The names of the modes on an electrolysis device sound at first like a set of meaningless abbreviations. After a few dozen treatments they stop, because it turns out that the choice of method determines whether the client leaves you with a nicely cleared area, or with irritation and a hair that will grow back in three weeks as if nothing had happened.
This article is about when to use which mode. No theory for theory's sake, but concrete situations from the treatment chair.
How do the electrolysis methods actually differ from one another?
They all come down to two physical mechanisms. Thermolysis uses high-frequency current, which generates heat around the follicle that destroys the structures responsible for hair growth. Galvanic electrolysis works with direct current, causing a chemical reaction that produces sodium hydroxide, which breaks down the stem cells. Everything you'll find in the device menu is a variation on these two phenomena, or a combination of them.
The difference between them is simple and worth remembering from the start. Heat works instantly, but only where the tip of the needle reaches. The chemical reaction works more slowly, but spreads along the whole follicle, including places the needle doesn't reach perfectly. Everything else follows from that.
When should you choose Therm mode, i.e. classic thermolysis?
Thermolysis works well on hairs with a straight, easily accessible follicle and wherever working speed matters to you. It's the fastest method, because a single pulse lasts a fraction of a second, so in an hour you can treat many more hairs than with techniques involving direct current. On large areas such as the legs, it's the method of first choice.
Its weakness shows with follicles that are curved or distorted by years of waxing or plucking. Heat concentrates around the tip of the needle, so if the needle didn't reach exactly where it should, some structures remain intact and the hair grows back. A client after years of waxing is a typical case where thermolysis alone disappoints.
The second thing worth knowing: thermolysis requires precision, because the margin of error is smaller here. A pulse that's too long or an intensity that's too high means excess heat in the skin and a risk of marks. That's why training starts with it, but under the eye of someone who immediately corrects your hand position.
What is Microflash, and on what type of hair does it give the best results?
Microflash is thermolysis delivered in a very short but intense pulse. The energy hits the follicle instantly, so the skin has less time to conduct heat sideways and tolerates the treatment better. It performs best on fine facial hair, vellus hair above the lip and wherever there are a great many hairs, each of them fine.
It's also the mode that shortens the session the most when working on a large number of hairs. If a client comes with dense but fine hair on her cheeks or neck, working with classic thermolysis would mean a visit twice as long for a comparable result.
The limitation is predictable. A short pulse means less energy per hair, so with thick, firmly anchored hair Microflash won't be enough. Trying to force it in such an area ends with returning to the same follicle several times, which is worse for the skin than one well-chosen treatment with another method.
When should you use Blend mode, and why is it considered the most versatile?
Blend delivers high-frequency current and direct current at the same time, combining the fast action of heat with the chemical mechanism of electrolysis. The heat also speeds up the chemical reaction, so the method copes where thermolysis alone fails: with thick, deep-seated hairs and those with a curved follicle. It's the rescue mode for difficult cases, and at the same time the most versatile.
In clinical practice, blend is most often chosen for the chin and jawline in people with hirsutism, for hair in the bikini area and for clients with a long history of waxing. In all these places, follicles are often distorted and their path hard to predict with the needle.
The price for this effectiveness is time. A single hair takes longer than with thermolysis, so you'll remove fewer in the same hour. That's why a well-run treatment rarely relies on a single mode. You switch between them within the same session, depending on what's under the needle at the time.
What does IPERBlend offer, and in which cases is it worth using?
IPERBlend is a development of classic blend, available on the most advanced devices, including Sinepil device. It allows the share of both currents to be balanced more precisely, so it copes with hair resistant to all the other modes while maintaining a reasonable working pace. It's used for the most difficult follicles that haven't responded after several attempts with other methods.
It's worth saying honestly when this mode isn't needed. With standard hair on the legs or underarms, you gain nothing except a longer treatment. Its value shows precisely in those few per cent of cases that, in another clinic, would be told nothing can be done. And these are usually the most determined and loyal clients.
Which electrolysis method should you choose for specific body areas?
