go to Tricia Greens in Manchester.

[Jennifer D]

With electrolysis, a couple of tips, take a paracetamol before you go, ...
Although I don't find it hurts that much, bar the occasion hair and with the exception of the area just under my lower lip, I would agree with the paracetamol advice - particularly if you have a 2 hour session - and even more so if you are foolish enough to spend 30 mins at the dentist immediately before 2 hours of electro, like I did once :eek:

I don't use ELMA cream though - the paracetamol is enough to take the edge of it for me.

I have heard that the "agony" changes over time as you get sensitised to it, but I am finding it easier at the moment than I was when I started out. With fewer hairs per sq cm (on the areas that have been worked on) there is less work done in each area at each session. That's after 50 hours of electro though, how it will be after the next 50 may be very different.

BTW I go to Tricia Greens in Manchester.
Likewise!

Oh, I had 6 sessions of laser at 6 week intervals before I started electro. If I could start again I'd have skipped the laser. I have, or had, about a 50-50 mix of black and white hairs and 6 sessions of laser was not enough to permanently kill of the black ones - it seemed to but then a load suddenly came back about 18 weeks after my last laser session. I'd be further ahead now if I'd spent the 36 weeks of laser on electro instead.

But it will depend on how many black hairs you have compared to white ones, and whether you want to try laser to save some money.

[Jennifer Kielty]

Interesting response Jennifer!

You say that 6 sessions wasn’t enough to kill off the black hairs? Do you think if you had more than 6 sessions your black hairs would be have been killed? If not, why bother at all with the laser and just opt for electrolysis? I presume the only way to get rid of the white/grey hairs would be to go down the line of electrolysis?

You also mentioned cost, but if laser has a limited effect then surely it’s a false economy going/sticking with laser, when for the extra money on electrolysis, you are going to get a better return for your money and fewer hairs left?

I am considering having hair removal and as Dawn pointed out, this is a mine field of contradictions. Who or what do you believe, everyone seems to have different opinions and as for the results???

I’ve been looking into this for months and still cannot decide a course of action.

Jenny:confused:

[Jennifer D]

Hi Jenny,

You say that 6 sessions wasn’t enough to kill off the black hairs? Do you think if you had more than 6 sessions your black hairs would be have been killed? If not, why bother at all with the laser and just opt for electrolysis? I presume the only way to get rid of the white/grey hairs would be to go down the line of electrolysis?
At the time I started laser I had no basis to work from - just like everyone else the information available was non-conclusive.

Since then I have met people who had far more laser than me, but then after a few years off it suddenly found black hairs re-appearing. On the other hand I have also met people for whom it worked very well.

The reality, I think, is that you'll never know unless you try - and one type of laser machine may work far better for one person than for another as well. It is a gamble.

You also mentioned cost, but if laser has a limited effect then surely it’s a false economy going/sticking with laser, when for the extra money on electrolysis, you are going to get a better return for your money and fewer hairs left?
Well laser may cost you around £100 per session and each session will treat your whole face. Electro may cost around £30 an hour and starting from where I did my first hour treated one half of the area above my top lip - and did I look odd after that :eek:

I never really saw cost as the main issue in that I knew I'd need electro, and a lot of it, and so I had budgetted for it. What mattered to me was time - had the laser worked really well then it would have saved time, as it was it didn't really.

The question I can't answer is whether I had spent another 36 weeks on laser, say, would it have really worked, and so, perhaps saved time in the long run. But it is a bit acedemic since I am going FT at Christmas and the electro I have had since March this year has already left me in a far better shape than another 7 months of electro would have done.

Laser may be a quick fix, it certainly meand that I could get away with less shaving and so be out & about as Jennifer for 4 or 5 days before my face was red raw with shaving.

Perhaps the best option is what a friend of mine is doing - a few laser sessions, then switch to electro, and then keep having laser on the areas which the electolysist is not working on. Laser and electro aren't recommended on the same area without 4 weeks or so in between, but there should be no problem having laser on your throat area if your electrolysist is only working on the area around your mouth.

