How to Prepare for Electrolysis: A Complete Guide for New Clients
If you’ve booked your first electrolysis appointment — or you’re seriously thinking about it — you probably have questions. What should you do beforehand? What should you avoid? Is there anything I need to know about your medications or your skin?
I’ve been doing this for over 40 years. I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t. This guide walks you through everything you need to know to get the most out of your time with me. Everything here applies to your free consultation as well as your treatment sessions — please read all of it, and follow all of it, before you come in. Some of it will sound counterintuitive at first, but trust me — these small adjustments make a real difference in your results.
Let the Hair Grow
This is the biggest one, and it’s the step most new clients struggle with: stop tweezing, plucking, waxing, and threading well before your appointment.
Here’s why. Electrolysis treats hair at the bulb of follicle. To do that, I need to physically grab the shaft of the hair with forceps after treating it with a fine probe. If you’ve plucked or waxed in the days leading up to your appointment, there’s literally nothing there for me to work with.
What to do
Stop tweezing and plucking at least one to two weeks before your appointment. Longer is better. No waxing or threading in the weeks leading up to your session. Shaving, or dermaplaning is completely fine — it’s actually the only hair removal method I advise before your appointment. It doesn’t disturb the follicle. Shaving a few days before can help hair grow in evenly, which makes your session more productive.
I know that letting it grow is hard, especially if you’ve been managing unwanted hair for years. But this short period of patience is exactly what makes the long-term results possible.
A Note on Tweezing Between Sessions
Any time you pull hair out — tweezing, waxing, threading — you’re stimulating the follicle. Over the years I’ve watched clients closely, sometimes over decades, and the pattern is consistent: clients who continue to tweeze between sessions experience more persistent hair growth, more ingrown hairs, and a longer road to permanent results.
My recommendation is simple. Put the tweezers away. Trust the process. I’ve seen it work thousands of times. Appointments are typically scheduled 4 to 6 weeks apart. This allows the hair growth cycle to progress between sessions.
Medications and Health Conditions
Please tell me about any medications you’re taking before we begin. Also mention recent bloodwork — I may ask about this specifically if PCOS, thyroid issues, or hormonal imbalances are part of your history. These conditions can affect hair growth patterns and help me tailor your treatment plan appropriately.
Sessions typically run anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour depending on the treatment area and your individual needs.
Skip the Fragrance on Appointment Day
One more thing before you come in: please skip perfume, scented body lotion, and scented body oil on the day of your treatment or consultation.
This is a professional medical clinic, and I keep the treatment space that way — for you and for every other client who comes through that day. Fragrance affects people differently, and strong scent can linger in an enclosed treatment room for hours. What smells fine to you may not be fine for the next person in the chair, or for me, working close to you for the length of your session.
What to do:
Skip perfume, scented lotion, and scented body oil entirely on appointment days. Plain, unscented moisturizer is fine if you need it. This applies to consultations too, not just treatment sessions.
If you arrive wearing strong fragrance, I may ask you to reschedule your visit.
What to Expect
Pain and Sensation: Electrolysis involves a tiny amount of current delivered to each follicle. Most clients describe the sensation as a brief pinch or sting — tolerable, and something you adjust to quickly. If you’re anxious about it, just tell me. I’ll walk you through the first few treatments at whatever pace you need to feel comfortable. There’s no rush.
After Your Appointment
A few things to expect after your session: Mild redness or slight swelling is completely normal and usually fades within a few hours. Avoid touching, scratching, or picking at the treated area. I’ll give you specific aftercare instructions tailored to your treatment before you leave.
If you haven’t booked your first consultation yet, that’s where we start. I’ll evaluate your hair, your skin, and your goals, ask about your medical history, and put together a treatment plan built specifically for you — not a generic one-size-fits-all approach. That’s not how I work.
Free consultations are available for new clients throughout Rochester, Oakland County, and Macomb County.
Call LHR Skin and Vein Center today. Let’s get started.
~Diana Callas, RE, LE, CLHRP
