Been at it for 5 years...still going

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

Hi! Glad to be here.

I’m new to this forum but not when it comes to laser treatments :grin:

As the title says, I’ve been treated with a LightSheer diode laser for 5-6 years, getting treatments every 2-4 months.

I’m 26, live in Denmark but born in Iran and started my treatments in 2004/2005. I’m quite pale for a middle eastern type but I rarely get burned when staying in the sun for longer periods and I tan quite quickly and evenly. I would rate myself as a “type IV” but my skin colour is probably a “III” on the Fitzpatrick scale.

The areas I’m (still) being treated are face, neck (back and front), chest, stomach, shoulders, arms, hands and shoulders.

I really wish that I have had taken before/after photos but I have not done that or even remember exactly how many treatments I’ve had in each area, unfortunately. However, even though it makes it harder for me to judge how well the treatments have progressed without before/after photos, I still feel that I’ve come a long way since the beginning, I was very hairy with coarse, thick black hair! Some areas are almost 100% free of hair and others ranging between 30-80%.

Still, I’m sorry that I haven’t taken any photos. I could take photos of myself now but what’s the point when I don’t have anything to compare it to, right?

I don’t know if 5 years is a long time but I’m quite satisfied with the results, especially considering the low price I’ve paid.

The person who treats me is a person I know in private, well sort of. She used to have a clinic but the (corrupted) Danish National Board of Health made it really hard for small clinics to survive by making restrictive laws and BS. This all happened back in 2006/2007 (if I remember correctly) so she was forced to close her clinic.

She is now treating a small circle of her former customers as a “private person” in her own apartment, not as a “professional educated laser technician” with/in a salon.

She has a LightSheer machine. I don’t know which model she has but I’m sure that it isn’t new. Probably from 2000-2006 with some updated modifications/parts.

Now that was my background story. Here’s my question that I hope you can answer.

I’ve never bothered to ask her about the basics behind the LightSheer she uses and why she chose to use those exact settings on me. In all those years I’ve just told her which areas to treat and at what fluence.
I’m sure that there are many other and better professional laser hair-removal specialists in my country but the majority use IPL/IPL2, not laser, plus they’re WAY more expensive than my current practitioner. The market in my country is really small compared to the US, and even smaller now thanks to the Danish National Board of Health.

[b]Back to my initial question:

I’m getting treatments on my face and neck at 20 (fluence), chest, stomach, shoulders, back and arms/hands/fingers on 25-28 (fluence). The only setting that she touches when treating me is “fluence”. The two other settings present on the touch screen besides “flunence” is set to 1hz (or is it mhz?), and the 2nd function is set to “auto” (something about milliseconds). I don’t really know what the “auto” function is about?

Are these setting totally BS? My practitioner is NOT a friend of mine. I’ve just been a loyal customer of hers for over a half decade but she could potentially just be milking me for money. I don’t know and I can’t really tell.

Should I leave her and pay the extra $$$ for a “real” medical laser practitioner in an approved clinic? There’s a woman near where I live who has a ruby laser but she is quite expensive. [/b]

Any advice?

Thanks in advance ladies and gentlemen.

#2

Is all your hair finer now? A high quality picture always helps. You may be doing laser when electrolysis is the clear and only choice now. She should know if the hair structure is not compatible with laser treatments anymore. I hope she is not milking you?

#3

I’m not a professional (yet) and can’t instruct you on whether you should see someone else but I do know that 6 years is a long time to commit to something that hasn’t shown itself to be permanent for you.

I’m curious to know whether you’ve every let months go by without having a treatment? After 6 mos do you still see a reduction?

I had laser a few years ago and after a year without treatment the hair was back to its original density. Electrolysis was only the only permanent option for me.

At least you haven’t paid through the nose so I guess that’s a plus.

#4

Well, in most areas, yes the hair is defiantly finer. However, I’m not able to tell if they’re thin enough for electrolysis or too thin for laser treatments. She never mentioned electrolysis as an option. Should I make an appointment with another medical laser operator/clinic just to get their view on this?

