HRT and body hair

Comment by Michelle L on July 25, 2010 at 12:42am

Thank you for your kind reply. I can't wait to see what happens. Although, I was just thinking about getting a three sessions in of my back and chest even if it will only "thin out" those aforementioned areas

Michelle L.

Comment by Caroline Grace on July 26, 2010 at 7:16am

Dr. McGinn suggested that hair removal shouldn't begin until 3 months after HRT was started. No explanation was offered to that statement. In the time frame she suggested I did note significant reduction in hair in my body.

Instead of shaving my friend recommended I use an epilator. "Be drunk when you use it," she said. That was terrific advice that I should have used for the first three times I used it.

My arms, chest, and belly in particular were carpeted with hair. The epilator pulls hair out and either the hair doesn't grow back or it grows back as smaller and weaker version of its former self. The epilator is a rotating cylinder with lots of things that act like tweezers.

Make one pass with this electric razor sized device along the length of your forearm and you'll see hundreds of red marks where hair once was. Those red marks go away in 24 hours according to the instructions. In the beginning they took almost 2 days to disappear for me. The hair that returned to the area was far less, was thinner and far softer than what had been there in the beginning.

My friend was right. The pain was intense in the beginning. It could easily be a CIA torture device. Over time it has become less and less. But I still find it necessary to use in small patches in places where I have used it much before.

If it is that painful why would I keep using it? Because it works! I am not sure if the HRT or the Epilator is doing the most to get rid of or suppress the hair, but what a difference! And I can now use the Epilator with far less pain in areas that I have concentrated upon. The hair that returned to the area was far less, was thinner and far softer than what had been there in the beginning.


There is another device called a No - No. I bought it because they claim it is pain free and id is supposed to remove hair. Basically what it is is a hot wire that is run over you hair. It melts the hair. It is supposed to damage the root of the hair and stop regrowth or have the next hairs show up softer and thinner. Sound familiar?

That device does burn hair. You can smell it. The wires that come in contact also burn. Within 60 days I needed replacements. For $26 a month they send new wires each month. The device also broke within 60 days. I didn't bother getting it fixed.

I used it a lot on my beard, especially around my lips. If it reduced hair there and therefore reduced the need for electrolysis / laser I saved myself some pain and maybe some cost, too.

CVS pharmacy has 6 bladed razors for women. Another girl told me that she didn't have electrolysis or laser and yet she looked terrific. I tried her approach and it works well enough for me for now. I even went full-time without laser or electrolysis simply because my budget was best spent for other things rather than for this more long term solution to beard removal. This works for me because I am a natural blonde, old enough to have pretty much a snow white beard (though I never let it grow so I don't really know anymore what color it would be) and shaving daily is a ritual. In the next year I intend to use electrolysis to get rid of my beard only.

The other solutions work just fine for the rest of my body.

Your experience may vary but I hope this gives you some ideas to consider....
Thanks for a great post!

My observation? When you do timelines for construction, double or triple your original estimates is likely to be the reality. When you do estimates for transition, if you are cautious and thoughtful, your estimates will be double or triple the length of time it will actually takes you. I was forewarned about this by my therapist who said transition is an erupting volcanoe for most people... When you start it, it gushes forth and there isn't any holding it back. I think she was right...

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