What works for red hair?

[Seana]

This is another redit exchange that I took part in.I thought the answers might help out some here.

I'm a 24 year old MtF with auburn red hair and i grow a nasty full beard. I shave twice a day and it isn't fun. I have looked into getting laser hair from multiple places around my area and all of them tell me that getting laser would be a waste of my time and money and they suggest i do electro.. anybody have a solution that doesn't involve needles ands electricity?... Anyways i guess I'm hopelessly searching for the answers i want not the answers i will get


My answer:

Well, I do electrology on trans-people, so I guess I'll venture an opinion. First, the laser hair places are right, and red hair will not be affected by laser. Dont waste your money.Red hair lacks sufficient pigment to transfer the heat to the hair root since the heat is generated by interaction of the light energy and the pigment in the hair. Second, of all permenent hair removal out there ( laser ipl, electrolysis and the myriad of other schemes out there) only electrolysis can perform permanent hair removal for all types of hair. Basically if you have red hair, it's electrolysis or nothing.

Now what I can do, is attempt to clear up some misconceptions about electrolysis, and hopefully put your mind at ease . Your phrasing of "needles and electricity" brings an image that plays very well on the fears of many people who have not experienced electrolysis.

To begin with, electrolysis does not use needles. Needles are sharp ended, usually have a hole down the center to deliver medicines, and are designed to puncture the skin. Electrolysis probes however are blunt. At no time do they puncture the skin, they travel alongside the hair into the hair follicle. There is no sharp prick, actually there should be no sensation whatsoever from the insertion. Actually puncturing the skin is bad work! Not to mention very difficult to do with a blunt instrument. Actually if I were to press an electrolysis probe in a random spot on my arm, all that would happen is the skin would tent inwards. It needs the hair follicle to get beneath the surface, and that is done with fantastic magnification and great skill.

I'd also like to address the useage of "electricity" . There are three modalities of electrolysis galnanic, , thermolysis , and blend. Of these modalities, the one most commonly used by electrologists is thermolysis, the reason is a perceived speed of progress. You will find some blend operators, and a few very old galvanic operators, but by and large much is done with thermolysis. Thermolysis, does not use DC electricity delivered to the hair follicle. It instead generates a tiny radio frequency wave from the probe that creates heat right at the hair root and destroys it. It is heat and heat alone that destroys the hair. No electricity.

Unfortunately if you have red hair, electrolysis is the only game in town. I have at least half my clients are red-heads. My best advice before you let yourself freak out over some misconcepption about the process, is to actually go have a trial session. Many electrologists do this for free,and will try a few hairs from various spots to give you a feel for the process. You are likely to find its not as painful as you may have thought, and not at all like you thought it would be. Ideally the treatment should involve minimal skin reaction, and be comfortable.

I also happen to have started a forum over at https://electrolysisinfo.board-directory.net/ a few weeks ago, and often copy questions I've answered so when they come up I can point to the answer already given. A few of the professional electrologists I learned from also frequent there. Would you mind if I copied your question, and my answer , to there? And I'm sorry its'snot probably the answer you wanted, but I think you already knew that , however hopefully I've pput some of your concerns at ease.

Seana


MrSnappyComebackhormones since July 2014[S] 1 point 5 hours ago

Thank you for the information. I had no idea that's how it worked. Just curious how many hours of electrolysis does it take to do the full face and neck on average?My body hair doesn't concern me just my facial hair.


Again a very common question, with not so clear answers. The final answer can range anywhere from 100-300 hours.There are a ton of variables that can effect this, frequency of treatment hair density and area, skill of the electrologist, modulation used . As we age hair becomes more widespread and also dense. Some of my colleagues would disagree that it canbe as high as 300, but it really does depend onthe individual circumstances.There's no easy average.
Seana


MrSnappyComebackhormones since July 2014[S] 1 point 4 hours ago

So your telling me in gong to have to spend between $6000-$18,000 for just my face.... i might aswell just give up... above everything else this has made me lose hope


SeanaTG 1 point 4 hours ago*

18000 would not be out of the question no.You could consider doing DIY though if you can get some good advice on techniques and physiology. That's how I originally started doing electrolysis . I would estimate I probably spent under $1000 total on equipment.I know I'm not the first to do so, and probably wont be the last. I live on next to nothing, and have 3 kids, there is no way I could have afforded $18000 in treatments. But I could afford my time and thought it couldnt be that difficult, and in fact it wasnt.

I've also seen people start crowd-funding to fund electrolysis, with some success on places like gofundme. Some electrologists will use a sliding scale for transgender clients because of the bulk of work, but it is demanding work so they cant discount too much. Would it be okay if I shared your question?

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[–]MrSnappyComebackhormones since July 2014[S] 1 point 3 hours ago

You can share my question... Well thanks...