Hysteria and Pain
So many times, we tend to associate the use of needles with a visit to the doctor. As children, we all became very aware of the "nice nurse" and "this won't hurt a bit". The use of needles and the association with pain becomes so embedded in our lives, that the mere thought of them brings chills. It is often this reaction that brings clients often kicking and screaming to my door. This is in no way helped by the amplification of this hysteria by on-line "experiences" written by others who have had a less-than-adequate experience at the hands of some flame queen who uses the twist-the-knobs-till-you-smell-smoke approach. More than a few times, I have had to help someone get over their prior experiences before I can even start working. Given the quality of work that I am often confronted with, it is no surprise that clients do get very gun shy at the thought of coming to me. Add to this, my own wicked and macabre sense of humor. A true recipe for disaster.
Hormones and Pain
From my own experience and observations, I have to laugh bitterly at the times I have read the "experts" telling other transgendered individuals to:
"Start your hormones as soon as you can. It will make electrolysis easier"
What happens in fact is nearly universal in my experience. Set your clock and wait for 2 years. At that point, you will note that the pain you feel during electrolysis is nearly DOUBLE for any given setting on a machine. This remains a real quirk, but one that is NEVER mentioned in certain circles. It is also a quirk that has very nearly de-railed many a transition. In fact, the texture of facial hair follicles generally reduces by no more than 10% and NOT as much as some of the wild claims that I have read. It is also the same quirk, often the hallmark of a poorly planned transition, that sends clients to the doctors with their hands out for more and more painkillers. To an extent, this helps, but then there is the drug problem. Weekly doses of general pain killers can result in a client's becoming insensitive to them.
Learning to Relax
This is fairly critical to the process of electrolysis. Whether it is with drugs or not, relaxation is a serious consideration. Without it, any sensation at all is made 10 times more noticeable. Learning to relax is as simple as a leisurely drive here and avoiding the screwballs on the road. Other times, it is a matter of scheduling a time that does not have you up tight over office politics, meetings and deadlines. Over the last several years I have found a rather curious relationship between stress and galvanic electrolysis, more-to-the-fact, the electricity that is used in galvanic electrolysis. If one's nervous system runs on micro-volts, imagine swarming that system with input a thousand times stronger. It's equivalent would be the same as plugging your telephone into a power substation. Adding stress to this volatile brew, is a true recipe for disaster. The interesting thing is that I generally know when stress is going to disrupt the session long before the client "wipes out".
Therefore, earning to relax, once here, is a matter of being aware that nothing that I do will come as a surprise to you. Believe it or not, you DO have some control, and if the session is not going well, you certainly are entitled to ask if there is some way that we can ease the situation. I maintain a policy of honoring requests to stop, if that is what is needed. There is no expectation of fulfilling a two hour session simply because it is booked. Oftentimes, once we start, it becomes second nature to just lie down and take a few deep breaths and just "let it flow".
Sometimes a client arrives so stressed out over something in her life, that I have often called the session off and spent the two hours just talking.......for no charge, I might add. There are those times when, appointment or not, this is NOT something you should be doing, right now. It happens.
Often, that seeming lax attitude that I have here is deceptively intended to unwind people from a nasty commute through traffic or a bad day at the office. Only rarely do I schedule anyone so tightly as to make them rush in and rush out.
Injectible Medications
Here is a luxury that I do wish that I could afford, but a responsibility that has it's repercussions as well. At one time, I was utilizing the services of a local dentist to do oral injections, mostly for upper lip work. About 2 years ago, he informed me that there was a problem with liability concerning oral injections for purposes other than dental work. A dentist in Texas was de-certified for violations of this rule by the Texas board. My dentist then politely refused to do any more. I was surprised to learn in conversations with other zappers that there was a problem with people going into allergic reaction to the drugs and dying. This is not good, but cases happen each year. For this reason, some lawyer somewhere is probably driving a new Benz, the proceeds of a successful lawsuit. Be that as it may, I do not offer ANY pain medications myself. That cannot be and is not my responsibility.
