Hi! Please don’t respond unless you are a success story. Read this whole post before hitting the reply button :
I’ve read dozens of research papers on laser hair removal and not a single one has categorically stated that the results are truly permanent. Most studies reach a conclusion after 6 treatments, or a few months after, but never follow-up years after. And they’ll use terms like reduction, delay, or they’ll define “permanent” as “3 regrowth cycles”.
Please only respond to this thread if you meet the following criteria: [ul]
[li]You followed a full treatment plan (could be 5 or 100 treatments), then nothing for at least 1 year, and you’ve seen a definite permanent reduction.
[/li][/ul]
Please don’t respond if:
[ul]
[li]You don’t meet the above criteria
[/li][li]You want to explain how laser hair removal works
[/li][li]If you retreat areas to keep it “permanent”
[/li][li]If you want to share links to papers or pages that state otherwise…I want real people on this forum
[/li][li]You have a friend who has a success story
[/li][li]You are not a success story
[/li][/ul]
If you have before and after pictures that would be great.
FYI, I’ve done 5 treatments to my face (seeing good results), and plan on doing many more. But at some point I’ll want to stop treatment permanently and want permanent reduction, this is the reason for this poll.
This is a pretty demanding post. Either way, we already have a success story thread on another forum where we track this. There is also a study that includes all your elements posted in the sticky thread on this forum. You should take the time to read through all this first. You also need to understand that studies are expensive and this isn’t the type of thing that gov’t money goes towards as hair is not a life-threatening issue. So most studies are funded by the laser manufacturers themselves and are likely not 100% unbiased.
I also fall into your category and you can easily read my full story at the link below. It’s in my every post. I’ve been done for probably over 3 years now. I lost count.
Yeah, this is a public forum. You don’t get to choose who replies to your PUBLIC post on a message board that doesn’t even belong to you. And adding smilies at the last minute doesn’t make it sound any less bossy (no offense).
I am going to answer you for the sake of EVERYONE with similar questions:
People who have had success and have not needed to engage in hair removal for years AREN’T HERE ANYMORE. Think about it- If you had success and you were all finished, why would you check into a hair removal site daily? You wouldn’t. You’d move on with your life. LAgirl up there is an exception who sticks around as a beacon of hope and information for others. Aside from her, members here tend to be in the PROCESS of removing hair (either with laser or electrolysis), and once they finish, they disappear.
Their absence alone proves that many of them had success and no longer need assistance from us.
Lol MagicalPrincessKitty you read my mind. I literally typed that exact response out this morning then was about to hit send and thought naw forget it, if this person wants to be rude enough to restrict their responses to only a few people then they’re on their own! I even had the example, it’s like going on a car forum asking for advice on what stereo would work best in your ride, then getting advice, installing it and coming back a year later to tell people it’s still working well for them. People come on here to get help and ask questions, only a few of us actually really enjoy the technology and background with laser and enjoy reading about it to better our knowledge and help other people on here as well. Everyone else just gets their help then doesn’t come back, since really if you’re just interested in getting rid of hair, once your smooth why would you come back?
The thing that people don’t realize is that laser is still fairly new. Yes it’s been around for years but even a few years ago you never really heard of anyone doing it like you do today. Further to that, it’s a long process. It’s not like you just do a few treatments over a year and you’re suddenly smooth and good to go. I’ve been doing it just over a year now, and you can see all the areas I’ve treated below. My stomach is very smooth, but I keep adding areas like face and so on so it’s an ongoing process for me. Anyway my point is that for someone to have treated an entire area 6-8 times and then not treated it for over a year is pretty extreme, only because you’re basically asking for someone who started laser 3+ years ago and wanting them to share results with you now.
BTW what are you trying to get out of this post anyway? Someone to say they’re skin type 2, had treatment with an alex laser and had great results, when you may be a totally different skin tone using a completely different laser, going to a technician who’s trained completely differently? It’s really frustrating when people come on here asking non stop for comparisons like as if everyone is exactly the same. It’s not like you’re asking for advice on what’s a good computer to buy, there’s SO many variables involved. Just because laser works for me doesn’t mean it will for you and visa versa. You say you’ve done treatments on your face, I’m assuming you’re not really seeing the results you want if you’re coming on here looking for confirmation and confidence to keep going by having someone tell you about their own results.
Funny enough, I actually fit into your criteria. I started laser over 4 years ago on my lower legs, I have not had a treatment for over a year now. The hair that was gone after my last laser session has not grown back. Unfortunately, my treatment did not get all the hairs so I have some hairs here and there. But about 95% of it is gone and has not been back! I hope it stays that way.
I am now here in the forum to seek some advice about new areas I want to treat.
If it’s gone for over 6 months, it’s not coming back. If you develop any hair after that point, it’s NEW hair your body is producing, NOT hair “returning”.
