Treatment

Electrolysis is the only safe method of permanent hair removal. The process begins by introducing a fine wire needle (probe or filament) into the hair follicle. Then an electric current is passed down the needle, destroying the hair root. The loosened hair may then be removed with tweezers.

Electrolysis has been around since 1875 when Dr. Charles Michel, Ophthalmologist, first used it to successfully remove ingrown eyelashes from a patient.
With a track record of over 139 years, Electrolysis is the longest established method of permanent hair removal and has the most effective results!
Electrolysis is the ONLY method of PERMANENT hair removal and is approved by the FDA as such.

Electrolysis is considered a very cost-effective method of hair removal. The overall cost is tied to each individual’s recommended treatment schedule. Electrologist will discuss with you the optimum program to achieve the results you desire.

There are two principal methods of performing electrolysis:

GALVANIC ELECTROLYSIS – a direct electric current is passed down the needle into the hair follicle, where the action of the current causes
the salt water fluid in the hair follicle and surrounding tissues and reform into lye, it destroys the growing cells of the hair root.

THERMOLYSIS – a short-wave, passage of high frequency (unionizing radio wave) current is passed down the needle that produces heat in
the tissue, which destroys the root of the hair. Thermolysis has less effect on distorted follicles or in individuals with severely curved
hair follicles.
I use a combination of galvanic electrolysis with high frequency thermolysis to create a blend method. This is more effective and rapid,
which will further be explained below.

What you should know about ELECTROLYSIS?

Electrolysis can be performed on any skin type, and hair color.
Electrolysis can be used on any part of the body except mucous membranes.
The hair growth cycle for each individual hair is generally between 8 to 13 weeks.
Increased blood supply and/or hormonal or glandular imbalance often stimulates new hair growth.
Electrolysis is not a one-time treatment.
Treatments can take anywhere from 6 months to one or two years and/or more, depending on the amount and condition of the existing hair.
If you have been tweezing or waxing, hairs are often coarser and deeper.
Waxing and tweezing will worsen the hair growth problems. You should not tweeze or wax within your period of treatment.
Each hair has to be treated individually, which is why treatment takes time and persistence.
You must have patience, be consistent and maintain your commitment to see permanent results.
Some sensation may be felt during treatment as the probe/filament enters the follicle and when the current is applied, but most patients can easily tolerate the mild sting.
Topical anaesthetics are available and can be applied prior to your appointment to help increase your comfort level when treating areas of greater sensitivity.

What does Advanced Cosmetic Procedures mean?

Advanced Cosmetic Procedures is a new name for ‘Advanced Electrolysis’ plus all the new additional techniques which have now been developed. This specialty treatment uses either Short Wave Diathermy (High Frequency A/C) or Blend (a mixture of A/C and D/C) to treat unwanted skin blemishes with no mark left on the skin.
Advanced Cosmetic Procedures was defined to avoid any confusion in thinking that “Advanced Electrolysis” was simply an advanced form of hair removal. The term, Advanced Cosmetic Procedures (ACP), encompassed far more effectively, the wide variety of treatable skin conditions.
Treatable skin conditions include:

• Skin Tags
• Blood Spots
• Milia
• Spider Naevus
• Thread Veins

What happens during an Advanced Electrolysis treatment?

In your first appointment with a practitioner, you should clearly explain your expectations of the advanced cosmetic procedure treatment. Your practitioner should then tell you whether this is the right treatment for you and whether it can achieve the results you’d like.
The practitioner should also ask for your medical history to make sure that there are no reasons why you shouldn’t undergo electrolysis treatment. At this point, you would also normally be asked to sign a consent form which means that you have understood the future benefits and possible risks associated with the procedure.

Procedure:

An anesthetic cream is usually first applied to the area to be treated to help reduce pain. The electrologist then touches a wire/filament called a probe and sometimes also referred to as a needle against or within the skin abnormto cauterise and/or cosmetically reduce the vascular or abnormal growth.

Repeat procedures:

Normally it is not necessary to have repeat treatments once an a ality bnormality has been treated, however if you are prone to a particular skin condition formation then new 'lumps' may appear in the future which themselves can be treated.
The amount of treatment time that may be required for different areas is extremely variable depending on the skin condition and the proliferation of its effect.

