Big Rapids is pretty far from where I live. I don’t think it would be worth to drive there. Plus it’s not as “big” as Grand Rapids… I would think that Grand Rapids has better places.
I’m sure it does. I was trying to help you save some time looking since you thought there were only 2 places in your area! This is an hour away - so it’s not so bad given that you only have to go once every 2-3 months.
There are definitely a lot more than 2 places in my area after I did research. There are so many plastic surgery centers… I had no idea! I know that they all do laser, as well as dermatologists, spas, and many other private places. It’s impossible to choose now.
It’s easy to choose once you call each place and ask basic questions and then come in for consultations. The best ones will stand out.
I just got an e-mail from the Gentle Touch place… They sent me an e-mail with a bit of info. She states that they’ve been doing laser/electrolysis hair removal successfully for 10 years. It costs about $95 per treatment and she said that about 5-6 treatments are usually required and spaced out 4-5 weeks apart. They also offer free consultations.
So I think I’m going to check out this place first in the next couple of weeks. I’ve been applying for jobs all over the place so hopfully I’ll be able to get something soon so I can start the process and actually be able to pay for it.
Thanks for all the help everyone!
What laser do they use?
And if they don’t work out, I think Lisia Cooley-Walch would be worth the hour drive. She trained the 2 at Gentle Touch at her electrolysis school. She may be doing laser training now, as well.
I didn’t ask yet. I figured since the consultation is free I will ask then. Their website just states that they use “Laser therapy (with Thermokinetic Selectivity, TKS)”… I don’t really know what that means but we will see.
I figure if the person you mentioned trained these two than they will probably be pretty skilled at what they do, especially since they’ve been doing it for a while.
Ask for the name of the machine before you take the time to go anywhere in person. That’s important.
Also, 4-5 weeks apart is too frequent. If treatments are effective, you don’t need them sooner than 8-12 weeks apart. You don’t need to argue with them over this, but it helps to know what their thinking is for such frequent treatment (since after shedding completes at 3 weeks, there shouldn’t be anything there yet to treat at 4 weeks) and whether you’ll be able to come in whenever you want.
I will e-mail them again and ask I guess. I am sure that if after 5 weeks there wasn’t anything there yet they wouldn’t attempt to treat it… and I wouldn’t go in, of course. She said that treatments and the time inbetween could take more or less depending on the person, which makes sense.
I’ll ask about the machine today.
Just got a response back from her. She says that they use an Apogee by Cynosure.
It depends on the area treated, because it’s based on length of hair cycles.
Which Apogee? Most are alexandrites, but there is one machine, Apogee Elite that’s both alex and a yag in one.
She did not specify which one… but based on what I’ve read the machine would work fine since I have skin type II and brown hair.
It’s a decent alexandrite. However, there are various models. The newer Apogees with 15mm spot size are better, though still not as great as GentleLASE which has an 18mm spot size. The older Apogees have 10 and 12mm spot sizes.
I will have to ask her when I go there… whenever that happens.