It is worth noting here that only an M.D. or medical doctor can utilize injections legally for the purpose of electrolysis. In the Bay Area, California, there is only one and their preferred methodology is flash thermolysis. I have seen their work. Not impressed.
Oral Medications
This is where most clients commonly find themselves. It is generally easy enough to find a sympathetic doctor who can be of help in getting oral prescription medications. Sad to say, that it is my opinion that most of it is of marginal use for pain. Darvoset, Percoset and Vicadin seem to be the most prevalent and have better effects on some people than others. Usually, they are good for cutting the "edge" off of the pain, but long term use can lead to some nasty consequences. It seems that in the long run of electrolysis treatments sometimes going as long as two or three years, it becomes increasingly necessary to add more and more drugs to the regimen in order to get to "numb". In this case, it soon became a matter of tranqulizer, two Darvoset and a wine cooler. I nearly became a player in a game commonly known as "drug overdose".
There exist combinations of oral drugs that are very potent, but I would point out two things. One is that a doctor's advice is very important here. The other is that what works now, will NOT work over a long period of time and will have to be changed. It is also worth noting that alcohol does NOT belong in the same stomach as oral medications. This "turbocharging" of medications is often volatile and unpredictable. You could well be a contributor to the Darwin awards for service in removing stupidity from the gene pool, well, before SRS anyway.
As a result of several bad encounters with drug users, I maintain a policy of non-involvement in drug usage. If, at any time, I sense that there is a problem with drug usage, I will remove you from my practice. I have had to do this.
Dissociation - Getting Out of Your Head
I call them "Zen Girls". It has been a well understood term here in the "South Bay" for quite some time. Sort of self-explanatory, really. But let's waste some text here.
Coming to a place inside of your head where you can "let go" is important. I am an expert only to the extent that I have been forced to find it on my own. You might give this a try, if you will.
Close your eyes and take a very deep breath. Don't hold it, but instead, slowly release the air out and exhale as deep as you can as well. Now take a deep breath again, but don't rush it. Breath slowly and deeply, never "holding" or stopping the motion of air. Whenever you feel anything, concentrate on NOT suddenly changing direction in which you are already breathing. Don't suddenly inhale. Imagine yourself in a place or setting where you are happy. I often imagined myself on a riverbank up in Trinity County where I used to camp years ago. Other times I would imagine myself onstage playing the music that I was listening to. A sort of dream-state-air-guitar maestro if I may say so myself, but it works. Gradually imagine yourself sinking into the table and going dead limp. Still breathing, begin to slow down the rate of inhales and exhales. This is the art of "breath control" so important in yoga practice. What it is achieving, is the reduction of oxygen to the brain. This reduction in oxygen results in the brain being forced to lighten its load and extraneous information is no longer processed, but rather discarded. Instead of processing input after input of pain sensations (the brain is already aware of that) that information is ignored More and more you come to dissociate yourself from the setting entirely. Sometimes after a serious moustache session, it would take me a few minutes to come back into the room and return to normal. I have had the pure pleasure of working on a couple of serious yoga masters, and this process is something to see in action. But, with a little practice, you can be riffing that axe in Nirvana as well.
Topical Anesthesia
This generally applies to any anesthetics that can be applied to the surface of the skin. For the same reason that you can wash parts in gasoline and not breathe fire in the presence of flame, topicals are limited. The skin is coated with oil (called sebum) and yes, it is produced by the sebaceous glands around the hair follicles. As you might well guess, this makes the penetration of the skin quite difficult. NOT impossible, though. When it comes to lips, nasal passages or any other mucous membranes, topical anesthetics penetrate readily, but this is nearly useless elsewhere on the face.
