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So I'm going to be needing to do permanent hair removal, electrolysis, to my face. This is supposed to be EXTREMELY painful... I've been holding off on really looking into getting started on it partially because of the cost of the procedure itself when done professionally, and partially because of the added cost of getting myself anesthetized beforehand.
There are products out there for around $20 that can do at-home galvanic electrolysis, so that's not really a big problem if I can just get up the gumption to DIY it...
But anesthesia would still be a problem... And is a LARGE part of what's keeping back the gumption to DIY it.
Someone over on a board I frequent, however, turned me on to a new research project when she commented on a thread about making your own pueraria mirifica cream using DMSO as the carrier through the skin barrier.
That's a large part of why effective topical anesthesia would be so costly, getting it through the skin barrier...
I did a little research on DMSO and found that in addition to being an excellent carrier for other dissolved chemicals mixed with it, it has analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties. That's two parts of the pain from electrolysis taken care of. Just need to find a reasonable anesthetic as well and I'd be set.
So I set to looking for herbs that when used topically act as an anesthetic and eventually found cloves. Actually, the clove oil. Apparently clove oil's primary constituent is a powerful anesthetic known as eugenol. And if you take the oil from the stems, you can get up to 95% eugenol! And to make things even more interesting, eugenol also tends to carry through the skin barrier easier than other drugs. Eugenol in fact has seen a lot of use by some dentists in place of the 'caine's. For people who are allergic to the 'caine family of drugs, but not allergic to cloves, it's a safer alternative than some of the other choices.
The bad part of this combination? Bad breath. But I have found out that apparently, just a small amount of aloe gel can cancel that.
So I'm going to be mixing a 99% pure DMSO liquid found here: http://www.petstruly.com/1871.html
With a 100% pure from-the-stem clove oil found here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Clove-Stem-Essen...4ab92e2282
And some pure aloe gel extracted myself from plants bought at the local market.
I'll be mixing it in an approximately 7/2/1 combination. Seven parts DMSO, two parts clove oil, and 1 part aloe gel. 16 oz DMSO, 4 oz clove oil, and 2 oz aloe gel. If you divide by two that's actually 8/2/1, but if you recalculate based on parts of the 22oz whole, it's about 72%, 18%, 10%. Multiplied by their respective strengths you get about 71%, 17%, and 5% of active ingredients and 7% inactive.
Why that combination? For one thing, 70% is the minimum required DMSO strength to completely penetrate the skin barrier and carry things with it. Even just 15% eugenol when being carried directly to the local blood stream should be more than sufficient for quite a bit of numbing, and the aloe is only meant to help the odor. I was unable to find any specific quantity to use, but figured since DMSO is used by itself in up to 90% formulas, 5% active aloe constituents should be sufficient.
Now I just need money to buy the ingredients and an at-home electrolysis machine.
This mixture would probably be pretty darned effective for waxing too btw, if anyone would like to try it for that.
The potential dangers? Don't try this if you have an allergy to aloe or cloves. As far as I could find, there are no known adverse reactions to DMSO itself, only any chemicals carried with it. I am not myself allergic to either, I use both quite often for other uses. Cloves are one of my favorite food spices and aloe is an excellent moisturizer for someone who already produces more sebum than she needs anything to do with. It returns JUST moisture, with no oils. Aloe also tends to be a great enhancement for...
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other moisture needs... ;)
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Think of a certain word beginning with L, and yes, it's kind of dirty, but true... :P
Comments
Potentially deadly
there was an article that I remember having read a few years ago and the incident had also been on a medical mystery show about dmso. If used in a certain quantity it can react with some people to form a deadly nerve gas within their bodies. They woman who had entered the ER for chronic pain and problems succumbed to that and when they pierced her with a needle for a blood draw, the gas emitted from the puncture and several of the emergency room crew died and many others hospitalized later for nerve gas exposure.
The woman who entered the ER and died was using dmso for arthritis pain relief.
So please, look up the facts on that drug and be careful!!!!!!!!
Sephrena
I think I remember something about that as well...
And she was using it in crazy high amounts. The problem wasn't the DMSO itself, but a chain of events that led to the DMSO eventually becoming dimethyl sulfate.
When she used way too much DMSO it caused her system to go into arrest, and when they put an oxygen mask on her the DMSO was completely converted to dimethyl sulfone, with 2 oxygen atoms on it instead of one. This chemical, though generally inert, was unstable and broke down in her system. The scientists who claimed that the gas produced was dimethyl sulfate then hypothesize that it reformed into dimethyl sulfate when her blood left her body and started to cool down, allowing the chemical enough stability to form in quantity.
Obviously you should never use anything to such toxic levels ever. EVERYTHING has a toxicity point.
Abigail Drew.
