Angry with my lightsheer experience

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

I have been getting hair removed via IPL (2004-2006) and GentleLASE (2006-present) for the past 6 years. Even the useless IPL created a clearing of all hair for 2-3 months after the treatment (though it all came back). The GentleLASE created the same effect, perhaps for longer - and the hair came back thinner on many parts of my shoulders and arms.

I told this to the tech doing the lightsheer (when I was out of town and couldn’t go to my usual GentleLASE person & figured I’d just give it a shot) and she ASSURED me I would have no hair by labor day because all the hair would fall out – and only hair in the “Active growth phase” had a chance of being killed…yes, I know this is how it works…since 2005 I have been doing it. And, we were both on the same page.

Well, here are my absolutely ridiculous results 3 weeks later - all the shedding has been done (and these are just my upper arms):

http://img12.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=cimg6007j.jpg

Not only is at least 1/2 of my hair still there and growing, but I have dozens of ingrown hairs all over my shoulders and back - and I am going to need a $100+ back & shoulder treatment at a spa to get rid of all of them. (Unless anyone here has tips for a cheaper option)

Furthermore, I need to get a base tan before my (1 year planned) vacation over labor day…as I told this woman - and therefore I could not get LHR any closer to labor day than the end of July. So, now I have nearly half of my hair still there & actively growing - with nothing that I can do except shave it - only to leave stubble…and I have to spend a ridiculous amount of money for an aesthetician to dig out countless ingrown hairs.

I want my $370 back as well… this treatment was completely useless. Having patches of hair everywhere is just as bad as having a back full of hair. Back hair stubble is not something I planned on - especially after spending $370. She did not apply sufficient pressure to the tip and slid it all over the place in an effort to get me out as quickly as possible. To top that off, she changed the price from my initial consult to my actual treatment date by $120. And, then she told me to put on bacitracin which is mostly vaseline - and you do NOT put vaseline on burns!

I would like some advice about the best way to go about getting my money back. I don’t want to hear her say some excuse like “We cant guarantee that your hair will fall out” (when she did - and it has fallen out with EVERY other treatment) – or “only hairs in the active phase fall out” (I don’t think that is true - is it?).

Sorry I am so angry - but this vacation on labor day was very very important to me and I indented to look my absolute best and to be at the pool without a shirt… which is a RARE occurrence for me since I am flabby, hairy, and pale 99% of the time. I lost 15 lbs in 4 weeks already - to go along with all this - and I spent hundreds of dollars in clothes for the trip. A hairy back (or back stubble) was not in the cards. Aright, I’ll calm down now, and thanks in advance for your replies.

Edit: I am back home & going back to my old person for alexandrite treatments… I just hope I can do them 4 weeks after the lightsheer treatments and not cause some crazy reaction. I am no longer in the same city where the ligtsheer was done. I was just there for a brief period in the summer.

#2

To me, it looks like a lot of missed patches. In this case they should at least touch up for free.
If treated properly, with the right settings, virtually all the hair will shed regardless of phase. The fact that the hair remaining has been growing since treatment and is in lines, suggests missed patches by bad overlapping.

And I guess in general you have these treatments as a substitute for waxing? Not permanency? Because with proper GentleLASE treatment you should be able to get some degree of permanent results, with just the finer hairs not being permanently affected.

I’d stop spending money on IPL and Laser and go for electrolysis. You will get permanent results and won’t have to deal with ingrown hairs.

#3

Hi Stopitt,

Yeah I basically do this as a substitute for waxing. I have not really gotten much permanency - though I do get very long term clearing. I am going to ask my LHR person about electrolysis at my next visit since she has a practice for that as well. I am not sure that I’ll have the time / money / patience for electrolysis - but maybe it’ll be better in the long run. I know very little about it.

I can’t do a touch up since I don’t live in the area where I had the lightsheer, but I am hoping I will get some money back (at least for the next laser & ingrown hair treatment)

#4

Yeah, that’s pretty crappy. I would complain, but be prepared for a fight. There is nothing you’re going to say that will magically convince her that she sucks at laser and should just hand you your $370 back. People just aren’t that open to criticism. Especially since you don’t live there so it’s not like she will lose you as a customer if she doesn’t pacify you. Definitely post your experience on yelp or something though!

Did you pay by credit card? If you can get a statement from your regular clinic that this treatment was incomplete and improper, then your CC should reverse the charges. You have to open the claim ASAP though, because most companies have a 90-120 day window for that.

