side note, I was watching a punk movie set in the 70s and I realized a lot of those people would probably transition if HRT was as available as it is now
A lot of those people probably have transitioned lol, maybe not medically but still.
That mustache must have taken forever to remove with early galvanic electrolysis.
Laser is NOT fun to do
but god, it was so so worth
how much did it cost? I went to a place where I live and they said just the face would be like $5k. Granted I’m glad I didn’t because HRT has nearly fully stopped the hair growth there and ive seen cis women with worse sideburns than me
Is my tech doing something wrong? My laser is a 10 minute zap that I barely notice and doesn’t hurt the second it stops.
Electrolysis scares me and I’ll probably need it for my upper lip area.
Not sure.
How does it feel?
The laser also stops hurting the second it stops. But at worst, every zap feels like a painful electric shock. Think when you have static electricity from rubbing a balloon and get shocked by it. But that x8 worse. Coupled with a hint of the feeling of stabbing and pinching hair out with a needle (like one can do manually).What I tend to do is get an ice compress on the lasered spot and communicate with my laserer to stop and pause, then after about 20-30 sec to 1 min, continue.
The closer the to-be-lasered hair is to the bone, the more painful it is. Some areas you can laser through in one time (ie., w/o needing an ice compress break), others I felt I needed to pause after every three zaps.
A session usually lasts about 15-45 min, depending on how much you rawdog the pain. The most painful are the moustache and front leg area (and the groin), the rest is much more doable.
What to do w/ lasering
Depending on what kinda hair you have, and on your goals (completely gone or soft?), it may require more or fewer sessions. Dark hair is easier to laser than bright. You might need a particular type of laser (iode, IPL, etc.). Shave a day before lasering, and after laser, smear aftersun on the area and don’t expose it to sun. During your area’s summer (in terms of sunshine and solar intensity), lasering is not handy. Hair grows back in a cycle of 6 weeks, so it’s best to laser again after that if you want that.
Reimbursement
Some countries’ laws allow you to get the laser reimbursed, perhaps w/ specific insurances, so go check that. You might sometimes need to send pictures for insurance though, and they might formally only reimburse part of the body, which is annoying bullshit considering the dysphoria.I had the luxury that I could reject to send those pics, but still.
they might be using low settings so you have to do more sessions and they get paid more. its an unfortunate reality in some cases, especially at the cosmetic places, or so I’m told. I’ve been getting electrolysis on my face for the past several months, and while it does hurt it’s manageable. I really like that it’s actually permanent, so even if it will take a while because of the number of hairs on the face, every fully treated hair is gone forever, whereas laser is only a reduction for most hairs.
I use nation wide trans run clinic that offers cheap prices for trans customers, so luckily I think I can rule price gouging out. According to the email they send after each session, I’m on 14J/CM setting - whatever 14 joules per cm entails exactly.
I’m only on session 3 for laser, I’ll go up until 7 or 8 before making the move to electro - I’m seeing progress everywhere but the lips+ area. Mostly I’m scared of the risk of scarring from electrolysis.
Woah, I didn’t know we could do animated pfps! Very cool. Sorry about the future electrolysis though, sounds like it blows
Not sure if Lemmy supports it, but you certainly can on PieFed.
Love to see him living his truth.