The general rule is simple: the finer the hair and the more sensitive the area, the shorter the pulse and the faster the mode. The thicker and more deep-seated the hair, the greater the share of direct current. In practice, this means Microflash on the face, thermolysis on the legs and blend wherever things get difficult.
The face, especially the area above the lip and the cheeks, is territory for short-pulse modes. The skin is thin, well supplied with blood and reacts quickly to excess heat, and the client sees every mark in the mirror for the next week.
The chin and jawline in people with hirsutism are a completely different story, even though we're still talking about the face. The hairs here are thick and strong, often after years of shaving and plucking, and the follicles are deep. Without blend, working in this area is tilting at windmills.
The bikini area and underarms usually need blend in the first sessions, and in later ones, as the hair gets weaker, it's good to move to faster modes. Legs and forearms are mostly the domain of thermolysis, because the area is large and the hair predictable.
Is the method also matched to hair colour and skin tone?
Not in the same sense as with laser. Electrolysis works independently of melanin, so it removes grey, blonde, red and light hair that laser devices simply can't see, and it does so safely on every skin tone. Hair colour doesn't change the choice of mode, but the thickness and depth of the follicle do.
This happens to be the biggest advantage of this method, and it's worth explaining it to clients directly. People after a series of unsuccessful laser sessions most often come to an electrologist for exactly this reason: the laser reduced their dark hair but left the light and grey hair, so the problem remained, just in a different form.
Skin tone, on the other hand, affects how cautious you are when choosing parameters. Darker skin is more prone to post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, so you start with gentler settings and increase them gradually while watching the reaction.
Which electrolysis method hurts the least?
The sensation depends more on the chosen parameters and the body area than on the mode itself, but simply put, short pulses are felt as a sharp, very brief prick, and modes involving direct current as a longer, dull warmth. Some clients tolerate one better, some the other, and it's worth asking after the first few hairs.
However, the biggest difference is made by something other than the choice of method: the precision of insertion. A needle inserted correctly, along the follicle, delivers energy where it's meant to go, and the client feels a short pulse. A needle inserted at the wrong angle delivers energy into the surrounding tissue, which hurts noticeably more and at the same time gives a worse result.
That's why the statement “electrolysis really hurts” usually says more about the person who performed the treatment than about the method itself.
How do you choose parameters so as not to damage the skin?
There's one rule: you start with the gentlest settings possible and increase them gradually, watching the skin's reaction and how the hair behaves when removed. A properly treated hair comes out without resistance. If you have to pull it, the energy was too low or the needle missed.
You have three variables to check: pulse time, intensity and insertion depth. Advanced devices let you adjust the time to the thousandth of a second, so corrections can be really small. That's why settings are chosen individually for each client, and often even separately for different areas of her body.
I've written more about how the number of available modes and the precision of adjustment translate into what you can do in the article on which electrolysis device to choose for your clinic.
How long does a treatment take with each method, and how does this affect the price?
Thermolysis and Microflash let you treat the most hairs in an hour; blend and IPERBlend far fewer, but more effectively in difficult cases. That's why electrolysis is charged by working time rather than body area. The same area in two different people may require a completely different method and a completely different number of sessions.
That's also a reason to explain the logic of choosing the mode to the client. Someone who understands that you work more slowly on her thick hair because otherwise the result would only be apparent doesn't compare your price with the clinic next door. She compares results.
Which electrolysis method should you learn first?
Training starts with thermolysis and short-pulse modes, because these are what build the correct insertion angle and a feel for depth. Blend and IPERBlend come later, once the movement is repeatable, because they require the needle to be held steadily in the follicle for longer. The reverse order usually ends with ingraining mistakes.
In practice, this means that full preparation for commercial work requires practising all the modes on models, not just seeing them in theory. Knowing the definitions isn't enough, because the whole difficulty lies in recognising during a session when to change the method.
If you want to learn to work with all four modes under an instructor's supervision, see what Blend electrolysis traininglooks like. The optional Blend / IPERBlend module covers both advanced modes within the same 2 days of training.
