- They should practice appropriate infection control procedures
Be sure to ask about infection control procedures. Electrologists should be using gloves and sterilized instruments. Ask to see the equipment used for sterilization. Remember that probes AND tweezers should be sterilized. Also look around the office and make sure that regular cleaning schedules are being followed.
Strict handwashing is also important. Be sure your Electrologist washes their hands before your treatment especially if they are handling money or performing other cleaning routines between appointments.
- Be sure they do needle-electrolysis
Some practitioners, quick to increase their profits are jumping into the latest fads in hair removal by purchasing expensive lasers and other devices that promise permanent hair removal. Once this investment is made they often become willing to sell you on modalities that have not proven effective simply to recover their costs.
Some practitioners place ads under the Electrolysis section of the phone book as a way to lure you into these other methods.
Needle-type Electrolysis is the only method that has been approved by the FDA for the right to claim permanent hair removal and has been used safely and effectively for over 125 years.
- You should not feel the insertion
It is important that your Electrologist be properly skilled. In order for the germative cells to be properly destroyed, your Electrologist must be properly trained on how to insert the probe into your hair follicle.
Remember that, proper insertions do not penetrate your skin. When done properly, the filament used by your Electrologist goes directly into your hair follicle.
If you feel pinched or pricked before current is applied, your Electrologist is not inserting properly.
- The current is the only thing you should feel
It is impossible to destroy the germative cells that line each hair follicle without a sensation. This is the only part of Electrolysis treatment you should feel. A good Electrologist will solicit feedback from their client and make adjustments to their settings in order to keep you comfortable.
Many people equate the actual sensation of the heat to a misquito bite without the subsequent itching. This may not be the most comfortable feeling, but it's hardly intolerable.
Electrolysis is much more tolerable when the Electrologist inserts properly because you will not have the added sensation of being pricked before the application of heat.
- You shouldn't feel as though the hair is being plucked out
You should never feel as though an Electrologist is plucking your hair.
If the Electrologist has inserted properly and applied an appropriate amount of heat, the hair should release from the papilla and come out very easily.
You may feel the hair coming out of the follicle but it should not feel as though it as being plucked.
- After care treatment
Your Electrologist should provide you with information on how to care for your skin after it has been treated in order to reduce the possibility of inflammation and irritation. Proper treatment requires understanding in the use of topical antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medication.
- You should see results
Providing you follow the treatment schedule prescribed by your Electrologist, you should see permanent results between 12 - 18 months.
Some clients may go longer depending on certain medical conditions but if you've had the same area treated for several years without permanent results you should get a second opinion from another Electrologist.
This advice does not apply to those that fail to adhere to their treatment schedules.
