How long and how much?

These are the two questions that, as electrologists, we hear the most.

The simple truth is, it is nearly impossible to give a specific estimate as to how long it will take to completely remove your hair since there are just too many factors. These factors include your individual pain tolerance, how dense your hair is, how large the area is, whether or not you stick to the treatment schedule, how long your sessions are, fluctuations in your hormones, whether you have treated the hair below the surface in other ways (waxing, threading, plucking, laser/IPL), etc.

What we can say, is typically, you should see a significant reduction within 6 months if you stay on your treatment schedule and that, in 12-18 months, your hair should mostly be gone, with only maybe one or two touchups per year if there is some new, previously untreated hair growing in that you are concerned about. Why does it take so long? Quite simply because you have more hair than what you currently see growing. Hairs will cycle through a dormant resting phase, typically lasting about 6 months, only to re-emerge again later and each hair is on its own, individual timer.

Hair that isn’t there cannot be treated until it starts growing.

If you pluck/wax/thread a hair out, if it remains in the growth phase, it will typically take about 6 weeks to emerge again. If you have done laser or IPL treatment, your hair that wasn’t destroyed may go dormant for as long as two years before it emerges again. These hairs cannot be treated until they are available for your electrologist to remove and the situation was not caused by the electrologist. Unfortunately, the ability of laser to permanently reduce hair is over-promised in advertising and consultations. The FDA declares “permanent” as a year of no regrowth and, again, let me reemphasize that laser is about reduction, not removal, despite the slick marketing.

Ok, so let’s talk numbers. These are not guarantees, but typical lengths of treatment.
Arms/legs: 20 hours
Underams: 10 hours
Bikini: 10 hours
Eyebrows: 3 hours

At Emancipated Electrolysis LLC, we offer reasonably priced sessions as short as 15 minutes long up to 8 hours long, with discounts for longer sessions. For more information about permanent hair removal or to book an appointment, contact us at hairinfo@EmancipatedElectrolysis.com or call us at 585-270-5230 and finally be freed from unwanted hair.

Correcting misinformation from laser spas

Did you know that the FDA only allows laser to claim that it can cause “permanent reduction” of hair and that is almost completely useless on light colored hair (white, gray, light blonde or light red) since it works because of the pigment absorbing the intense light to create heat? Electrolysis is the only method that is able to claim permanent removal of hair and it works on all hair colors and skin types.

What most laser removal places don’t tell you, is that after 6-8 treatments, which should be spread at least 4 weeks apart – another one of those things they often neglect to mention, laser begins having severely diminished returns. They often neglect to mention that laser can even cause new hair to grow (paradoxical laser hypertrichosis). Some go so far as to claim that electrolysis doesn’t work at all, even though electrolysis works well in conjunction with laser to treat the lighter hairs or even the darker hair that the laser failed to treat and excels at finishing laser treated areas once laser has reached the point of diminishing returns. Unfortunately, making money off their clients is often more important than being honest with them. Sadly, the technicians may not even know these things themselves, since there are absolutely no training or licensing requirements to do laser hair removal in New York.

Give us a call at 585-270-5230 to schedule a free consultation for a permanent solution to your unwanted hair.