Electrolysis

Last Saturday T did most of the rest of the center of the lip.

I don't scream, something I've told T a number of times much to her amusement. But it's true: I don't scream. I yell, sometimes, but hardly ever scream. I can tell you the last time I did, it was in 2007 when a moth the size of a 747 invaded my room (probably it was the size of a human hand, but that's not how I remember it). I screamed and ran away. But I don't scream in pain.

That's good, because the electrolysis would take much, much longer if I screamed. You can't put a fine needle inside a hair follicle in a person who's screaming.

I do kind of whimper, though, and I did that non stop last Saturday.

But afterwards when I saw how much had been cleared, I smiled.

Of course several more sessions on that area will be needed. Few hairs die after one zap. This is really bad, the pain, but I had almost the same when I first started and struggled to apply the "anesthetic" cream right. And unlike those early days, this section takes less than 30 minutes to clear.

Oh, and the lower lip is as good as done. After a break of two weeks, T found only three targets in that area :)

Last session was brutal. It lasted all of 45 minutes, and T did the whole upper lip (and the three hairs remaining in the lower lip), by making creative use of the "anesthetic" cream (it's complicated).

On the one hand, OUCH! (but I still don't scream). On the other hand, if that's as bas as it gets (fingers crossed), I can see it through to the end (as though I have a choice??)

I naturally wanted a session the following week, but T asked, sensibly, "To remove what?" There would be too little growth to actually bother. So we settled on a break until April 11th (actually it should be April 4th, but that's a holiday). On the one hand I'm relived, on the other I'm impatient to get it over with.

Soon.

Predictions tend to prove optimistic. But I can say I'll be done this year, though maybe by fall. Next We'll tackle some areas in the neck which are less bothersome. And then I'll look into laser/pulse light for other areas. Laser really isn't permanent, from all I've researched, but it should work well enough for the foreseeable future.

As you can guess, I had no treatments at all while in Vegas.

I'll be retaking them in June. I'm looking forward and dreading getting things done...

I've been going in about every three weeks now. Not by choice but by circumstance. The first session after Vegas was ok, but then we left the area right under the nose be for the moment. The next one, a week alter, tackled the area, and it was by far the most painful session ever, albeit a rather short one.

Last July 4th it had another go, which was about as bad. Then by last weekend, the 25th, barely anything showed up to be re-zapped. It hurt, but it was quick. For the next session in august, most of what was absent last time will be back...

I wish I knew when this will all end. I'm almost certain by the end of the year, if the appointments can be kept up. For really certain, I'm thinking February...

Latest session on Aug 15th I applied the "anesthetic" cream to the full surface of the lip area. T, as usual, went at it with grim determination.

It still hurts like hell, but, progress! The whole area took 40 minutes. It wore me out bad, but we got it all done.

The last full clearing of the lip area after three weeks of growth took 30 minutes, as compared to 40 minutes preciously.

It's not just less time due to less growth, but also to weaker follicles where there still is growth. In the beginning it's not uncommon to zap some hairs two or three times. There's less of that now. This is where things finally, at long last begin to move downhill.

There's also some hunting of strays in cleared areas. Overall I think I can get started on the area right under the neck. There is only a handful of hairs there, which is fortunate because it will be pretty painful. I think I'll be done by March at the latest, with only occasional visits thereafter for strays.

I have 74 minutes left of the ten-hour payment I made months ago. Clearly this won't be enough for the remainder of the lip area.

But just as clearly anther ten hours aren't needed, either. At a guess I think eight more sessions should do it, ten at most. the length of each will diminish quickly. it's oscillating between 30 and 40 minutes now, but it should drop to 15-20 in two or three more sessions. Call it an average of 25 minutes, for a total of 200minutes in 8 sessions. Plus what I want to get done over at the neck, which is very sparse, should round at 4 hours.

So I'll ask. If I get a discount for 5 hours, I'll pay that. If not, I'll pay 4.

I had to cancel my last appointment for the year <sigh>

There were two reasons: 1) I have a cold and can hardly breathe, I also don't want to spread it. 2) On Friday we worked until past 11:30pm, there was no way I'd make it to the appointment Saturday at 9 am (I need to leave at 7:30 at the latest to let the "anesthetic" cream work).

Next weekend is Xmas, and the one after that is New Year's. So on until 2016...

Breakthrough!

If you look at my past 12 appointments, they vary between 35 and 40 minutes. These are all concentrated on the lip area. The last one, which would be the 13th, took only 20 minutes :) In particular the upper middle lip got cleared quickly. This means several stubborn follicles finally gave up the ghost.

I told T, my electrologist, we almost ran out the 10 hours I'd paid for (I have 15 minutes left). She suggested I pay for one more hour. Much as I'd like to believe it, I think that's nowhere near enough time to finish the lip. I also want to get rid of a few hairs lower down in the neck, but those are few and will likely not endure more than two or three sessions. I think I'll simply pay for whole hours until we finish.

The end is near!!