Advice - Good LHR Response in Past/Bad Now???

calamity · June 22, 2011, 12:47am

Hi All,

Thanks so much to all those who take the time to give relative newcomers like myself on hair removal advice
. I apologize in advance for the lengthy post!

Quick LHR history for me:
*I have type 1/2 skin coloring, that is sensitive; LOWER leg hair is dark brown/blackish and coarse like bikini zone while dark/light-medium coarsness on upper legs; bikini hair is coarse/dark brown/more dense than lower legs; lower arm hair is light-medium coarseness and med-dark brown.

2008-2009 - did 3-4 LHR sessions on lower legs, 2 on upper legs, 3 on lower arms and 2 on bikini. The sessions were spaced 8-12 weeks apart and done by and NP. Unfortunately I’m having difficulty obtaining info from the clinic I went to on the Joules/mm parameters they used as they currently don’t offer LHR (they are a day spa). I had significant hair reduction AND the Keratosis Pilaris (pink/reddish “dots” under the skin surface) and Folliculitis on my legs stayed away until late 2010.

2011 - In late February I started a new round of LHR treatments at a DIFFERENT clinic (one rated very well on yelp.com) using a GENTLEMAX laser to further reduce my leg hair nad take care of coarse/dark hair that was returning on my lower legs/bikini (or maybe the hair never truly left as it had only been 1 1/2 yrs. since my 2009 treatments??), the remaining less coarse hair that never responded completely to LHR on my upper legs/arms and to try and get rid of my KP again that returned w/a vengeance. So far, I’ve had 2 treatments on my lower legs, while 1 on my upper legs/bikini/arms spaced 9 1/2 weeks apart. I’ll likely be going in for “touch up” treatments on these areas next week.

So far, from what I can remember from the 2008-09 treatments, I seem to be having less responsiveness to treatments on my LOWER legs in that I have alot more pepperspots resistant to gentle exfoliation, the hair is shedding more slowly (taking more like 6 weeks to shed)and, most disturbing to me, the KP & Folliculitis have minimally diminished at this point compared to last time around. In contrast, the hair on my bikini area and underams (did for first time ever) responded very well so far and completely shed by 3 weeks.

Given that the clinic I’m currently going to is well rated on yelp.com, I’m still using an Alexandrite Laser (although now the GentleMAX instead of GentleLASE model), my bikini/underams responded quite well, and the NP’s who are doing my current treatments have extensive experience (all been doing it for well over 1 yr and see 25+ patients per day), I’m wondering if I’m not responding as well to this round on my LEGS and ARMS because the Joules/mm settings aren’t optimal for those areas this time??

LaGirl had a posting in her Treatment Diary that 16 Joules/18 mm worked well on her dark/coarse leg and bikini hair while she upped it to 30-33 Joules for her finer/dark hair on upper legs, etc.

So, here are my two questions:

Based on my history/hair and skin type, what settings on the GentleMAX do you suggest I ask the technician to use on both my darker/coarser hair areas and med-dark/less coarse areas, respectively for good results on further hair elimination (and hopefully KP reduction again as it is bad this time around)?
LaGirl made it sound like many clinics may not want to increase the Joule/mm settings too high for fear of burning, etc. the patient. Are there any references you can point me to that would help convince my clinic to increase my settings?

Thanks Again, any help is appreciated!

LAGirl · June 23, 2011, 3:02pm

How old are you?
Whatever was gone for 6+ months was gone for good. Any hair after that is likely NEW hair your body developed. However, if the NEW hair started growing very soon after you were done, settings may have been too low and just stunned the hair for a while. You also didn’t target all the hair in all growth cycles with your first set of treatments since you had so few treatments. You need a set of at least 6-8 to catch all hair in all cycles. And legs have long hair cycles, often requiring waiting up to 16 weeks between treatments.
GentleMAX is a combo Alex and Yag laser. If they’re using the Alex on you, we don’t recommend treating at anything lower than 18mm/16J. This machine has an adjustable pulse width, so you want them to get it as low as possible (lowest is 3ms, so I’d make sure it’s somewhere between 3-10ms given your skin type).
You really should find a clinic that’s knowledgeable and is willing in being aggressive. You shouldn’t have to convince them to use good settings. You should find a clinic that does it because they already know what’s best.

calamity · June 23, 2011, 8:25pm

-I’m 33 and was diagnosed w/Hypothyroidism 5 years ago, the symptoms of which are not yet completely resolved w/meds (trying different brands/dosages of meds to hit my sweet spot). I believe one of the stickies on this site mentioned thyroid issues as a potential cause of hair regrowth despite LHR correct?

-I’d say it was about 1 1/2 yrs. following the first round of treatments when COARSE hair growth on my legs started in again (mid 2010) and, at the same time, my KP started to sprout up again all over my legs. Worth mentioning, I discontinued a 6 month round of BIO-IDENTICAL PROGESTERONE creams thru a doctor for PMS issues around the same time that my coarse hair regrowth/KP started in again. So I was on a short course of progesterone for 6 months and it has been 6-7 months since being off it now - maybe my body is still readjusting to being off it?

-Thanks so much for your input on the appropriate settings for the GentleMAX laser, that will help guide my decision on whether I think my current clinic knows what they are doing when I go in Monday for a “touch up”.

IF my current clinic is using appropriate settings is the experience of a given technician still a significant issue or can one assume if a tech is already using good settings (and not getting burned/having adverse reactions) that they know what they’re doing for effective results?

Also, did you have effective/lasting results on the areas of your body that had less coarse hair than the kind found on your bikini (think you mentioned in your treatment diary that, for less thick/coarse/dense hair you had your Dr. up the settings for those areas to 33 Joules)?

I like my current clinic because it’s relatively easy to get next week appoinments, NP’s do the treatments (although some may have degrees from foreign countries like Russia, Iran, etc., not sure if that matters) and their prices are insanely low - $80 for lower legs/$140 for full legs/$50 for bikini, they don’t push packages, etc. Unfortunately I’ve done a search on this site and never heard anything good/bad - it’s called New Look Skin Center in Glendale, CA. AND, most important, I don’t want to sacrifice actual, lasting/effective results just because their price can’t be touched.

I’m going to check into a place MagicalPrincessKitty mentioned (Coastline Dermatology in Costa Mesa, CA). I’d look into Dr. Babapour but I’m more comfortable with a female so hopefully the technicians that were at Coastline when MPK went are still there.

Thanks again for taking the time to read/respond to my post! This website is an invaluable resource!

LAGirl · June 24, 2011, 2:54pm

Yes, thyroid issues have been linked to excessive hair growth. So if the issue causing the growth is not addressed, you may need touchups once in a while after you’re done with a set of treatments.
This machine is relatively easy to use. If they use good settings and overlap well to avoid missing spots, they should be fine.
I only had about 3 treatments on the abdomen area with laser. We just tried different settings to try to target this hair which wasn’t as coarse. It’s hard to say much happened besides removal of the more coarse hair there since I switched to electrolysis immediately afterwards. Some professionals think it can help to reduce the spot size and increase the joules to target finer hair and others think using the largest spot size is best. Generally, finer hair doesn’t get results with either method, so we don’t recommend wasting money on that and going straight for electrolysis.

There are a bunch of other posts on clinics in the LA area. You won’t want to use Dr Babapour for legs. He’s not cheap.