The only thing clear to me from this topic is that I do not meet the conditions required to participate in it. I have participated in maintening the updated topic.
The fact is that the person was rude with a demanding post saying who is allowed to reply and who isn’t allowed to reply. They’re lucky to have this forum to even ask questions let alone join and be ignorant about it. All their questions have been answered in other posts, and people have posted results themselves. If they’re going to be rude and demand that people give them their answers without them searching for stories, and then say certain people aren’t allowed to reply, then it’s too bad for them. Maybe if they had asked “Does anyone here have any results having been treated with laser and then nothing for a year?” Instead of “do not reply if you’re this this this this this this this or this”.
Yep, her question was fine but I don’t like it when self-appointed internet-queens boss me around. If she gets a few answers that she feels aren’t relevant, then she can ignore them. Maybe someone else will have found them useful since that’s the point of a public forum. She should be grateful for ANY replies she gets, instead of acting demanding.
Hair phases are well known for all body areas. 6 months is a long enough time to wait for all areas (except scalp, which is irrelevant to this discussion). Whether the hair is NEW DOES matter, A LOT. Laser and electrolysis only treats and kills hair that’s currently present. It can’t prevent NEW growth if there is something in your body causing it, i.e. if you get hair a year or two later on areas that were hairfree after laser for at least that long, it has nothing to do with laser not being permanent. It permanently killed the hair it treated. And no, it can’t permanently kill hair that wasn’t there to treat.
The fact is that the person was rude with a demanding post saying who is allowed to reply and who isn’t allowed to reply. They’re lucky to have this forum to even ask questions let alone join and be ignorant about it. All their questions have been answered in other posts, and people have posted results themselves. If they’re going to be rude and demand that people give them their answers without them searching for stories, and then say certain people aren’t allowed to reply, then it’s too bad for them. Maybe if they had asked “Does anyone here have any results having been treated with laser and then nothing for a year?” Instead of “do not reply if you’re this this this this this this this or this”.
Yes, she was bossy from the very first sentence, but rude and demanding is taking it a bit far. It makes sense to collate ‘success’ stories in one thread, as Mr Pannus has said and not just for her, but for anyone else who might visit. For that reason, I don’t think it’s demanding that people who have finished their treatment for a year (although six months would have been more reasonable) reply, rather than people replying about a friend they know of or 2 months after finishing your treatment. The OP’s original criteria ensures that any question of “possibly’s” and “maybe’s” are ruled out. This in turn contributes towards more accurate and accountable success stories being posted. It also ensures that there aren’t 100s of pages to wade through with comments that aren’t on-topic and necessary (funny how this thread has moved from the goal of being concise and informative to now being off-topic).
* You don't meet the above criteria
* You want to explain how laser hair removal works [there are other threads where LHR has been explained, so it's unnecessary]
* If you retreat areas to keep it "permanent" [re-treatment suggests new growth and/or failed LHR treatment, so again it's unnecessary]
* If you want to share links to papers or pages that state otherwise...I want real people on this forum [again, it allows for accountability rather than relying on sensationalist or biased responses one way or the other]
* You have a friend who has a success story [see previous point]
* You are not a success story [well, a non-success story would defeat the purpose of the thread]
Of course people have taken the time to write about their journey, but many of them are 10+ pages long. Additionally, there aren’t many recent successful journey treatments in the first two pages of this sub-forum - one would have to go back many pages to find them. I find them informative to read through and frequently do, but if you’re someone who is new to the forum who doesn’t understand whether laser is “permanent” in terms of reduction/removal, then it’s more helpful for there to be one thread specifically to highlight how successful it can be. For instance, there’s currently a thread in the electrolysis section where the user is getting electrolysis on areas that can be successfully treated by laser, but she didn’t know it! One quick look at the success stories on this thread may have helped her to realise it sooner.
Furthermore, the point about users who have finished their treatments no longer returning is moot. Yes it might affect how many people comment, but if they’re not here, they’re not here, so they wouldn’t have read this thread anyway. Those who are still lingering can provide their own testimony. Maybe if there was a thread just for a conclusion and evaluation of the treatment, people might be more willing to come back for a one-time follow-up post rather than wading through the many back pages for their journey thread? Stating that a person should search through past threads and not specify criteria is demanding. Self-appointed internet queens? Give me/her a break! My $0.02.