What skin problems can Advanced Cosmetic Procedures treat?

Thread Veins:

A Greek word meaning ‘end vessel dilation’. These are not ‘broken capillaries’ as so often named, but permanently dilated capillaries. The thin, singular cell wall structure of the fine facial capillaries dilate and constrict constantly in order to control the body temperature and their elasticity weakens and they can become permanently dilated. Their visibility is often exacerbated by the breakdown of the skin’s supporting network of collagen and elastin and ageing, thinning skin.
There are numerous causes for Telangiectasia including: ageing, hereditary and genetic causes, pregnancy, hormones, general skin fragility, smoking, extreme sports, temperature extremes and harsh weather exposure. They are very commonly seen in a maturing ‘English rose’ complexion.
A course of advanced electrolysis is often advised for telangiectasia so that treatments can be spaced out to prevent skin damage or hyper-pigmentation. Both Thermolysis and blend methods can be utilised, but the latter is only taught by a few specialists in this field. Diathermy is more commonly used, which involves a very accurate positioning of the probe over the blood vessel and a gentle tap that applies current to the skin’s surface. This causes that tiny section of vessel to immediately disappear. Treatment sessions are usually for example 15 minutes per cheek.
Although not considered a cause of telangiectasia, rosacea (and the medication for it) may be a related factor, with the two conditions often presenting simultaneously. Reducing the appearance of the blood vessels using electrolysis may initially trigger a rosacea attack. However this is relatively rare and only a temporary consequence of the long-term positive results.

Blood Spots:

Named after Campbell Grieg De Morgan (1811-1876) a British surgeon who was the first to note them, in medical literature these vascular blemishes are also known as Cherry Angioma or Blood Spots. They present themselves as slightly raised or dome shaped and are of unknown origin. They are mostly seen on the trunk in middle aged and elderly clients and are even more common in men than women. They are treated with Diathermy only. Larger ones (50p size+) will need more than one treatment. Smaller ones often disappear at time of treatment.

Spider Naevus:

Spider Naevus a central dilated blood vessel, with smaller capillaries radiating from it like the legs of a spider can be individual isolated blemishes or can be multiple in areas such as the cheeks or chest area. They can, if apparent in isolation, be a result of a trauma to the skin, for example…. a child following a minor mishap such as bumping into an object, can develop a spider naevus in the traumatised area. Certain conditions can make them worse including extreme heat and cold, obesity, pregnancy, stress or pressure on the area. Several spider naevus appearing spontaneously is a cause for concern as it might indicate liver disease. They can be treated with Blend or Diathermy methods although they can be quite resilient and more than one treatment may be necessary.

Skin Tags:

Skin Tags are a common fibrous skin condition commonly found in areas of friction such as the armpits, under the breasts, groin or around the neck where necklaces or collars may irritate. Derived from epithelial cells and consisting of loose fibrous tissue they form single or multiple distributions and are often hyper-pigmented making them more obvious. They often present with a neck like a mushroom and vary in size from a tiny speck, smaller than a grain of uncooked rice, to the size of a large pea or larger. They are viral in nature (Human Papilloma Virus HPV) and whilst not infectious they can proliferate on individuals with some people suffering from hundreds of them.
Skin Tags are very easily treated using advanced electrolysis techniques and whether they are tiny ones between the eyelashes or large ones under the arms there is one of the advanced electrolysis techniques suitable for them. Areas of friction such as the under the breasts and under folds of skin on the overweight are very common areas to find these irritating blemishes. Advanced electrolysis is probably the quickest, easiest way of removing the problem in a safe and effective manner.

There are three different methods of skin tag removal for different types of tags and location:

1. For treatment of tags between the eyelashes, or for tiny tags around the neck or under the arms, the probe is gently rested on the skin tag and the current released. The heat generated causes the tag to stick to the probe and then just lifts off as if being melted from the skin. When performed correctly this method takes only seconds per tag removal.
2. When the location of the tag renders treatment difficult, another method involves insertion of the probe and then the application of current for a number of seconds to cut off the blood supply, which results in the tag immediately shriveling and eventually (a day or two later) being sloughed off.
3. A third method involves supporting the tag with tweezers and using the very tip of the probe to continually tap away at the neck of the tag, which results in the immediate removal of the skin tag. Treatment is very fast and effective, taking only seconds depending on the size of the skin tag. The procedure is only a little uncomfortable with some people experiencing no discomfort at all.

