I had my first treatment with Candela Gentlelase 4.5 weeks ago and I’m still covered in pepperspots!
Some finer hairs have started growing in the last couple of days but I’m not sure if the shedding has already occurred or if these are the first lot of hairs that will eventually shed? Isn’t there supposed to be a hair free period of a couple of weeks.
pepper spots left my skin after like four to five weeks so chill…
The will go eventually…
Maybe the shedding takes longer for you body…But they will eventually shed I guess…
relax 
Welcome to the world of hair reduction. You will be fine. The next treatment will probably help a lot as the thermal energy will burn out those pepperspots. Are you gently exfoliating in the shower?
Lasers work on the basis of the color of the target, your hair, as opposed to the color of the light from the laser. If you have no color in your hair there can be no results. White, red, blonde hair will not respond to laser treatment. If you ever put some red cellophane up to your eyes as a kid, the world did not turn red. What happened is the cellophane acted as a FILTER and filtered OUT ALL COLORS EXCEPT RED. What you saw was the red component of the white light of nature. This is true for each color filter because WHITE LIGHT IS MADE UP OF ALL COLORS. White is the presence of all colors and black is the ABSENCE of all light, therefore, no color. We see reflected light but black does not reflect light so it appears as NO COLOR OR BLACK. If you use a red filter and/or red laser… only red is allowed to come through and RED hair allows red lasers to pass through with no effect. This is the same as going into a black room and putting a strong flashlight into your palm. When you look at the other side of your hand you will see red skin and darker areas where the light is not strong enough to pass through. Blood is red and allows red light to pass through but no other color. If the light is not strong enough it will not be intense enough to pass through except where the skin is thin enough as where fingers meet. The energy in the light converts to HEAT when it hits a target that is the OPPOSITE of the color of the laser. It takes a few lasers to treat all situations because there are so many colors of skin and tattoos. Obviously, there is much more to this but for now this is the basics.
Also, each color light is expressed as a particular wave length. No two colors have the same wave length, therefore, the ONLY reason to use any one particular wave length over another is based on the COLOR of the target you want to treat. If there is a TUNABLE LASER that can give you multiple colors it would have more value as it, theoretically, could be used to treat more subjects with varying colors but they have to be the opposite of the target whether it is skin or hair.
If you use a greenish-bluish laser it will VAPORIZE the dark colored hairs it comes in contact with. The skin has to be shaved because the hair above the skin line will vaporize and might burn your skin as the hair is against the skin and much skin has color in it that is similar to the color of the hair but not as concentrated. That is why the best results are seen in patients with dark hair and light skin that has less or little color. By removing the surface hair the laser will seek out the color it works against and that is the tips of the shaft that is flush with the skin surface and visible but only if the laser is intense enough to pass through the skin to the depth of the papilla with enough light to create adequate heat at the depth of the papilla. All papillae are not at the same depth like on a plane or flat surface. They are each at a different depth. This varies from hair to hair, not by much but by enough to make a difference.
That is enough for now. I am getting tired and make too many errors that have to be redone. I am a hunt and peck typist.
I am guessing but here is an explanation for those spots. If the laser was successful in treating the hair … it should have vaporized the hair leaving NO pepper spots
Is there any other explanation that anyone has?
Pepper spots (tombstones) are dead hairs that get stuck in the follicle. They will work their way out. It’s a good sign actually. Not all hairs shed and that is normal. They will be burned out next treatment.
Exfoliating with an AHA body wash is helpful. Follow the directions.
Thanks for advice.
I have been exfoliating the last few days (though not really gently!) I know pepperspots are normal but the fact that more than 90% of the skin is covered in pepperspots is what concerns me.
I’ll let you know how it goes as I’m sure there are others experiencing the same thing.
Just a follow up.
I’ve had my second treatment and am having the same problem with pepperspots. Exfoliation hasn’t helped.
When I get re-growth, is this the pepperspots growing? Or has the new hair pushed out the pepperspots? I’m guessing it’s the latter but I never saw the pepperspots coming out after the 1st treatment.
Please give us intervals. When do you see regrowth? When do you exfoliate?
They could be pieces of treated ‘dead’ hair naturally being squeezed out of the follicle over time, or hairs growing that don’t exit the follicle opening properly. As others said, it is not unusual, I used to get them from tweezing and to a much lesser extent, electrolysis.
It’s been 2 weeks since my last treatment. My first treatment was 8 weeks before that. I exfoliate with loofah while I shower.
Hair takes 3 weeks or so to shed. Pepperspots can take 5-6 weeks to shed. You can start exfoliating at 3-4 week mark. Some will stay anyway, but will be burned off on your next treatment. This happens more often when hair is not very coarse.
Lagirl is it okay to tweeze the pepperspots ? My bikini line is covered with little dots. I tweezed a couple out last night. None of them were attached, so I’m guessing it won’t be interfering with my treatments. I’ve been exfoliating every other. I never had these pepperspots when I was getting treatments with ALC. is this a good sign? meaning the laser is actually killing the hair??
how long has it been since your last treatment? also, is the hair getting finer?
12 days ago. I can’t tell if the hair is getting finer , the shedding has started on the bikini line. but there is alot of “places” where i see no sign of shedding at all. my understanding was full Brazilian means everything is gone, that’s not the case here…
You need to give it 3 weeks for shedding to complete. Shedding only starts at around 11-12 days. And pepperspots take a couple extra weeks to shed. Don’t pick at anything yete.