Just so you know, the OP basically asked for a storm of off-topic flames on her post when she wrote that original thread outlining who can and who cannot reply on a public forum. Anyone can reply, so don’t say that it’s not rude to be told that you’re opinion isn’t valid unless you meet her preset criteria. She clearly hadn’t read the FAQs or read through the forums for success stories before posting, wanting a concise coles notes version without having to do any work to get the results. You can still ask what you want without being rude about it. What’s wrong with saying “I’m just wondering if anyone here has any real permanent success stories, as in they did laser and haven’t gone for treatment for a year and still have results? I’d really love to just hear from these people versus people doing treatment now, or people who haven’t completed treatment, as it seems like most people on here are in progress still and very few are done treatment for over a year with results. I just don’t want this post to turn into a sales pitch for laser so would appreciate only hearing from people that haven’t had a treatment for over a year and still have success!” See, what’s so wrong with that? Versus writing a list of who can or cannot reply. Like saying people who have friends that had results aren’t allowed to reply? Like seriously? Maybe we’re doing laser because of the amazing results our friends had?
And by the way, no one said she’s not allowed to ask that question because people who have had successful treatments are no longer here. We said that she probably will have a hard time getting those responses since yes people who have success don’t still hang around on message boards sharing their story with the world. You can say what you want about that but that’s just common sense. It’s just like having bad customer service in a store. People love to rush home and write a negative review online, but flip that to having an amazing customer service experience, and very few will do the same coming online to post how happy they are. That there is not common sense, that’s actually scientific and true, so this is no different. If you have poor results, guess what you’re probably on here saying laser isn’t working for you. If you had amazing results you’re probably enjoying them and could care less about going onto a forum and constantly writing that laser worked for you.
One more thing to add to edokid’s terrific points:
You imply that it’s reasonable for her to expect to be told the information without the inconvenience of wading through irrelevant comments or browsing journal threads. I strongly disagree. This is a COMMUNITY and I think it works best when members engage in conversation and are exposed to opinions that broaden their perspective, and when they are willing to meet you halfway in getting the information they want. That kind of interaction is what keeps people around after asking a question, instead of just getting a quick yes/no answer and then disappearing forever, ultimately contributing nothing.
This is why HairTell has so much value compared to HairFacts by itself or Wikipedia or even Google Search engine.
I posted a link to a thread above where we keep a tab of all the Success Stories on both forums. So far, the OP hasn’t bothered to respond to that or my personal story which fits her bill.
I agree with above. All the information the OP is looking for is already on the forum. I obviously help here a lot, but it’s also frustrating when someone isn’t willing to put minimal effort in doing some searching on the site. Why should people have to post the same thing over and over again hundreds of times for every new poster with the same exact request? And if they do, you should be nothing but gracious about it. No one owes anything to anyone here after all.
I’m not rude, I’m the nicest gay guy you’ll ever meet. I’m a member of countless forums and have good netiquette…sorry I came off as bossy, that wasn’t my intention.
LAGirl, the success thread http://www.cosmeticenhancementsforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4107 you shared is exactly the info I was looking for…thank you! I couldn’t find a similar “More than 6 month laser success story” compressed thread anywhere on this forum, so I thought I’d create it. I’ve spent a lot of time reading this site, and yes I had read all the stickies, and seen many journals/logs, but I wanted a compressed thread not just for me, but also to help others. If a success story thread like the link you provided already exists here, sorry I missed it, I’m pretty sure I didn’t though. And thank you for your success story, that’s exactly what I was hoping others would respond with.
edokid and MagicalPrincessKitty, you were completely off topic, I guess that’s how you have so many posts, quantity but not quality posts. You have a very low signal to noise ratio. Please read Smurf’s quote in full (it’s also below)
Mr Pannus, I agree completely!
Smurf, You are awesome for explaining exactly what I I was thinking! Every point you made I completely agreed with.
What’s the next step? Since this thread is butchered, I suggest one of you create a thread just like this one here that LAgirl provided: http://www.cosmeticenhancementsforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4107 , unless of course a similar thread already exists on this forum. I’ll be back in a week, if neither of your create it, I will. I like the wording in that thread, it’s less bossy :
This should be a useful thread for everyone on here. Please post your story with as much detail as possible. 6 months post your last treatment ONLY please.
Please indicate:
Area(s) treated
How long it’s been since last treatment
Your skin and hair type on that area(s)
Device used and settings (if known)
Estimated % of reduction in the area(s)
Name and location of clinic (great recommendation!)
Excuse me? You accuse me of having “so many posts, quantity but not quality posts. [I] have a very low signal to noise ratio”??
My posts are pretty much always directly about hair removal (I don’t really chit-chat), and aside from schooling YOU on netiquette, I don’t think ANY of my posts could be considered “noise” or even off topic. I’m here to help people, and am consistently being thanked for my advice and support. Yes, I went off topic here because I think you deserved it, but that doesn’t mean my posts here are useless. For the record, all of edokid’s posts that I’ve seen were useful as well.
For someone who claims to be nice, you sure are a total you-know-what!
Read this whole post before hitting the reply button 
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