The concept of EMLA (Eutectic Mixture of Local Amesthetics) is to apply the substance to the skin, cover with a plastic wrap and let stand for 1-2 hours. The plastic prevents drying and allows the stuff to work. Results are quite nice when working in the genital area, probably owing to the presence of a greater amount of softer tissue not unlike mucous membrane material. Elsewhere, the results vary considerably from 30-45 minutes of effectiveness to not much better than mayonnaise.
About 2 years ago, a client came to me using a topical that she had obtained at the advice of a friend. Here is what she was using:
Called: Benzocaine/Lidocaine/Tetracaine in PLO 20%/6%/4%
Ingredients:
- Benzocaine, USP
- Lidocaine, USP
- Tetracaine, USP (Freebase)
- Dimethyl Sulfoxide, USP
- Polysorbate 80 - Urea, USP
- BHT PCC
- Lecithin/ISO Palmitate SQL
- Pluronic F-127 Gel 20%
- Fragrance
This formulation, while in most pharmacists manuals, is NOT widely available commercially and the best source for compounding is:
Compounding Pharmacy Of Beverly Hills
9629 West Olympic Blvd.
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
phone: 310.284.8675
fax: 310.284.8680
Your physician can write your prescription (one is required) and it can be faxed to these people. They will assemble and mail it back to you. They also take credit cards.
NOTE: If "Dimethyl Sulfoxide" rings a bell, you may recall it as DMSO which was in wide use back in the 1970's as a cure for muscle aches. It seems that DMSO acts as a vehicle which is capable of transporting the anesthetic portion of the product to the nerve endings.
MORE NOTE: Due to some recent changes, I noted that Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) has been discontinued. Recent incarnations of this topical have come in two forms: One is in Lipoderm and seems to have some limitation in its ability to numb the area. The other form of compounded topical comes in a Gel form and seems to work much better.
DIRECTIONS FOR USE:
(What follows is some boiler-plate text that is shipped with the product)
Side Effects: This product may cause local irritation at the site of administration. You may also experience a feeling of warmth or coolness. This is considered normal and does not indicate an allergic reaction. Side effects that may go away during treatment include skin paleness, loss of feeling, itching, redness or swelling at the treated site. If they continue or are bothersome, check with your doctor. If you notice other effects not listed, contact your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.
Precautions: This product contains lecithin. Persons allergic or sensitive to egg whites may have skin reactions to this product. Do not use this medication if you are hypersensitive to tetracaine or any other anesthetic. Avoid getting this medicine in your eyes or on the inside of your nose and mouth. If you get this in your eyes, rinse them with plenty of water. This medicine blocks pain and feeling to the skin, therefore be careful not to injure the treated skin by scratching, rubbing, or coming in contact with extremem cold or heat.
DIRECTIONS: This medicine is usually applied at your doctor's office, hospital or a clinic. However, it may also be applied at home shortly before a scheduled procedure. Your doctor will instruct you on the proper time to apply the medicine (usually one hour before the procedure). Apply this medicine in a thin layer at the sire of the procedure. Rub medication in thoroughly and liberally. Your doctor may want you to cover the site with an occlusive bandage (e.g. saran wrap) immediately after the application. Be sure to thoroughly wash hands to prevent the gel from coming in contact with the eyes or absorbing into unintended areas.
Using Ice
Here is a surprisingly simple, affordable (REALLY affordable) way to eliminate pain in some of the more tender areas such as the upper lip. Take an ice cube, place it in a plastic snack bag and hold it on the area that you are about to work. During this time the operator can be working somewhere else (Paris would be nice). Hold the ice on the area as long as you can stand it. Then change to another location. The area where you were holding the ice will need a few minutes (usually about 5-10) before the skin can feel sensations again, during which time work can be done without much sensation. By alternately switching the areas, not only is there a reduction in pain, but the ice immediately applied goes a long way toward preventing excessive swelling. Recovery from the work can be more rapid also. A tip from Mr. Freeze.
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