I am considering having hair removal and as Dawn pointed out, this is a mine field of contradictions. Who or what do you believe, everyone seems to have different opinions and as for the results???

I’ve been looking into this for months and still cannot decide a course of action.
I think that it is different for everyone - there are no hard and fast rules.

I think that you also need to consider what your objective is - in my case I sometimes travel on long haul flights and any shaving is going to be a nuisance. Ultimately I want to have a completely hair free face.

However, if you are not planning on going FT, or you have a more sensible job than mine, then laser may be good enough in that it will certainly reduce the amount of (dark) hair and so reduce the need for shaving

The killer is the cost - 6 sessions of laser, say around £600, perhaps a bit more these days - 350 hours of electro, which is sort of typical for clearing a face, may be around £10,500.

Sorry - I don't know the answer any more than anyone else. All I know is that electro really is working for me, but laser was not such a good investment.

[Jennifer Kielty]

Hi Jennifer

Thank you for your comments. I have no plans to go full time but maybe in the future who knows? I am very lucky in the sense that I can shave in the morning and I am still reasonable smooth in the evening. I think it’s down to life style and not having to shave, you could class me as a lazy crossdresser? I am quite fortunate that the salon I go to have my waxing, is licensed for Laser treatment, so I might make some enquiries? Then this opens another load of questions as to what power rating etc, etc. I will continue to research and give Laser a go, and see what sort of results I can achieve. I’m in no hurry, but would love to be able to have a quick shave before applying my makeup.

Jen

[jamie]

My own experiences are that I have been undergoing treatment at Cristianos for 18 months and currently have very little growth (if any). I have been having laser for the dark hair and electro for the white hair. The combination appears to be very effective. The laser has cost me £150 to £250 per session depending on the machine used. Once you have had ten sessions it reduces to £50 or less per session depending on the area treated. The electro costs £30 an hour, but Cristianos will only offer electro in conjunction with laser treatment.

On the pain issue I agreed with taking paracetomol just before the electro, yet I actually find laser more painful.

So far I am extremely happy with the results.

Jamie xx

[Petra Susan]

Hello,

I'm currently undergoing laser treatment at a place in Manchester. I've only had two treatments so far but have noticed a very big difference in my face hair on my cheeks and down my neck. The nurse doing the treatment intially told me that I'd need more than the six treatments in the standard package I bought, but at the way it's dissappearing I'm beginning to doubt that, perhaps for my top lip I will. I have my third treatment at the end of May.

As regards the pain, the first one was very painful, but the scond treatment I hardly felt at all, even though the machine was set at a higher engery output level, all without any painkillers

I let the girls at Blackburn college try out their electrolysis skills on the white/grey hairs in my face taht the laser won't zap. At only £1 a session is a bargin, I was in for about 30 minutes and they zapped quite a few hairs, but I have a lot to zap so envisage a much longer time scale than the laser. I also let them loose on my nipple hair too, but that was way to painful for me to bare so I put a stop to that.

All in all I think the Laser treatment was a very good investment. It's cut down the amount of time I have to shave, reduced the amount of make-up I need to cover the beard to a reasonable degree. Over all I think I'll recoop the money in razorbaldes alone in about 8 years, even if I wasn't trans I think i'd still go for it. As for the electro, at £1 a go you can't argue with that price, even if the grils aren't professional, they give very good standard of treatment fully supervised by qualified staff.

Janine

[Jennifer D]

Hi everyone.

I know, it is ages since I have called by on this forum, but it it is ages since I've been to Blackpool as well - until this evening that was :) But that's what going full-time does to you - I've just had no time since the 20th December! I hadn't even seen my good friend Linzi since New Year's day - until today!

Anyway, back to electo. This morning I had my 110th hour of electrolysis! Still a long, long way to go, but I haven't shaved my top lip and parts of my cheeks since before Christmas and we are nearly (very nearly) at the point where my electrolysist will be able to do my whole face in a 2 hours session. That may not sound impressive, but it will be quite a milestone - believe me.

