Advice please on whether settings sound sufficient

Moynehan · June 23, 2012, 10:36am

Hi all. I live in the UK and have just started laser treatment on my underarms and chinline.
I read with great interest much of the information on this board and found it extremely useful when choosing a clinic and when asking questions, so thanks already!

I had my first session last week and would be grateful for opinions on whether it sounds like the clinic used high enough settings.

I have very pale skin and dark hair. I burn a bit if I sit for a long time in full sun but my skin actually seems fairly resistant to sun as it doesn’t tan or burn much (mind you I do stay out of it most of the time)

During the treatment there was a slight smell of burning and some zappy stinging but I had no redness within a very short time and, despite the fact that the lady advised I’d need aloe gel for several days and it would be red, it seemed all back to normal within a few hours.

The clinic have a Candela GentleMAX and after she left the room I noted down all the settings I could see:
Alex
fluence: 12J/cm2
duration: 3ms
rate: 2.0hz
Pulse count: 137
Then at the bottom there was a series of circles with numbers in: 6/8/12/15/18 and the 15 was highlighted.

At the moment the hair under my arms seems a bit frazzled but is still growing sort of. The stuff on my chin seems to be changed very little. She did give more than one zap to a few bits of my chin saying that a few had little pigment so she’d try a few to see if it would get them.

I’m due to go back on 15 August and would be very grateful for any pointers about what to ask/suggest/look out for in order to get the best from this.

Also (sorry for going on) she said I couldn’t use antoperspirant for a few days and I was very worried about that as I do perspire - however it actually seemed fine, little sweat and no smell for a few days. Can the laser actually reduce sweating or was that purely coincidental (I’d used a new brand of antiperspirant on the day)

Thanks in advance for any help.

Hannah

mumbaigirl · June 23, 2012, 10:59am

Go through the Fitzpatrick skin type chart and tell me what you think your skin type is. From your description, it sounds you are skin type III or lower.

Your settings are definitely on the lower side. Most people need 14+ J/cm2 on 18mm spot size to get permanent results. On 15mm spot size, one would need even more fluence. Is there a reason why she is not using the 18mm spot size?

You might want to go through this discussion

Also, is the hair on your chin line coarse?

Moynehan · June 28, 2012, 10:55am

I’d say maybe a 111. I have dark hair and hazel eyes but really quite pale skin.

I’ve no idea why she chose the settings she did - she did a few zaps under one arm then had to replace the canister of cooling gas and fiddled with the settings. I think she might have turned the settings down as I was wincing a bit.

I don’t really undersand why you’d want more ‘power’ on a lower spot size - is there somewhere I can read about the science but in a not too complicated language? Does a bigger spot size eman you just use less zaps?

Thanks for the linkg - interesting.

And yes the chairs on my chin line are few and far between but like telegraph poles;) The black ones have just this morning started to drop out if I give a light tug with my fingers - so maybe they just had a very long way to be pushed out from.

maiselbr · June 28, 2012, 2:35pm

You might find these two articles of interest (Sadly, and I’ve tried… it’s hard to find all the physics and mathematical equations about LHR):

http://www.candelalaser.com/files/docs/ClinicalPapers/0920-23-0183.pdf

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Comparing 18- versus 12-mm spot size in hair removal using a gentlease 755-nm alexandrite laser.

K Nouri, H Chen, S Saghari and CA Ricotti, Dermatologic surgery : official publication for American Society for Dermatologic Surgery [et al.], Apr 2004

Laser epilation is based on the principle of selective photothermolysis, absorption of laser energy by the target chromophore melanin. It is claimed that larger spot sizes may be more effective for hair removal at identical fluences.To compare the efficacy of 18- vs. 12-mm spot size in hair removal using a Gentlelase Alexandrite laser from Candela Corporation (Boston, MA).In this double-blind, randomized control trial, patients underwent laser-assisted hair removal on the axillary region. Regions were randomly selected and treated with either an 18- or a 12-mm spot size. Three treatments at 6-week intervals with a 755-nm Gentlelase Alexandrite laser (Candela Corp., Canton, MA) at a fluence of 16 J/cm(2) with cooling and delay times of 60 ms. Hair counts were taken before each treatment session and compared. The mean percentage hair reduction and student's paired t-test were used to compare 18 versus 12 mm versus control sites at each visit and compared it with the baseline hair count.There was a 10.3% difference in mean reduction favoring the 18-mm spot size treated area at the 6-month follow-up.Our results indicate that a larger spot size appears to be more effective for laser assisted hair removal.

mumbaigirl · June 29, 2012, 10:16am

Links above should answer your 1st q.

For chin I’d suggest you only have electrolysis.

Moynehan · August 15, 2012, 8:59am

I’m so sorry Brenton and mumbaigirl that I’ve not responded or thanked you before. I told this forun to tell me if anyone responded to this thread by sending me an email, but I never got one
When I go back in it wants me to reset that again - seems it won’t stick. Does anyone know how to make it work?

Anyway I’m off today for session 2 so will be having a look at the links before I set off.

mumbaigirl - I tried electrolysis once years ago and found it so painful I gave up. Has it improved or am I just a wimp?
The hairs on my chin did stay away for the 4 weeks after they finally fell out so I will get her to do them again today. Is there any reason NOT to - continue with laser on them, then see what they are like , then consider being really brave (or drugged;) and having electrolysis on the reamaining ones?

Thanks again both and I will try and keep an eye on this to check for responses as I fear the alert email will not come again.