Nothing screams “old lady” like a couple of white hairs on your chin. I had started my anti-aging plan with laser hair removal and was delighted with the results. It hurt, took several sessions, was expensive but the dark hairs were gone. But in the last few months I was not pleased to see the arrival of about six, tough white chin hairs. (The photo is an extreme close-up) I was even less happy to learn that lasers and IPL don’t work on light colored hairs. What did? The answer is old fashioned electrolysis.
I have always been afraid of electrolysis. I’ve heard its painful and not that effective. My college roomate went frequently for electroysis and I remember her sitting all night with an ice pack on her upper lip. Now it was was time for me to get electroysis. Dr Mrmur recommended me to Wende Silver who is a charming as she is skilled. Although no one said anything, I decided to stop RetinA and Tri-luma for 48 hours before my first electrolysis appointment. I lay down on Wende’s examining table and she gave me a grounding device to hold. After wiping my face with alcohol, she turned on the power and went to work. Wende slipped a thin probe into the white hair follicle and zapped it with electrical current. If she could pull out the hair effortlessly with a tweezer, she had scored a hit with the root. If she had to tug on it, the follicle need another jolt.
I was very comfortable and it was far less painful than lasers. And remember, I have a very low threshold of pain and if I say something doesn’t hurt, it really doesn’t hurt. Electrolysis appointments work ( and charge) by the time, and Wendy gave me a 30 minute session ($65). She got out all the white hairs, applied an over the counter steroid cream and I was done. She cautioned me that I might develop white bumps at the site and to leave them alone– but nothing happend. The next day my chin looked smooth and clear and nothing has grown back in a week.
Wende said I had ‘juicy’ follicles meaning that that they were healthy and hard to destroy. I should see regrowth in 2-3 weeks and then she will zap them again. It always takes multiple sessions with electroysis to permanently destroy the hair root. I am just sorry that I did not try electrolysis before now. Its, easy, affordable and not painful. For large areas like arms and legs, lasers and IPL are more practical, but for sections on the face, I’ve found a new tool. Also, lasers and IPL don’t work on blonde hairs and electrolysis is a practical option for all light colored facial hairs.
do you have to go to a doctor to get electrolosis for white chin hairs? Or can this be done at the beauty salon? I have several that look as sturdy as yours were and I am only 30!!!!!
Actually my electrolysis was not by a doctor, but by a liscensed technician. I got her name from my dermatologist which is a good way of finding a skilled and reliable person. Thirty is young to get white hairs, but fortuneately there are the tools to deal with them. Let me know what you choose to do.
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I would disagree with the description of electrolysis as “affordable.” I have light hair and have been doing electrolysis about every 2 weeks for over a year to get rid of a patch of some 30 hairs on my chin and some 5-10 on my neck. I started with 1 hour sessions, went to 45 minutes, and am now down to 1/2 hour sessions, with about 15 persistent hairs remaining. This has cost over $1200 so far, and I don’t know when the hairs will actually be gone. I think back to when I balked at using the expensive prescription cream Vaniqa to slow the growth and now wonder if I shouldn’t have gone that route after all.
Wow, that’s a lot of electrolysis and its certainly added up. THat’s more than a typical course of laser treatments. Did you keep going back to the same operator? I found that a single session with a great practitioner got rid of my light haisr for less than $50.