r/electrolysis

Like the title says, I’m finally get close to first clearance. I have no one in real life that understands how big this moment is for me.

I have been going weekly since 12 January this year.
Currently at: 14 hours total

I didn’t shave between appointments as it was weekly appointments and wanted the electrolysis provider to catch a the hairs she could see without any of them being too short.

I’m so happy: I have another 2 hours left this month then taking a break for a week in June for a holiday.

I’m just so happy and felt like it was all worth it.
At the March- April time period I felt like this was never ending and I would never reach a stage where my face feels clearer and clearer each week.

Thank you for your support and kind words. I’m aware I still need to go for a 1 year plus but feels nice to be able to say I’m not obsessing over how many hairs are on my face now!

I went to see an electrologist who allegedly had many many years of experience and talked my ear off about her knowledge of the process and how meticulous she was. But she didn’t wear gloves. She was otherwise clean, wiping the area etc. Is that normal? I was a little surprised. If that’s not normal how do you go about requesting they wear gloves without coming across as rude?

I had my first 45 min session 5 days ago. My electrologist removed my upper lip hair, chin hair and nipple hair, in total maybe around 150 hairs. They said to immediately book the next appointment for in 2 weeks which I did.
The first days after the session my skin was red, bumpy, irritated and some whiteheads. Then it scabbed but is now looking fine.
But since my next appointment already is in 9 days, and I don’t have any new hairs now I am thinking if there will even be enough regrowth in that time. My nipples do have some hair, in total maybe 20 but other than that there’s nothing new.
Should I just wait a few more days? I don’t want to cancel the appointment too last minute but also feel like it would be too early to cancel already now.

Has anyone here had electrolysis? If so please share your experience down below. I feel like I’m going into a depression with my excess facial hair. I’ve tried everything, dermaplaning, IPL, plucking, waxing, spearmint tea, nettle root tea, magnesium, zinc, walking after meals, eating balanced meals, lifting weights, stress control, cryptic rotundus oil, eating every few hours so my blood sugar stays stable, giving up coffee for matcha, I drink no alcohol, cutting down on sugar and carbs/processed foods. Nothing is helping and I’m so sick and tired of feeling ugly because of my facial hair and trying to constantly hide my neck in fear of people seeing how hairy I am. I’ve been breaking down praying and crying because it’s effecting me so much. I made an electrolysis appointment to see how much it will cost, I’m just nervous this is another thing I try that doesn’t work or makes my hiritism worse and I end up wasting money I don’t have. Is anyone else going through this or have gone through this? Having pcos and hiritism is so isolating. I hope there’s a light at the end of the tunnel because this pcos girly is tired 😔

I’ve been getting my neck, chin, and upper lip done for over a year. The person I see usually schedules me for every 6-8 weeks. We do a half hour, full clear every time. I’ve definitely seen major progress but I thought I’d be done by now and I’m still shaving my neck between sessions. Tried to do the math, maybe I’ve done 7 hrs total? Does this sound reasonable?

Hey guys I have a question for anyone who has had to do this-

Looks like with my new work schedule I’m going to have to go to electrolysis (face) and then do a 3pm-10pm shift right after. Usually I go on a day off but things have changed.

I’m wondering if any of you have had to go to work right after your appointments and if so how do you take care of your face? Besides not touching it of course. Thank you <3

Hi y’all!

I went in Saturday for a 15 min cleanup session for my chin and told her to remove a few hairs that I don’t like to wax in my upper lip corners and she literally just kept going on my upper lip and now it’s a little bit irritated and a few white heads. It’s not too bad but I have my graduation next Monday and got my session on Saturday so basically 8days before graduation. I asked her to stop working on my upper lip bc I have graduation coming up but she already did a good 10min on there. My upper lip hair is very dense and grows very fast and it’s pretty visible so it will grow by graduation. Can I wax it? Or tweeze it? I’m so frustrated

Hi all!

Whether you’re a electrologist or a client, I know I’m preaching to the choir when I say electrolysis has changed my life.

I’ve had a career in electrolysis in the back of my mind since my very first treatments years ago, but the thought of a career change discouraged me back then. Fast forward to many years in the corporate world, the push for AI, outsourced jobs and a spiraling job market, I feel incredibly jaded in my current career and more determined than ever to pursue a career in electrolysis.

I like to be very thorough in my research but sometimes feel like information about electrolysis is hard to find. So I’m here asking the good folks of Reddit for their thoughts! I have questions broken up by topic :)

School options:
I’m in Northern California. And the closest school to me is in Monterrey Bay, but I hear they only teach 1 modality. There are other schools in Southern California hours apart from each other, and I have relatives in Los Angeles, who have graciously agreed to let me stay with them. I hear that the best school in Southern California is Electrology Academy CEA for its program and instructors. However with traffic, CEA is easily 2 hrs away from my relatives, so the commute would defeat staying with family and I would be better off just staying near campus. There’s another school in Los Angeles called ZMS that is about half the cost of CEA but has mixed reviews. I don’t know if it’s one of those “you get what you pay for” type of schools, but I would save a lot of money in tuition and in housing because I could stay with family.
Does anyone have any thoughts about either CEA in Corona or ZMS in Los Angeles?

