In my opinion, there is no reason to treat any lower than your skin can handle safely. What’s the benefit of treating at lower settings if your skin can handle higher settings?
Many people experience stunted growth and simply don’t come back to the clinic half a year later to retreat, assuming it didn’t work.
Gill UK,
Thanks for your post and welcome to HairTell.
I think you are misinterpreting what we are saying. We consistently recommend getting treated at the highest settings possible one’s skin can handle. Indeed, no setting can guarantee any outcome, but the odds of permanent epilation logically increase when more energy is delivered to the follicles. The safest, most efficacious treatment parameters can only be determined via test pulses conducted at different settings.
It’s somewhat disingenuous to imply that there’s an “attitude of pushing the joules” on this forum. We don’t make individual recommendations for settings, and always advise that the ultimate arbiter and best resource is the laser technician.
I have never advocated treating at lower than the skin can handle. As you say, what would be the point? All I am saying is that if the skin cant handle higher than 12 joules, providing the hair is dark enough, 12 joules can and does - in my experience - produce results, i.e. permanent disabling of the hair.
It is the case on here that you get a lot more failures posting with their stories than successes posting with their updates, such is human nature!
Hi all,
Have my first consultation today with premier laser clinic (aldgate east branch). their cynosure elite MPX sounds really good so hoping to see good results. i am going prepared with plenty of questions and hopefully they will treat me with high settings.
still undecided as to whether i should laser my shoulders/upper arms due to the worry of induced growth. will ask the question at the consultation and see what they recommend. will post pictures and details later on this evening…
Hi there,
Please read the last page of my thread linked in my sig. It sounds good for sure but they treat low! We won’t be going back.
Try to get the test patch settings? It would be good to get an opinion on them.
I will definitely note them down. Will push for higher settings too and see if they can give me some sort of guarantee that the higher setting is the one they will use should I buy a course of treatments.
You shouldn’t need a course. Read the emails with the manager in my thread. Apparently higher settings don’t mean more effective treatment.
had my test patch yesterday and it went fairly well. i asked about the dangers of induced growth and the tech told me that it is a possibility when the settings are too low for a particular area, but if they are high enough it shouldn’t be a problem. she also thought it was unlikely that i could even grow any extra hair in those areas either!
the settings she used were: 16J 18mm spot size and 40ms and then she slowly increased the settings until we got to 22J (at which point i could feel a definite pin prick sensation). the area was a little sore afterwards but no redness or swelling yesterday or today.
the bottom half of my back has finer hairs which she said could quite happily be treated too. bit suspicious about that but she seemed confident enough.
(btw it was the yag laser they used)
They will tell you any hair will respond. That’s what this forum is for, to work out how much of what they say is rubbish.
My sister (type IV) had her lower leg settings at 18mm, 40ms and 22J and 25J. The 25J one would have been okay but they used 22J. 27J is the max on 18mm.
Now, you are not as dark and your hair is not as coarse as my sister’s lower leg hair. So those settings sound really low to me. LAgirl or JMISR will be able to tell you for sure.
It should hurt more than a pin prick. I’ve had good settings when I had my treatments and let me tell you, your teeth will be gritted and you will want to swear like a sailor. Even if not that, it should definitely be discernible pain, not a pin prick sensation. And with good settings, the area is red for a fair bit and sometimes even some welting.
Oh, and they told my cousin her arm hair could be treated. Her arm hair is dark brown and not at all coarse. ha ha.
Under 20-22J on the Yag with 18mm and 40ms are very low settings. I wouldn’t let them treat lower than that 22J. And it can help to lower the pulse width if they wouldn’t mind and your skin can handle it safely.
DO NOT touch any of the finer OR sparse hair. You’ve been warned! If you do, please do not post here complaining of induced growth later blaming anyone else but yourself 
LAgirl has said it all really.
I just want to add that from personal experience with this clinic and their manager they are NOT responsive to asking them to raise settings. The way she responded in the beginning made me feel that they would be but alas. This is why I suggested you read the emails in my thread. It’s a huge shame the good techs left from my previous clinic because they cared about treatment. If I said it wasn’t as painful as it should be, they had no issue in raising the settings a bit. The test patches were always at good settings and if your skin could handle the max, they would use it. Not one really low one, one medium and one okay.