Thank you! ^^ You do know about it
then ^^ As long as you know and keep things safe. I was worried about how you were using it.
Sephrena
I'm not using it at all yet...
Need the money for mainly the clove stem oil... That stuffs crazy expensive...
But when I do, I don't intend to use more than just a squirt or two, enough to thinly cover my entire face just after a thorough wash and before starting electrolysis. As soon as that thin coat fully absorbs, it'd be time to do the electrolysis.
I don't think I'd use it more than once a week at absolute most. It should be very powerful and very long lasting, so just one application should be plenty to last an electrolysis session. The only reason it would be once a week would be if I couldn't manage a complete clearing all in one session, then it'd be until regrowth, which could be weeks to months.
I already have vinyl gloves for my hands to keep from numbing them on accident. I actually have a box of 100 from a local beauty supply that I originally bought for the purposes of depilation. I was getting tired of losing my fingernails to Nair.
Abigail Drew.
DMSO
Dimethylsulfoxide isn't some inert body cream to play with. One effect I have noticed, from personal use, is greatly increased blood flow to the area it is used. Also heavy use can burn the skin. This isn't something to experiment with unless you have a lab full of guinea pigs and methods to apply it to them without getting it on your own skin before you have tested it THOROUGHLY.
That has been my experience with DMSO.
with love,
Hope
P.S. I have experienced the chemical burns DMSO produces when used heavily. NOT NICE!
P.P.S. have you considered that DMSO could possibly react with your other chemicals to produce other Chemicals in the salve that you have no idea what hey will it do to you?
with love,
Hope
Once in a while I bare my soul, more often my soles bear me.
I appreciate your concerns...
And especially appreciate the additional perspective, to keep other people from getting over-enthusiastic with using it. By all rights this SHOULD be a prescription-only preparation... but for whatever reason, the FDA chooses to not control any of these chemicals.
I am not planning to "play" with it. This is going to be used as a very specific tool with a very specific purpose, and the actual concentration of DMSO in the final product would be a much safer 71%, as mentioned in the entry.
It's much like using lye to burn out the hair follicle in the first place. Or using lye to relax hair. Or any of a number of potentially dangerous things when used improperly.
Heck, I make regular use of depilatories. Do you want me to list the potentially dangerous ingredients in Nair? It'd be over half the ingredients list if not all of it. It'd definitely include the primary active ingredient which is usually lye or a lye-like chemical.
Diluted DMSO has actually been used safely for topical preparations for years. With very few negative episodes, and all of those stemming from over-use and/or the use of too highly concentrated product. Or mixing it with chemicals that SHOULD NOT be permitted to pass the skin barrier.
Anyways, yeah, I agree that like anything else, too much of anything becomes dangerous. DMSO is a known analgesic. Too much will almost certainly cause your body to go into arrest. Until your post I was unaware of any chance of chemical burns, none of my searching turned that up, but I don't think that'd be likely at 71%.
And yes, I looked into the possibilities of interactions, part of why I don't want to use an aloe gel made in a factory. I tried finding an aloe gel extracted without any fillers and couldn't find any, I didn't want to have to research all the possible interactions with the fillers as well as the intended ingredients.
Abigail Drew.
Nair
oh lord, Nair is by far the worst thing i've ever used. Some people have no trouble with it, but i just cant use it. My skin will burn and bleed from just a very short exposure. Then to top it off, it doesn't even remove the hair!
Yeah...
I've heard that some people get such reactions... It honestly doesn't surprise me, with the caustics used by the product. Some peoples hair can be extremely strong and stubborn. Skin otoh, it's not nearly as good at defending itself.
Nair is putting caustic chemicals on your skin and hoping that it burns off your hair before it burns through your skin. It doesn't always work that way.
Luckily, I seem to have some extremely resistant skin. I believe I can actually thank my wonderful sebum levels for something.
Abigail Drew.
something your missing
Facial hair removal is so painful because of the nerves in the face being extremely sensitive.
Even injected by needle anethesitics seldom have a numbing effect on the pores of the hair and it is still painful to have the hair burned out at the root.
If pain is the biggest issue for you then you should look around at different electrolisys/laser hair removal places some of them used pulsed light to remove hair, it takes alot more treatments but it does eventually work. That one has no pain and, as far as I know, is actually somewhat cheaper. There is even do it yourself ones at home.
Not all hair can be removed either. white or blond hair are naturally resistant to burning and the only way to remove these is with electrolisys. Ie if you have grey hair in your beard the best method is to go to a place that has an agreement with a doctor to put you out while it is done. Be warned nausea is usually the result of this even in a low dose needed to put someone out for a short time.
Another possiblity is the use of Date rape drugs to render a person unconsious during the procedure. Its just an idea but maybe it has possibilities.
topicals can provide excellent relief actually...
