Common Electrolysis Hair Removal Questions (2024)

FAQs

What are the most painful areas of electrolysis? ›

If you have extra or unwanted hair growth, electrolysis can provide permanent hair removal. It's safe to use for facial hair removal and on the rest of body. During your sessions, a trained electrologist removes the hair with an electric current. The procedure is not painful and has no long-lasting side effects.

Is electrolysis permanent? Yes, it is. Electrolysis stands alone as the permanent alternative to lifetime maintenance. No other hair-removal solution can claim the universal acceptability and success offered by electrolysis treatments.

When you're getting electrolysis, the needle used by your electrologist produces enough heat or chemical action to destroy tissue. Nerves translate this sensation to the brain as pain. Hair follicle is the most innervated part of the skin and that's why pain is a necessary reality of electrolysis.

Electrolysis is widely considered to be the most painful hair removal method. Many clients say electrolysis feels similar to getting a tattoo. Compared to a tattoo, the pain from electrolysis is often more intense and short-lived – until the slower-paced, sharper discomfort that comes along with getting inked.

Electrolysis Cons

It's a time-consuming procedure requiring multiple sessions. Skin discoloration is a possibility. The electricity in the device can actually destroy the capillaries in the surrounding areas. It can be very painful. It is not recommended for people with rosacea since the skin is so easily irritated.

Hair in the final week of resting appears within one week

This hair will start growing the day after the electrolysis session. It will appear on the surface of the skin within the week. The early anagen hair will even reach the surface in less than a week.

However, it's important to remember – the results last forever. Indeed, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the American Medical Association (AMA) consider electrolysis the only permanent hair removal method.

Another major drawback of the electrolysis method is that it can't be done for a large body surface area, and it also sometimes leads to scar formation. Laser hair removal requires fewer sessions than electrolysis. Laser hair removal usually takes about 4 to 8 sessions for best results.

Should I feel plucking during electrolysis? ›

Things To Look For In A Proper Electrolysis Treatment.

The current can be adjusted to keep you comfortable. The hair should slide out and you should never feel a pull. It should not feel as though the electrologist is plucking your hair.

Hormonal changes can affect hair regrowth after electrolysis hair removal. Hormones can stimulate hair growth, even in areas that have been treated with electrolysis. Hormonal imbalances, such as those caused by pregnancy, menopause, or polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), can result in hair regrowth after electrolysis.

Electrolysis is a safe and effective hair removal method, but certain medical conditions may affect treatment. Patients with a history of heart disease, epilepsy, or seizures will need written permission from their GP or consultant before undergoing electrolysis.

Your electrologist removes individual hairs from the body one by one, approximately 200-800 hairs per hour. Laser covers large areas and can treat thousands of hairs.

It is therefore very important that electrolysis is performed upon the detection of re-growth. Left untreated, hair will reconstitute itself to its original diameter and depth. Once a treatment program begins, it is important that appointments are kept to the predetermined schedule set at the beginning of your program.

Descriptions of the discomfort vary from “no worse than a mosquito bite,” to “like having a rubber band snapped against my bare skin hard.” Electrolysis can give a stinging and pricking sensation, and each hair has to go through it.

Managing Pain & Discomfort

Apply a numbing cream as directed on the label before arriving to your appointment. You can buy it from the pharmacy or ask your doctor to prescribe one that's a bit stronger. For added relief, take a pain relief tablet. Use as directed on the label.

Ionic compounds contain charged particles in the form of positively charged ions known as cations, and negatively charged ions known as anions. Therefore, ionic compounds can be broken down into their elements using electrolysis. For an ionic substance to undergo electrolysis, the ions must be free to move.

The main applications of electrolysis are: electroplating. electrorefining.