Speaking of electrolysis, isn’t it expensive and time consuming? I thought electrolysis was good on small areas.

But do you reckon that the LightSheer settings are good enough or on the “light” side? And what exactly is that “auto function” for? Something about wavelength or pulse width?

#5

We ask for quality pictures so we can try and advise you fairly and squarely.

There would be no harm in getting a consultation from another laser specialist. Just remember, LASER will not work on fine hair no matter the color, so don’t let anyone BS you.

Electrolysis is not mentioned because she wants your money perhaps? Maybe she is not the hair expert you thought she was and perhaps she doesn’t know what a skilled electrologist could do for someone like you.

Electrolysis takes 9-18 months from start to finish. Some people may need as much as 24 months. It all depends because there are so many variables. Electrolysis is not only for small areas. Small areas are only for electrologists that think small and only want to do 15 minute appointments. If you are not a good candidate for LASER, electrolysis is all you have left, so either you get with the program for real permanent hair removal that works on all hair structures or continue with temporary methods, which leads to that old ‘hamster on the wheel syndrome’, going nowhere fast.

LAgirl where are you? I am not qualified to answer your last question. Re-ask it if LAgirl doesn’t get back to you soon enough. I strongly recommend that you peruse the electrolysis forum and read, read read about electrolysis. Anything you want to know has probably already been explained or answered before. You can visit www.electrolgy.com as well.

Thanks Hairlarious. Love that screen name. Very creative.

Dee

#6

Thank you for the answers.

Looks like I’ll have to look into electrolysis/blend-electrolysis. I’m just not sure if it’s widely available in my country. IPL seems to be the hottest thing around here besides waxing.

How long will it take to do a whole back with electrolysis? Just en estimate.

Oh, I forgot to tell you that I’m male, if it makes any difference in my situation?

#7

  • What kind of hair do you have remaining at this point? How much of it is coarse and dense? Photos would help.

  • Does all hair shed 3 weeks after each treatment?

  • Auto setting means the pulse width is 1/2 the fluence on this machine.

  • LightSheer has either a 9mm or a 12mm spot size. Do you know which one she’s using?

  • Generally, we recommend treating at at least 25J+ on this machine and using compression.

p.s. Sorry, I was MIA. I was out of the country on vacation since Thursday.

#8

Hi LAgirl. Thank you for your reply!

1- I will add photos as soon as I can. It’s hard for me to describe how thick or/and coarse the hair is. All I know is that at this point they are much finer and grow in spots.

2- Yes, all, or most of the hairs shed after 2-3 weeks. The hairs that don’t shed are normally those she missed and there aren’t many of those. Is this a good sign or a bad sign?

3- Is this good or bad? What’s the most common setting? I’ve read that some say 30m/s. Having noticed the “auto-setting” makes me kinda nervous. Should I do something about this?

4- I have no idea about the spot size. Shooting from the hip, I would say 9mm.

5- When you say “compression” what do you exactly mean? That she stretches out the skin? Or that she literally compress it? What good is compression for?

Thank you in advance LAgirl

#9

  • Coarse hair is the type you normally have on underarms or bikini. If the hair is not coarse and dense like that any longer, then laser won’t affect it permanently, no matter what the settings are. And it’s time to switch to electrolysis.

  • Compression on this machine means pushing down the laser head on your skin when treating, instead of lightly gliding for example. This is important for results.

  • I wouldn’t worry about pulse width on this machine. It’s important to determine whether the hair is coarse enough at this point in the first place.

  • You can call and ask if their machine is the 9mm one. If it’s older, it probably is.

  • Hair can shed if it’s somewhat affected, but it needs to be coarse enough to absorb enough heat to disable it permanently. If it’s not coarse enough, it won’t work no matter what the settings are.

#10

I’m resurrecting this thread as I promised pictures and I’ll upload some today.

