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Electrolysis Pain : What to
expect; factors involved in the perception of pain. |
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Pain Control : A
preferred method to alleviate/eliminate the discomfort of electrolysis
treatment. |
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Oral Nonopioid
Medications : Oral pain medication used in addition to topical pain
management. |
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Adjunct Medical
Support : Physician facilitated pain management during electrolysis treatment. |
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EMLA : A topical
anesthetic. |
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Occlusive Dressings
: Application instructions for cream type topical anesthetics like EMLA. |
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OTC topical analgesics
: Non-prescription topical analgesics available to the electrology
patient. |
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ABOVE, TO GO TO THAT TOPIC
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Electrolysis
Pain
analgesia
(ΰn΄el-jκ΄zκ-e, -zhe)
Absence of pain perception.
anesthesia
(ΰn΄ξs-thκ΄zhe)
Absence of all sensation.
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Given the
amount of energy needed to destroy a course, deeply rooted hair
follicle, most often electrolysis treatment can be rather painful. And
while patients do have a wide variety of responses to electrolysis, the
most significant factor seems to be the ongoing nature of the
discomfort.
Pain is
not just a sensation but an experience. It should be thought of as an
unpleasant sensation as well as an emotional experience
associated with actual or potential tissue damage.
Pain can
be highly variable between individuals as well as in the same individual
at different times. The most common reaction to acute pain is anxiety.
And in turn, anxiety can exacerbate an increased response to pain.
Electrolysis
pain is particularly difficult to imagine prior to any treatment
experience because most individuals can make little comparison to past
physically painful experiences.
For most
individuals, the experience of physical pain has been in the form of
sudden injury (a serious cut, a broken arm, etc.), where physical trauma
is inflicted and our internal mechanism for dealing with that pain (both
physically and psychologically) is put into play. However, the
electrolysis experience is not a single traumatic event followed a
response to injury, and eventual recovery. Electrolysis trauma is
continually doled out during the treatment encounter, which may last for
several hours duration. Generally, one's mechanism for dealing with a
continuing series of painful experiences is not as effective as with a
single random encounter.
Acute
pain is normally associated with the concept of nociception, which is
derived from noci (Latin for harm or injury). It is only
used to describe the neural response to traumatic stimuli. There are
three types of acute pain: superficial, deep somatic, and visceral.
These three types all have different features.
Electrolysis
pain is the superficial type of acute pain, which is due to the
nociceptive input arising from the skin and surrounding tissue. It is
characteristically well-localized and described as a sharp, pricking,
throbbing, or burning sensation.
But to
truly empathize with the potential for discomfort, one must consider the
ongoing nature, not only of a single electrology encounter, but the
continuation of encounters, within the treatment process.
Certainly for many transgender patients, a great deal of emotional and
psychological stress is involved with the process of permanent hair
removal.
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