For what’s it’s worth: I’m sure you’re still good looking enough to enjoy your holiday plans. The tan will hide a lot of the stubble, or you can skip the tan entirely and just get treated again with the GentleLASE (there won’t be any side-effects, you’re safe). Plus, pale guys are really “in” right now (and cute!)

Note: Make sure you’re not treating sparsely-furred areas. Using laser as a “waxing” routine on the shoulders and back can induce more growth (it kills coarse hair, but stimulates new hair, which is why you should probably switch to electrolysis if you’ve had 6-8 treatments of laser at the proper settings. After this many treatments, you’re pretty much at your final results). Electrolysis may seem daunting for the whole back, but you can start with just your shoulders and those should go pretty quickly.

Either way, good luck!

#5

As a pale, somewhat flabby and very hairy guy, I feel for you. I know what you’re going through. If you can’t get your money back, your best option is to let go and possibly look for other options like eletrolysis.

Don’t crucify yourself too much over body hair. I’m going weekly to a therapist trying to avoid doing just that. If you’re anything like me, the others already pick on you too much for you to do it yourself.

#6

Hi Princess Kitty & PRC, thanks again so much for your comments. I did get my money back… which now I oddly feel guilty about (call me crazy). They were just so apologetic and submissive (can’t think of a better word) about the whole thing bc I went into a lengthy lecture about my 6 years of hair treatments, my vacation, the changing of the price at the last minute, the bad advice to put on bacitracin (no vaseline products on burns!), etc etc… so the office said they are refunding my $ today… we’ll see when it posts, but they sounded apologetic & said I was the first person ever to complain.

Princess - I love the: “I’m sure you’re still good looking enough to enjoy your holiday plans.” I don’t even know anymore. It’s so in the eyes of the beholder that I really can’t even assess it anymore.

PRC - lol thanks for saying that. Ironically, hair is low on my list of things I do not like…permanent acne scars on my back (that are raised) is worse…I’ve only ever seen such scars on one other guy - ever (strangely another pale irish guy). I guess they are better than icepick scars but still, gross. The irony is when I lose the hair you can see the scars. When I see guys with perfectly smooth, tan, hairless, acne-scar-free backs I just get bitter. I’ve been dealing with this 1/2 my life already - scary to say. I’d pay 2x as much to remove the scars as I would to remove the hair. Accutane took care of the acne at the time, but I think it made the scarring worse. A tan sort of evens out the whole texture / color of the area (even the scars) but I have to start early & go regularly only in low power beds or I will burn.

Does anyone know if there is a waiting period after GentleLase for tanning? I have a major farmers tan now thanks to the summer & not wanting to tan my back - so a tanning bed will help even it out before my vacation.

Oh and I WILL take your advice about electrolysis… I just have no idea what to expect in terms of cost & what that feels like or looks like after a treatment…I’ll be asking about it on Monday when I see my old school LHR alexandrite person. I feel like I am going to have to bring her flowers and say “I’m so sorry I cheated on you - I was stuck in [city] and needed a treatment!”

#7

Oh wow, I’m so happy they were cooperative. That’s rare. Maybe they aren’t so bad after all. :slight_smile:

You may get pinprick scabs for a week or so after electrolysis at first. They lessen as you continue I’ve noticed. So you will probably want to be aware of that if you’re going shirtless a lot. It takes a lot of hours up front to clear the area, but once it’s clear you just go in every week or two for 30-60 minutes to get new hairs as they emerge. In the meantime, you LOOK like you’re hairless (after the first clearance) because you treat each hair as it grows in, so you only have a few hairs on any given day. Pretty soon it’s down to 30 minutes a month or maybe 15 minutes every two weeks. Then in a bout a year, you’re done! If you can get your first clearance in a span of a day or two, then you’ll be able to go shirt free from that point forward instead of waiting for a full coat to grow back in like with laser.

You may need touch ups since this area develops brand new hairs as you age, but those will come slowly and cost nothing to remove a few at a time really.

#8

I had hair like you all over my back and shoulders. Not anymore. 2 years of electrolysis, $10,000. Still going, but treatments are getting shorter and shorter on the initial areas (we are starting new areas). See my treatment diary.

#9

Your hair is not super coarse and after these treatments it also looks patchy (missed spots - i.e. they overpromised as we mentioned). I think we predicted this lack of results with your LightSheer treatments based on your previous posts. GentleLASE is the absolute best. If high settings on that machine aren’t working, no other laser will work. Only electrolysis.

I would invest the money into electrolysis if I were you. This is a hard hormonal area to treat on men (upper arms) and if 18mm 20J on GentleLASE isn’t working, then nothing else will.