As for how successful electro is - well, I have electro (2 hours) every Saturday morning, shave off what's left (with an electric razor afterwards), rarely wear any foundation on a Saturday, shave again on Sundays and Monday mornings, and that's it - for the rest of the week I just go to work and feel a bit self-concious by Fridays since I have stubble - but the worst bits are behind my hair and no one ever notices - not even in my local Morrisons.

Oh, and I don't usually wear any foundation on Mondays or Tuesdays either - but I feel I need to later on in the week to try and disguise the growth that is there. On the other hand I do quite often call in at Tesco's on my way to electolysis on Saturday mornings - with stubble and no makeup! That's no as bad as it sounds 'cos the reality is that most of the front of my face looks reasonable even with the hairs.

So if anyone was in any doubt, electrolysis does work - it's a long hard slog, but it will be worth it in the end - my top lip is proof of that :)

And it was lovely to be back at The Gynway this evening, even if it was only for a short while - and no, I didn't drink any wine, at least not in The Gynway - I was driving !!!! But I could name one or two who were getting stuck in ... ;)

[Sally Ann Magnay]

Started my electrolysis now going twice a week half an hour a sesion.
Thats about all I can take The things we have to do. Oh well this time next year

At least the salon is between my work and home, so just call in after work.
love the girls always get a coffee and a smile Hi Sally they say

It hurts can't belive how much OW

The big problem is can't shave A woman with a beard its not realy feminine is it,

[Toni]

may be better going for a two hour session - -- electrolysis is a long process - 200 hrs plus

[stephpvc]

Hi , I have been having laser treatment for hair removal at a new place in Lytham ST Annes (link on my website too) http://www.anuuclinic.co.uk.
Half price of the Manchester one I used last year and you are treated by the Lady who owns the buisness too, so is more friendly and relaxing to be treated by the same person each visit
very friendly service and discrete mention Stephanie in Blackpool when making enquiries . :)

[Petra Susan]

may be better going for a two hour session - -- electrolysis is a long process - 200 hrs plus

It's also a very painful one, I had a trial consultation which was free and lasted about 30 minutes. I had to tell the girl doing it to stop as I couldn't take the pain anymore after about 20 minutes. The only way I could last longer would be to dose up on pain-killers and use emla cream.

Janine

[jamie]

Everyone tells me that electrolysis is painful. I don't find it too bad and actually find laser more painful!

[Lynda Collins]

The problem here is everyone has a different experience and, everyone has a different pain threshold.

Have done self electrolysis and had no problem and had a couple of sessions at a clinic lasting 2hours a session and not too painful, just toes were twitching.

I think its up to each person to decide which is for them.........

[debs_n_soots]

Perhaps the sensible option is to have a number of increasingly longer sessions and see how you get on - see how much you can cope with?

[Sarah Hughes]

Anyone care to give an update on the success or otherwise on their chosen method/operator please?
Am coming home soonish after working away for quite a while, and have not been waxed for almost 6 months.......and am rather resembling a Gorilla at the minute, got to do something about it!
Ouch springs to mind:eek:
Sarah

[Kate P]

I'm having favourable results with IPL. I've had four sessions so far, all at 6 week intervals. I have the 5th session tomorrow and should be free of dark facial hair by about the 8th session. I also have smoother facial skin now as the treatment temporarily rejuvinates your skin. Pat, who runs the salon reckons that it will just be a case if targetting the top lip and the odd patch on the jawline after the 8 sessions. It can be a bit disheartening when hair starts to grow back after a few weeks but I was advised that this would be another of one of the 3 hairs within the same cell. Once all 3 are burnt away then that should be it for good. Hence the need for the 6 week intervals.
I find that there is a smell of burning after each shot and short burst of heat that is uncomfortable where there is less flesh. The more flesh, the better the light can be absorbed and not wasted by escaping from the sides of the head unit pressed against the skin. In my last session the machine was set to 28 joules which was the highest Pat had used it to date. I experienced some blistering but this was by far the most effective session to date. The dilemma is do I live with the blistering or tell her and know that she may turn the power down thus reducing the effectivity. At £113 a session I am inclined to live with the blistering.

