Before Treatment
What you can do before & after your treatment to make your electrolysis experience smoother & more successful!
- Consultation: Before undergoing electrolysis, schedule a consultation with a certified professional. Discuss your hair growth history, medical history, & any medications you're taking to ensure that electrolysis is safe for you.
- Let the Hair Grow: If I can’t see the hair, I can’t treat the follicle. It’s best to stop shaving at least 2 days before your electrolysis session. If you tweeze, wax, thread or use depilatory creams (like Nair) – it will be 6-8 weeks before we see that hair again – so just don’t.
- Moisturize: Moisturizer helps keep follicles hydrated, this makes the treatment faster & easier.
- Hydrate: Drinking lots of water before your session plumps up your cells, which makes insertions smoother & easier. Plus, electricity loves water! So the more hydrated you are, the current dissipates evenly throughout the follicle – making it more comfortable & less spicy!
- Exfoliate: Exfoliation is key! Not only does it help prevent/reduce ingrown hairs, it removes the ‘cement’ that plugs follicles & makes insertions difficult.
- Avoid Caffeine: Avoid caffeine on the day of your appointment as will dehydrate you significantly (making hairs harder to treat!) and may increase sensitivity.
- Avoid Sun Exposure: Avoid excessive sun exposure & tanning beds. Sunburned or tanned skin can increase sensitivity during the procedure.
After Treatment
After Electrolysis - your follicles are open 2-3 days after treatment:
- Avoid Touching: Our hands are dirty! So, unless you’ve just washed your hands, refrain from touching, picking, or scratching the treated area to prevent infection or irritation.
- Avoid Harsh Skincare Products: Avoid using products with strong chemicals (perfume or alcohol based products are a no-no), exfoliants, or retinoids on the treated area for a few days after electrolysis. Do not use exfoliants with grit in them. Grit can get lodged in open follicles and cause small infections/pimples.
- Avoid Makeup: If your face was treated, avoid applying makeup for at least 24 hours to prevent irritation & pimples.
- Moisturize: Apply a mild astringent (like Witch Hazel) & aloe-vera to keep the treated area hydrated & promote healing.
- Avoid Sun Exposure: For the first few days after electrolysis, avoid direct sun exposure & wear sunscreen with at least SPF 30 if you need to go outside.
- No strenuous exercise or saunas, etc: Avoid anything that will make you sweat. Sweat is full of bacteria, if it gets into open follicles, can cause pimples.
- Skin irritation solution after 24 hrs: If your skin is still irritated on the second day, apply a Hydrocortisone cream (Cortisone, Cortaid, anything with 1% hydrocortisone or hydrocortisone acetate). It is anti-inflammatory and will reduce redness and swelling. Also works on pimples!
- Cool Compress: Applying a cool compress to the treated area can help reduce redness & inflammation immediately after the procedure.
- Epsom salt baths (warm, not hot!) will also promote and speed up healing time to the treated area (ie: bikini line, lets, buttocks) and is also soothing and relaxing to the body. For other treated areas, apply an Epsom salt compress: Add 1 tsp. Epsom Salt to 1/2 cup warm water and mix. Soak a washcloth in the Epsom Salt solution. Lay washcloth over the treated area for 10 minutes and repeat.
Possible Side Effects:
The amount and severity of the side effects that you experience with electrolysis depends largely on the sensitiveness of your skin, the duration of the session and the density of the hair in the patch that's being treated.
Most people experience one or more of the following systems following a session of electrolysis:-
- It's normal to have some redness, slight swelling, warmth & tingling on the treated area. It will usually disappear after a few hours or by the next day.
- Red dots on the treated area (usually only last a few days). Aloe-Vera with Witch Hazel, Rosemary, Tea Tree Oil & Vitamin F is fantastic for this. Hydrocortisone 1% cream also helps.
- Acne breakouts (usually caused from skin sensitivities and disappears within a week). The Aloe-Vera with Witch Hazel, Rosemary, Tea Tree Oil & Vitamin F is fantastic for this.
- Skin dryness (sometimes the reaction from the electrolysis can leave the patient with dry skin - a simple aloe gel is your best line of defence against this side effect)
- Small scabs: This can happen. They could last up to a week. Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize!
- Bruising: This could happen, but it’s very rare that it does. It will usually disappear in a 7-10 days.
Your treatment doesn’t end just because you leave the salon. We consult with all of our clients and provide them with best practices for after-care. If you have any questions feel free to give us a call!
