How Long Does It Take?

  • The most commonly asked question about electrolysis is, “How long does it take?”

    The amount and type of unwanted hair varies so much from person to person, the answer is not simple.

    E.G. A person with a full beard of unwanted facial hair will require several hours of treatments for the initial clearing, while a person with a small number of chin hairs may only need 30 minutes. A person with coarse hair that is growing quickly will require more treatment sessions before the hair growth slows and diminishes, than a person with fine, slow growing hair.

    Heredity, hormones, medication, and prior hair removal techniques all play a role in hair growth. Individuals that have waxed or plucked regularly (chin, upper lip, etc) will have accelerated growth. People experiencing menopause, diagnosed with PCOS, and trans folks will also have accelerated growth (due to hormones).

  • Access to the unwanted hair

    • To treat the hair it must be visible above the skin.

    • Only about a third of hair is visible at any given time.

    • Hair grows in unsynchronized cycles, taking 12-24 months for all of your hairs to have cycled through and made their way to the skin’s surface.

    • So, it takes an average of 18 months for us to even get access to all of the hairs.

  • On average, Electrolysis takes a series of three 16-week treatment phases.

    Treatments start out longer for the initial clearing and treatment of weekly growth, then appointments are shorter and less often as progress is made and there is less hair to treat.

  • PHASE 1: Clearing

    The initial clearing of all actively growing hair in the area. Most people start with a first treatment of 1 hour, then have regularly recurring appointments. The length and frequency of these appointments depend on how much unwanted hair exists and its growth rate.

    Electrolysis is most effective on new growth, so keeping to consistent appointments (as determined by your treatment plan) is the most effective way to ensure optimum results; this is especially important during Phase 1.

    If your skin tolerance and budget allow for longer sessions, some clients may wish to move through the initial clearing as quickly as possible, with multiple hour sessions.

    Here’s an example of one client’s progress during Phase 1 (actual client, results are not typical and will vary person to person) :

    • Cis gender woman, treating facial hair (chin, jaw, cheeks) brought on by hormonal changes during menopause and increased by daily plucking

    • Treatment #1 = 80 minutes for the initial clearing of all unwanted hair

    • Treatments #2 - 6 = 60 minutes weekly

    • Treatments #7 - 10 = 45 minutes weekly

    • Treatments #11 - 12 = 30 minutes weekly

    • Treatments #13 - 15 = 60 minutes every 2 weeks

    You can see how treatments start out longer, then get shorter and less often.

  • PHASE 2: Secondary Hairs

    New hairs become visible (and treatable!). These hairs are usually much finer, in far fewer numbers, and slower growing than hairs in the clearing phase. During Phase 2, appointments usually become shorter and less frequent.

  • PHASE 3: Maintenance

    The client schedules visits only when enough hairs have surfaced to warrant a treatment. These appointments are usually much less frequent than earlier sessions, and will continue as needed until treatment is complete. Many clients eventually only require a “clean up” session every few weeks to months, or an annual touch-up visit.