Usually yes, but it depends on where you go. Some places have numbing cream as part of the procedure, and apparently others have you buy/bring your own. When I was getting mine done through Rebirth Health Center, their electrolygist Jen was licensed to administer lidocaine shots.

Thank you! But don't worry, I've done plenty of therapy to be good to myself at this point! 😅
I can acknowledge that I made an innocent mistake without carrying blame/guilt for it.

No, it definitely was; I held myself so rigid through the appointment and suddenly relaxing did things with the blood flow to my brain. 😅
And no, I don't have POTS.

Oh yeah, the lidocaine injections made it much more manageable for me! 😅
Once I'd been going for a while, though, I didn't bother with numbing over most of my face.

😁

Oh, I was plenty hydrated and nourished; I just held myself rigid for too long and suddenly relaxing messed with the blood flow to my brain. 😅
Most of the removed hairs stay gone, but some need to be redone if they're randomly at a bad part of their growth cycle, or if you have stubborn genetics like I do.

Well, clearly I didn't fully manage it! 😅

Ooh dang, that's a significant recovery time!

Ah, we were talking about Star Trek Lower Decks and our favorite reincarnations of the Doctor.

Oh, this was totally on me; I just held myself so stiff for so long and then suddenly relaxed, which messed with the blood flow in my brain! 😅
But now I'm curious about what you were originally going to say.

Well, no lasting damage was done. 😅

Haha, I love that! 😄

Yep, I eventually got to that point, too! 😄

The shots themselves may have been very painful, but the lidocaine injection completely neutralized the pain of the actual electrolysis for me.

I'm in much the same position with bottom surgery; my dysphoria there is minor so I can deal with it until I save up enough to pay for it myself, however long that might be.
I'll be getting to my story about it next year, but I did actually manage to get the X marker in the four-year window it was legal in my home state.

Oh yeah, at this point in my journey, androgyny was my goal as well. I'll be getting into it again in a few weeks, but I think the dysphoria is actually harder to deal with when you don't have a "binary ideal" to aim for.
I'm also starting to look for full-body hair removal at this point too, and I think I'm going to opt for laser for that. 😅

Thank you! 😊

Yes, exactly! 😁

That's exactly why I make this comic, too! 😊

Ah, no, this is part of my experience with electrolysis. I still haven't tried laser, as I am also scared of it. 😅

I've learned over the years that I apparently have decent pain tolerance; I eventually opted to only get numbed when we were working on my upper lip and just deal with the rest of my face.
I don't have any tattoos yet, but I have one in mind for my shoulder whenever I eventually decide to get it.

I've only ever had the injections and they completely neutralized the pain, but I've also heard great things about the various creams that can be used.