There are some preparations made by compounding pharmacies that can provide very complete numbing to the region, and all of those preparations follow the same concept as this one, carry the anesthetic through to the local bloodstream and parts of it will get dropped off on the way in and saturate or at least partially saturate the region it was applied on top of.
Injected anesthetics skip the skin completely, and so they're JUST in the bloodstream. Great for deeper tissue, but doesn't do much for the pores.
Since this hasn't been tested yet, I can't say for sure this one will work, but it wouldn't be right to dismiss it either.
I can't "look around" at professional places. It's impossible for me to afford. It won't likely be possible for me to afford until I get it done, ironically enough. Until I get completely rid of the damned thing I'll always be immediately obvious. Immediately obvious trannies don't get jobs. Especially in Ohio. Most especially in Toledo.
Abigail Drew.
If you haven't experienced electrolysis
how do you know how painful it might be? Our pain thresholds are all different and yours might be high. It might be better than spending money on self medication. In my own experience, the worst area is round the mouth, everything else is bearable. Galvanic doesn't hurt as much as the other, but takes longer. If you're going to be doing it yourself make sure you have a decent magnifying mirror or magnifying light. Also be careful, it's easy to cause electrical burns and subsequent scarring.
Angharad
Well...
You're right, I don't know, but at the same time, I'd just feel more comfortable about the whole thing if I did numb myself first. Especially since I'll likely be the one holding the electrolysis needle. If it does hurt as soon as I start, I just know my reaction would be hugely detrimental.
Galvanic is the only available option for DIY... I realize it takes longer, but that's a small price to pay when it means the difference between even having it done at all or not. I do have a magnifying mirror I am planning to use, I'm not too sure I could call it a "good" one, but it's what I have.
I tend to be an extremely careful person, even when I'm taking otherwise huge risks and using myself as a guinea pig, I'm careful about it.
Abigail Drew.
052) My Possible Newly Invented Topical Anesthetic
Please take care
May Your Light Forever Shine
Ambugel
I am currently in electrolysis and found that ambugel for tooth aches works wonderful if placed on the inside of upper lip just before electrolysis is performed. Another trick is rub a couple ice cubes on the area to numb it.
I find that the pain I derived from electrolysis on my upper lip wasn't so bad of the person doing the hair removal turns down the frequency. It is a long process but the most affective.
I really would not recommend any sort of chemical for numbing other than what I mention above.
I may have once been a stalworth masculing individual, but hormones, breast implants have renedered me to be a bit more sensitive to the electrolysis as it is performed. I have noticed that as I havemy electrolysis performed my body does its best to numb the area.
Jill Micayla
Be kinder than necessary,Because everyone you meet
Is fighting some kind of battle.
Pain is frightening while it's in some point in the future.
But thousands of people around the world go through electrolysis every day. Most of them survive the pain without any additional medication.
Also, actual pain is forgotten very easy and soon.
So... Most of the positive result and least actual pain comes when done by professionals. Do you want to experiment and train as electrolysis professional on yourself?
Also there are less painfull (and less efficient) ways to get rid of unwanted hairs. But good and professional places usually have ways to ease the pain.
I have not had any electrolysis myself. But once I had surgery where local anethtetic had not worked on me. I screamed and cried. But it is very distant memory now and I can't recall that feeling now. And with local pain shots at dentists I had more trouble with shots themselves than with pain of drilling through my tooth.
So: try it at good place. If pain is too much for you - no one will torture you if you say that it's too painfull.
I can't.
I can't get it done professionally. I do believe I've made that abundantly clear. I can not even come CLOSE to being able to afford it. And I'm getting quite tired of dealing with it every day.
I know me. If there's substantial pain, I'm going to recoil when I try to do it myself. This would be bad.
I'm not trying to "train" on myself, I can't afford professional equipment any more than I can afford to have a professional do it.
I don't want to numb the pain because I don't think I could handle it, I want to numb it because I don't think I could handle it AND maintain the necessary focus to DIY my electrolysis.
Abigail Drew.
Nono
I wonder if you can get away with using that product that's on TV called "Nono" it works by burning the hair and crystallizing it to constantly keep killing the hair root. It gets finer and lighter every use and lasts a long time. Maybe?
Sephrena
I know someone that has one...
And all it does is burn the hair off, there is no effect at all on regrowth. It's at least as destructive of surrounding tissue as Nair, as well. No way will I Nair my face. She doesn't even use her Nono on her face anymore, only her body.
Abigail Drew.
Small experience
I had a little bit done on my face once upon a time. It wasn't too bad at all. But I was made of tougher stuff back then. The upper lip was by far the worst, and I did it with no anasthetic and this impressed the electrologist to no end. After a minute I took her up on the glass of vodka she offered, though, lol. =[:0
Annemarie