1st treatment with palomar medilux - have some questions

i just went for my first treatment with the palomar medilux (i believe this is IPL) today. here’s my history:

  • sometime before 1998: a few treatments with electrolysis. couldn’t stand it.
  • 1999: ruby red (i think!) laser treatments for over a period of 1 year. approx. 15 treatments. NO RESULTS! if anything, i might have ended up with even more hair.
  • 2004: about 8 treatments of traditional electrolysis (blend). VERY painful. might have cleared a little, but pain got to be too much and skin is now pock-marked/scarred.
  • 2005: here we go again!

i have thick, dark, coarse hairs on my cheeks, chin, neck, etc. i have had this problem for well over 10 years. my skin is medium colored, i have dark hair and features. i am caucasian.

here are my questions:

  1. my dermatologist said for me to come back in two weeks. isn’t this too soon?
  2. dermo said it was OK to pluck hairs between treatments. i believe this is false.
  3. has anyone had experience with this machine? i am looking for any good/bad comments on treatment with this machine.

anything else i should know? i am pretty well informed about electrolysis, but i can’t believe that nothing has worked for me so far! much thanks in advance. [color:“blue”] [/color]

You shouldn’t pluck as there will be no target to kill,not that an IPL really kills a hair.

Try this:

http://consumerbeware.com/forum/display_…;PagePosition=1

My impression from others over time has been that IPL is similiar to long term waxing.

How long has your dermatologist been doing the IPL thing with the palomar medilux?

Oh, sorry Andrea for quoting the above address, but I know you don’t censor people here like they censor people on their site for directing consumers to hairtell. This may be helpful to callisto9.

Dee

Callisto I am curious as to why you quit electrolysis? You can’t see results really after 8 treatments. You said the pain was unbearable? What area were you having treated and did you use any numbing cream like EMLA before? I have only had a test consultation but the pain was absolutely nothing. A good electrologist should not put you through pain nor should you have any complications like you described.
I had 5 laser treatments and could not stand the pain involved. It felt like they kept lighting my chest on fire and putting it out with a sledgehammer.

to answer the questions here:

i don’t know how long my derm has been using this particular machine. my guess is less than a year, though the practice has been doing LHR for 5 years or so. i should have asked more questions, but it seems the forums have more answers than the doctors who use the machines! naive, i know, but i just want my hair gone!

to answer md1239, i quit electrolysis because the pain become too severe. we were NOT using any numbing cream. i didn’t feel like my electrologist really knew what she was doing - sort of. i had approx. 8 sessions and she worked on my chin/cheek area. the IPL “laser” treatment i just had was NOTHING pain-wise. took about 5 mins. and the pain was a temporary “2” on a scale of 10 (10 being the most painful).

i am skeptical but hopeful about someday getting rid of my facial hair. we don’t have too many areas around here who do laser or IPL. i will keep trying until something works. after 8 treatments of electrology, i just felt it was a waste of money, too painful, and my skin now has permanent damage due to scarring.

i am hopeful about the palomar medilux, but i know there’s not a lot of data out there right now. anyone who’s used it, please tell me your stories!

here are my questions:

  1. my dermatologist said for me to come back in two weeks. isn’t this too soon?
  2. dermo said it was OK to pluck hairs between treatments. i believe this is false.
  3. has anyone had experience with this machine? i am looking for any good/bad comments on treatment with this machine.

2 weeks is generally too soon, I prefer about 4 weeks after 1st treatment, but if new hair is growing in a majority of the area being treated, procedure may be effective.
You can pluck, BUT only dead stumps, not new growing hair. General rule: no plucking, waxing, or bleaching.
As to the machine itself, IPL is not as good as laser, but I’ve heard it is one of the better IPL machines.