[Petra Susan]

I had six session over a year ago now, and can still happily report that I'm still virtually free of dark hairs. I have noticed recently a small patch of dark hair regrowth on my top lip, but nothing significant. I plan to go for a quick top up session pretty soon, but envisage that it will only be the top lip and probably chin. Overall I'm still very happy with the results, although leaving it so late in life meant that I'd already developed quite a number of grey hairs which needs electrolysis to remove and am currently waiting to hear from my PCT as to whether they will partly fund it.

Put it this way I consider it to be the best £550 I've spent in a long time.

Petra

[Sarah Hughes]

Thanks for the replies, sounds fairly positive then.
Have had a quote from the St Annes place, 5 sessions for the face at £500 and 6 sessions for the back at £600.
Say it quickly and its not too bad!
Thanks again.
Sarah

[rachelb]

I supose the IPL treatment is OK for facial hairs (dark ones anyway) but as for arms and legs, I use an epliator when I can, also hair removal creams. They last a few days, maybe a week before things start to show but only just. The epilator is a bit 'ouchy' and the cream is painless but a bit messy (when I scrape it off with the spatular provide i then use the 'secondhand' cream elsewhere, OK so I am a tight, mean southerner!). The final method is usually done before I am out on 'parade' and that is the old trusted razor, done in the bath, it is so sensual and girly and you can use one of those lovely pink ladies razors to help you along on you dreams!:o All this is follwed by a good dosing of moisturiser on the arms, legs and torso after you have smoooothed of the breast (and clevage?) area. I find it all as much as being gilry as slipping on my silk panties and all the other wonderful things afterwards :)

[Sarah Hughes]

I went to Northwest Laser today in St Helens, am having a bit of zapping done as you do.
Anyhow, a word of warning to any customers parking in the free car park opposite, only one hour is free and the signage is not easily found. Fortunately Mark asked me where I had parked and got me to move it sharpish as I had arrived early, its a 75 quid charge! Some private firm monitor it on cctv, so nice and easy earners for them.
As for the laser, ouch just about sums it up. I was a bit of a girl......
:rolleyes:

[Joanne]

... its a 75 quid charge!

Too late for some of us less observant girls :mad:

[Sarah Hughes]

Too late for some of us less observant girls :mad:

OUCH.......
sorry to hear that you have been caught out, I bet that hurt more than the laser did, the warning was too late then.
Bunch of southern cowboys running "the racket" by all accounts, outrageous really that they can do this sort of thing. Daylight robbery springs to mind?
But, for any others please dont let this put you off visiting oh what are they called now? Prolaser or something? Am sure Jen will give the right name, I'm just so blonde.
Am very pleased with the progress from them, now if only the laser could sculpt my shape to something like Brittany or something close, that would would be good. Heck I would be quite content with Maddona even.
:rolleyes:

[Catherine Harrison]

Hi all going for laser treatment very soon.Some of the reply's have put me off a little but i hate my male beard so willing to suffer the pain if it works?

How do you actually no if the place is registered and can you have problems after.Like rashes ?

I no this sounds a bit thick but any help will do.

Catherine

[Petra Susan]

Hi Catherine,

Make sure it's proper laser treatment and not IPL as it doesn't work too well on male beard and is a damn sight more painful. The first session was painful, but got very much less after that.

Ask if they are CQC registered and see their certificate. Use reputable, proper hair removal company and not some cheap beautician who has just bought a cheap machine and can't use it properly.

SK:N in Manchester. They not the cheapest, but I cannot recommend highly enough. Six sessions and I was I was dark beard free.

Face the Future in Wakefield comes very highly recommend by Leeds GIC and me. I use them for my GHR and facial electrolysis. Natalie and Chloe are superb there.

Christina, my partner has used REM in Bolton and they have done a very good job on hair. Very friendly and do so great deals.

You'll be a little red afterwards and may have a mild buring sensation for a few hours afterwards. Don't shave for at least 24 hours afterwards nor wear make-up. You shouldn't have any type of rash afterwards.

Hope this is some help.