Questions about business costs:
I have limited business acumen, and a bit overwhelmed on where to start when it comes to starting a business. And I doubt that I should realistically expect to learn enough about running an electrolysis business in school… so aside from becoming licensed electrologist in my state, what kind if business-related permits should I be aware of? Does anyone have good online resources where I can find more info on the business aspect of things?

Questions about startup and recurring expenses:
I’m saving as much money as I can for now to get through my ramp up period. Can I get some help itemizing my major startup expenses? I’m aware the machine cost will vary, same with table/chair, magnifying lamp, loupes, etc. So what other costs are there associated with starting up and/or setting up my space? Thoughts on websites vs social media?
Also, what recurring expenses do you all have as far as treatment supplies, client post care product samples, insurance, client booking software?

If you made it this far- THANK YOU! I’m ready to pour myself into this career but like to inform myself as much as I can, so thank you for any insights you have!

The only electrologist I could find near me is working from her own home, and I'm concerned about trustworthiness I suppose. She says she's been doing it for 37 years and also has a few good reviews on google maps. Is it common for electrologists to be doing it from their own homes? What questions should I ask to be safe?

Thanks for reading. For context I have been getting treatments since last July.

I began getting treatments in mid-July when my insurance approved them. I had an unrelated surgery and met my max out of pocket so I thought about all of the different things I could do for free and got approval (never thought I would) after my PCP wrote a letter to my insurance and the electrolysis place helped get it processed.

From July to September I had weekly sessions, the first two were 30 minutes, and then I switched to one hour. I had 10 hour long sessions between July and September and then my insurance calendar started over in October, so I started going less frequently. I went for hour long appts twice each in October, November, December, then started going every 3 ish weeks in January to now (May). I reduced appt time to 30 minutes the last 2 months. Ever since the third appointment in July we have done a complete clear. I am doing my chin and sometimes a random hair on my cheeks, sideburns, or upper lip but 98% is my chin as that is where the hair is.

Before my first appointment I had to wait 5 weeks and that is when I stopped tweezing - June 2025. After tweezing every day for over 20 years. In between sessions I dermaplane. I have not tweezed once since I stopped in June 2025.

I am DEFINITELY seeing a huge reduction, both an overall reduction and the hair that is coming in is softer and lighter. I wish I had done this years ago. I know that the person doing it is changing my life and my confidence. I really like her as a person and would recommend this shop to anyone. I have felt an accidental plucking maybe 2 times in over 20 hours with her, and I know what plucking feels like. I feel very lucky after reading some posts on here and I also feel lucky that my insurance is covering it and I now just pay co-pays. I was able to go weekly for an hour each time because it was free for my first 12 sessions and I know we got a lot of work done in those 12 weeks, my chin was so sore after that much work, but it was worth it. I don't use numbing cream or tylenol - all I do is ice after each appointment and hydrate really really well for two days before each appointment. during the appointments we chat and I try to breathe and kind of meditate.

What I am still confused about is why it takes almost 2 years. Everything I have read has said that facial hair takes a maximum of around 13 weeks to grow back. Given that I went weekly, not missing one week, for 12 weeks and we were doing full clearances, and then went twice a month for another 4 months, and have continued to go at least every 3 weeks for another 4 months, I'm confused as to why it is still growing enough to need 30 minutes and why it's projected that I'll still need to go for another year (not by my tech but from what I read on here or other places on the internet - she has given some general ranges but didn't say a time frame). I have read many posts on here saying that getting the hair at the "right stage" has been debunked and that you can kill the hair at any stage, but even given that wouldn't going as often as I went and doing full clearances get each hair at the right stage after 6 months of weekly or every other week treatments? I know there can be some insertion misses, some plucking mistakes, etc. But that doesn't seem like it should account for so much. Am I missing something? Has anyone else finished before 18 months/24 months?

To be clear I am not complaining, I am just curious if I missed something or am not wrapping my head around something. I have tried to ask a few times and it seems hard for her to explain it. I absolutely trust her and like her and can tell she has made a HUGE impact on it - I truly wish someone had told me how much better this would be years ago and I would have invested then. I can and will continue to trust the process, I'm just confused by why/how it's going to take so many more months.

I am a 40+ year old ciswoman with PCOS that is under control.

(unrelated I'm happy to answer unrelated questions about it if anyone has them.)

I just had my first appointment for my chin and neck. I'm so excited!! Everything seems to be fine ... so far. I'm a little worried because I scar very easily.

What're your best pre and post routines for wound care and subsequent skin care?

Anyone have experience with this? Is it as painful as laser hair removal? I am looking for an alternative bc I’ve had about 10 sessions of laser w some results but nothing dramatic

Almost every post or video I see in this group looks much harsher than my own experience with electrolysis. The needles/probes in some videos seem really thick, and a lot of the after photos show heavy scabbing or irritation, while the comments say it’s normal.

I compared them to the probes my electrologist uses and was honestly surprised by the difference. I’ve personally only ever had tiny red dots for a day or so, never scabbing or burns.

It just made me curious — is this level of reaction actually common