Don't Get it Twisted: Distorted Follicles

You may have heard us yapping about distorted follicles this, distorted follicles that, but what does that really mean?

The hair follicle - the source of hair growth, is what we deal with in electrolysis. We insert a sterile, single-use probe into the hair follicle to apply electricity to destroy it, so it can't grow back. In the simplest cases, the follicle, hair shaft, and probe are all the same size and shape for most effective treatment. But, of course, we are actually squishy, not precisely straight, utterly unique, human bodies!

Many of the temporary hair removal options like waxing and tweezing, can change the way your hairs grow back. Repeated pulling to remove the hair can cause the follicle to distort, leading to curly hairs, ingrown hairs, hyperpigmentation, and keloids. Effective electrolysis treatment can solve these problems for good!

What does this mean for your electrolysis treatments? Hair grows in cycles and we know that treating hairs early in the cycle, in the "anagen" or growth phase, is the best time to literally nip these hairs in the bud. That's why it's so important to stay on a consistent treatment schedule to achieve your desired results in the shortest time possible. Every two weeks is the typical suggested treatment regime.

In between treatments, we recommend shaving or trimming - NOT plucking. Not only because tweezing can distort the follicle, it will also alter the regrowth timeline. It will take several growth cycles to treat all of the desired follicles, we can't speed up time unfortunately. Regrowth in between is expected at first, but it will likely not be the exact same hair growing back, though they may be in the same area.

If you have recurring ingrowns in the same spot, or hairs that grow in a different, curlier texture than your usual hair, you likely have a distorted follicle or two. Electrolysis can treat just that spot, or clear a whole area.

Come in for a consultation to find out how we can help!