Milia:

Lying very superficially under the epidermis milia present themselves as small white lipid-epithelium plugs which contain lamellated keratin deposits and often show as hard, solid lumps lying in the superficial papillary dermis. They are a retention of keratin and sebaceous material within the pilosebaceous duct, eccrine sweat duct, or the sebaceous collar surrounding vellus hair. Their exact cause is unknown although they are often related to diet with a high cholesterol count, excessive Vitamin C, too rich moisturising cream and are also associated with dry skin which can be acidic.

They can all be treated easily with advanced electrolysis techniques using diathermy (AC) which gently dries them up so that the hard keratinised centre is broken down and this will then be absorbed by the skin following treatment. This is a much gentler way to treat them, as opposed to removing them with a microlance, which can damage the skin. Milia can appear between the eyelashes, on the eyelid itself, the cheek area or anywhere on the face or neck where dry skin is present. They tend to grow in size, become harder (as the contents keratinize) and then become noticeable to the eye and cosmetically unattractive. Some people may only suffer one and others exhibit a proliferation of up to 40 – 60 of them at any one time.

Age Spots:

Age Spots are caused by an accumulation of a yellow pigment called lipofuscin from ageing of the collagen producing cells. They are very common on the hands and face of middle aged and elderly patients and are usually despised by them as they are so recognizably a sign of increasing age. Chemical peels and skin whitening products are commonly used for treatment but electrolysis is also very effective. Using a very fine electrolysis needle and diathermy (AC) current a tiny section of the age spot is lifted from the underlying tissue and the color underneath is observed. If the tiny area exposed is lighter in color removal can go ahead with varying degrees of success. If the pigment underneath the tiny section lifted is the same color as the age spot itself the pigment goes deep into the dermis and treatment will not be successful.

How long will it take to recover from Electrolysis?

No recovery time as such is necessary. You can return to work and normal activities immediately after a treatment.
Depending on the particular skin condition being treated and the size of it, you can expect some post treatment discomfort and scabbing as the area heals.
If the area being treated is on your face, you may wish to plan treatment around social events if you do not wish to attend them before post-treatment healing has completed.
What are the risks and potential complications from Advanced Cosmetic Procedures?
When the treatments are performed correctly there is little or no chance of permanently marking the skin.
What should you do after an Advanced Cosmetic Procedure treatment?
It is very important that you follow the advice of your practitioner carefully after electrolysis for advanced cosmetic procedures to reduce the risk of any complications.

Post-treatment advice may include:
• applying an antiseptic cream after treatment;
• cleaning and protecting the treated area to avoid infection;
• not exposing yourself to the sun without applying a high factor sunblock to the treated area.

Who should not have an Electrolysis treatment?

As long as you are generally healthy and don’t have any skin diseases or active infections in the area being treated, there are few medical reasons why patients should not undergo this treatment.
An experienced practitioner will be able to identify if a particular abnormality should not be treated and refer you for further evaluation in cases of suspected malignancies or skin cancers.

Electrolysis during pregnancy?

Although there is no evidence that this treatment is harmful for pregnant women, you may be advised to wait until after you have given birth before embarking upon treatment.

Skin condition?

However, depending upon your skin concern, particularly if a defect is growing or changing rapidly, changing shape, color or starting to bleed, it is worth visiting your General Practitioner before embarking upon a search for private treatment as a referral may be needed to rule out any medical issues such as pre-cancerous conditions.

Summary of advice for Advanced Cosmetic Procedures.

Advanced electrolysis is a useful technique for advanced cosmetic procedures which treat a variety of small skin conditions and abnormal growths both quickly and efficiently. Results are often considered to be very good, with little to no marks left on the skin when done by experienced practitioners and are usually permanent in nature. Both men and women, and all skin types (colors) can benefit from it, with extra care taken by the practitioner on those individuals with dark skin.