One 'NOT SO FINE' day, my long time favorite wax strips left a harsh skin burn on my upper lip. I visited the Dermatologist and she claimed it was a severe skin burn, prescribed medicated cream, constant icing and to take cover from the sun for a few weeks. She also recommended that I ditch the wax and start treading my upper lip and brows. Excellent advice - I've been threading for years and will never go back to wax. Yes, it hurts! Yes, I shed a tear everytime! But it works great and with little irritation to your skin. I've never experienced harsh side effects from threading. 

Tips - Find yourself an experienced threader; they know tricks to reduce the pain. Push your tongue against the inside of your upper lip so the skin is taught while threading the sides. When threading the upper part of your lip (by your nose) pull your upper lip down so the skin is stretch and taught. Visit your threading professional frequently, cause the more regrowth you have the more it hurts. Most threading professionals like to use alcohol after, but I prefer to go bare and let my skin heal on its own. The pain stops almost immediately after the treading stops and the redness diminishes quickly.