My last treatment was approximately 1½ month ago. This time I was treated by my practitioner’s boyfriend. He’s not educated in this field but he’s “trained”. He left me with some spots on my arm. I don’t understand how that’s possible because he was treating me at 20-25J and the hairs on my arm aren’t really that coarse any more. Maybe it’s the melanin in my skin that reacts so aggressively?

I’ll post pictures and keep you updated.

#11

Pictures

Right upper arm. Only few visible “spots”. The camera catches far more than what’s visible to the eye.

Left upper arm. Very visible pigmentation spots.

#12

Looks like pigmentation due to overtreatment. Settings were too high for your skin (maybe it had a slight tan if you’ve used these settings without issues before). Also, since you’re middle eastern, you have underlying pigment.

You say the hair isn’t very coarse anymore. I would advise to stop laser treatments. You’ve reached diminishing effects. Start eletrolysis.

#13

LAgirl

I was hoping to get a response from you particularly. Thanks :slight_smile:

My practitioner always told me not to be exposed to the sun for 6-8 weeks prior to a laser treatment. I’ve always followed that instruction. I’m pale (kinda) because I always use sunscreen and try not to stay in the sun. I don’t get burned but I get tanned very easily and instantly if I stay in the sun.

I never really thought about the underlying pigment. It sounds so logical so I don’t know why it never crossed my mind. However, I don’t understand why she never told me that. She should know if the fluence was set too high.

Will these pigmentation spots ever go away?

#14

Most pigmentation issues go away within a few months.

If you don’t have large patches of coarse dense growth left, you should be switching to electrolysis. You’re paying for expensive shaving/waxing.

#15

The reason why I don’t do electrolysis is because it’s time consuming and therefore expensive. I need to do my whole back, upper arms, shoulders, neck, chest, stomach and a little bit on my beard/cheeks. Now that’s a lot of money, although the amount of hair isn’t much.

It’s also the reason why I still get laser treatments. I only pay around $150 per hour and that’s a great deal in my opinion.

Also, I think my results are way better than waxing/shaving. I’ll say 75-85% of all treated hairs on the different areas are gone. It seems that the hairs on my back are responding very good to the treatments as I’ve only had 5 sessions in that area. However, the hairs on my chest, neck and cheeks need a lot more treatments.

But all in all, I can stay hair free for 3 months before I need to do “touch-ups”. I can live with that. I’m just a little worried about those pigmentation spots. I also have some of them on my back and chest. Though not nearly as visible as the ones on my left arm.

#16

An average electrologist removes 5-10 hairs per minute. That’s permanent removal. I don’t know that you can compare the cost to temporary laser waxing you’re currently getting. I would personally rather put that money towards a permanent method, even if it takes a bit longer.

You’ve mentioned having treatments for 5-6 years. You should wait 6 months after your last treatment. Then you can truly judge what’s left. It’s hard to judge if you’re constantly having treatments done.

#17

Time consuming? And, yet, you’ve been getting laser treatments for 5 years?

#18

[quote=“JMISR”]

Time consuming? And, yet, you’ve been getting laser treatments for 5 years? [/quote]

I can understand what they mean. It takes what, a couple of hours to treat those areas with laser every couple of months? And you’re hair free all that time. Electrolysis would take days of marathon sessions to do all those areas at one time. Or you would have to do one area at a time which would take forever. You’d also have to find someone willing to treat all those areas. If you have a lot of hair and wanted to be hair free in between treatments you may or may not have to come in every week. If not you’d have to shave in between treatments. I see how laser every couple of months would be more appealing.

#19

If you did a time and cost to benefit ratio analysis electrolysis would clearly win in this case.

#20

I’ve researched the market here and there are not any clinics left that performs electrolysis. Not that I know of. Seems IPL, laser and waxing are the only available options.

I’ve also read that electrolysis requires certain amount of treatments before it’s permanent. Hair Facts says 15-30 treatments per hair/area. That is what I would call time consuming.