7 treatmts done, now Alexandrite or Light Sheer?

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
1

I’m a 39-yr-old man with white Type II skin and brown hair. I have had seven (7) laser hair removal treatments on my chest and abdomen using an Alexandrite long pulse laser (wavelength 755 nm, spot area 10mm). After every treatment I experienced complete or nearly complete shedding in about a week, with new hair growth appearing at about 6 weeks. I never experienced any burning, and post-treatment redness typically went away within several days. As I returned for more treatments the doctor performing the procedure incrementally raised the power. The most recent power setting used was 30 joules/cm2 with a pulse duration of 15-40 msec depending on the density and coarseness of the hair in specific areas.

Overall, the results have been good and now, seven weeks after my 7th treatment, I have perhaps 10 percent as much hair as when I began and what remains is much finer and lighter than the coarse dark hair I started with. I have just moved to a new city, so I cannot continue treatment where I had been having it done before. If possible, I would be interested in trying to achieve even greater hair reduction or at least maintaining the level of hair reduction that I currently have.

From what I have read on this forum, an Alexandrite or Diode laser should provide the best results for my skin and hair type. There are a lot of places offering laser hair removal in my new city (San Francisco). After paring it down to two places with seemingly good degrees of experience and reasonable prices, my choice is between a place that uses an Alexandrite laser (Candela GentleLASE) and one that uses a Diode laser (Luminus LightSheer XC). The place that uses the GentleLASE would require me to buy a pre-paid package of 12 treatments for $1,080 ($90 per treatment for both chest and abs). The place that uses the LightSheer doesn’t offer a reduced price for multiple treatments but would allow me to take advantage of their “maintenance” pricing whereby I pay depending on the actual duration of each procedure ($200 for 40 minutes, $150 for 30 minutes, $100 for 20 minutes). Based upon the amount of hair I have now, they explained that my first treatment would take 40 minutes and that subsequent treatments might be shorter as the amount of hair being treated diminished further.

My questions are the following:

(1) How many additional laser treatments should I expect to be worthwhile before the sparseness and fineness of the remaining hair makes laser hair removal ineffective for me?

(2) Which type of laser (GentleLASE or LightSheer) would be better for me at this point? I have read that the GentleLASE is generally more effective for people with my skin and hair type, but I have also read that the LightSheer is better for treating the finer hair that remains later in the treatment process.

The reason I ask these questions is because I want to know if it would be better for me to sign up for a pre-paid package of 12 treatments with the GentleLASE or to go with individually paid treatments using a LightSheer.

Many thanks in advance for your help!!

2

My 2 cents:

  • if you only have about 10% remaining, you’re probably pretty close to the point where you will need to switch to electrolysis to reach that 100% clearance if that’s what you desire. If your treatments are effective, you will probably only need up to 3-4 more treatments. We can’t tell for sure without pictures if you’re at a point where the hair is too fine and sparse now.

  • GentleLASE is an alex and overall better than a diode for your skin type, but experience of the person performing it and their ability to set the right settings is what will make a difference. Given exactly even abilities and experience, I would pick GentleLASE (it’s better for fine hair too because of the lower nm and pulse of 3ms). I would talk to the clinic with GentleLASE and see if they will do it on a treatment by treatment basis considering your situation. The 12 treatment package is way too much even for someone just starting with their first treatment. Have you been to either of these clinics yet? These types of things are usually negotiable.

  • My friend is getting treatments in SF at a place called Aura with GentleLASe. She’s very happy with her results and the main laser operator there. I posted a list of all the various places she researched in SF with laser types they use etc on this forum before. You can find it by using the search feature. It would make sense for you to check out 3-4 clinics to pick the right one. There are many that use GentleLASE.

3

I don’t know the specifics of the GentleLase settings, but why are you staying with the long pulse? Doesn’t it have an optional short pulse? Type II, go with that. That’s where you’ll see results. Me, just from what I’ve read here and experienced, I’m very critical of long pulse, diode or alex. I just think the best killing power is in the short pulse treatments. Even operators down in Mexico are treating ethnic, natives in Mexico City with short pulse. Am I missing something? Or is there any substantial reason an operator would keep a type two with long pulse? Why US operators are so afraid of it is beyond me.

Mantaray

4

All hair-removal lasers are long-pulsed. GentleLASE has a non-changeable 3ms pulse, while LightSheer varies from 5-100ms or so.

5

Only some hair removal lasers have fixed pulse timings. The GentleYag, for hair removal, has a .250 millisecond fast pulse to a long 300 millisecond pulse adjustability. The Alma SopranoXL, also for hair removal, has a 10 millisecond to 1,350 millisecond range. And these are only two of a long list. The Comet also has short (type I and II), and long (type III and IV) settings.

Mantaray

6

I meant they’re all called “long-pulsed” lasers as opposed to the other lasers that are used for other skin procedures, not hair removal.

7

The GentleYag has very short pulsewidths for treating veins. Plus, I believe that when you attach a 10 mm or greater size handpiece (which you need for hair removal) that the pulsewidth is limited to 3 ms or greater.