Hi there, I'm new to electrolysis and considering it for my upper lip area. But I have read horror stories that shortly or years to come it will accelerate the aging of the upper lip and could cause premature aging here. Has anyone had electrolysis in this area some time ago who could tell me what they noticed about their skin from it? Thank you in advance for any advice!!
Had electrolysis on my entire face.. haven't noticed anything, my skin is perfectly smooth. I'm 32, but I probably look to be in my mid-20's (a common theme among trans women it seems).
Edit: Started treatment 2 years ago.
Ah that's amazing! Really pleased to hear your having such good results from it. Can I ask how you find your skin reacts after having the sessions? Thanks again for your reply!
Skin becomes really red and filled with what looks like pimples but it smoothens out after a few hours. The electrologist applies aloe vera after each session, and the day after the session it's only slightly swollen :)
Ah ok that's good to know - thank you for sharing! :)
How long ago was your electralist in that area finished?
It's not finished, I still get touch-ups once or twice a month. Electrolysis takes a very long time both because A) Hair grows in cycles and you can only see/kill the current growth, and B) Electrolysis isn't 100% effective. How effective it is depends both on method and the skill of your electrolysist - hair doesn't grow 'straight', it's easy to miss the center of the hair follicle with the needle.
That said, I haven't seen any 'real' (dark) hairs in ages, it's mostly thin white hairs that are persistent. I expect it will take several more years with longer and longer between sessions to get them all.
I'm over 1/2 a century old and because of grey hair, electrolysis is the only viable solution. I too look younger than my age...so I'm told. I think its the ONLY permanent hair removal treatment. Plus if done correctly and professionally has no lasting side effects other than lack of hair. Upper lip is the most painful, so much so for me I choose to have injections to numb the areas being electrolysis.
Thanks so much for your reply on this! How have you found electrolysis? I'm mid thirties so some ageing but I would rather not accelerate anything if I can avoid it so just trying to learn from people who have had it, especially on upper lip
Not sure how far along you are with HRT. Less painful before you start HRT.
I have found electrolysis with injection of numbing lidocaine less painful than with NO injection. Facial hair is a huge dysphoria trigger for many of us, myself included. The technician I use is very skilled and has decades of experience.
Just remember you get what you pay for.
Thanks so much for sharing this :)
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Ah that's amazing! I just found the link to where I read this, it really worried me! https://www.realself.com/question/portland-erbium-laser-resurfacing-safe-after-electrolysis-fractional-co2
I also found a few people mentioning this happening to them on Mumsnet and that it can be a possibility from abit of googling. But I know very little so wanted to ask here really to find out from those who have had the procedure how they aged with it.
The client you have there had a full mustache removed, cleared in one session with flash thermolysis. (She posts occasionally in a forum that I frequent.) The sort of damage that you see was much more common about 20 years ago. Thermolysis operators generally don't strip upper lips in one go like that any more.
I see a lot of people come into my practice from having previous work done. A few have weird textural issues from thermolysis, particularly work from places that numb you up and remove everything in a marathon session. I have a couple clients with blown-out pits from blend work. In general, these are trans women, and their operators used extremely high settings in an attempt to kill thick beard hair. Other clients have little white marks that are visible on close inspection, but they themselves aren't aware of them. (I have scars like these myself that outline my former beard.). I have a few clients with laser burns as well.
Electrologists are very eager to tell you that electrolysis doesn't scar. It shouldn't, but I think a lot of practitioners saying this are simply ignoring the evidence in front of their eyes. It's very easy to scar someone up! Ironically enough, I find that people who have been practicing for decades are much more likely to use high power and leave marks than people just out of school. Recent graduates tend to be afraid of overtreatment and operate very conservatively.
Ah I didn't realize she was active, I just stumbled on it during research. So is that damage just from one session then? Good to know stripping is less frequent now but quite scary that is just one session.
Would you say thermolysis is best avoided then or more just the long session's? I don't have much and so far have had a few sessions no longer than 20 mins and not all focussed on the upper lip area.
I really appreciate your reply on this especially as an electrolysist, I know it can take a long time for damage to show up from what I have read so this is what worries me most. Thank you for sharing your experience as well it's really helpful - really seems that it's almost the luck of the draw as to whether the practitioner is working correctly. I am UK based and have tried to use BIAE accredited practitioners but one of them I feel already over treated and I'm worried it will scar
Personally, I don't do thermolysis, but that's in part a personal choice and in part the preference of my clientele. It's hard for me to give advice because I don't know the practitioners in your area (and so haven't seen their work), and I don't know what your hair growth is like. Scarring can also occur with many sessions of undertreatment. The minute amounts of scar tissue, normally not visible, accumulate over time.
Long sessions arent the issue. Repeated overtreatment concentrated in the same area is the issue.
Thanks so much for your detailed reply and sharing this information. Completely understand about not having enough detail, I won't share the details on here but they are UK based not sure if you are in the US? We have the BIAE here and they are accredited with 30 years experience but I have still been marked so not sure if that means very much tbh!
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Ah ok thank you, if you do get scabbing and scarring would that mean it's likely to pit and wrinkle then?
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Ah that's definitely concerning, I had 2 sessions where it gave quite a bad reaction and some pock marks that are still healing two months later. Is it likely these will wrinkle now do you think? Really unsure whether to continue as I'm not sure if the damage would show up now or in a few years :(
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Ah thank you that's handy to know I've been worried my whole upper lip is just going to go south in the next year. Yeah I've been researching for a new one I am UK based and the person I saw was BIAE qualified so it's really disappointing as they have 30 odd years experience
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Ah I'm sorry you had similar but that's so inspiring that you are now working in this field! And completely agree it definitely pays to do the research I think it's a tricky one because there aren't often reviews for electrolysis with it still being almost taboo which is daft. But thank you for your help hopefully the marks I've gotten will heal just praying it doesn't wrinkle up!
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Thanks for this! :)
Thank you!
If your electrologist is a kook using inappropriate settings, damage is possible, yes. But the same thing is true for laser.
Like many commenting… I’ve have about 120 hours of electrolysis with 0 scarring. In fact my face looks much younger. Started electrolysis at 38. As a male I looked 50, no lie… as a female, I looks 35, now pushing 42. Skin is so much better…
My only advice is find a good tech. Experience matters.
Ah that's so amazing! Really pleased you've had such a positive experience! Thank you for sharing :)
For what it's worth, my electrologist tells me that thanks to electrolysis, I won't have wrinkles where I had work done, because electrolysis firms up the dermis.
Ah that's amazing! Thanks for sharing :)
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