Best type of laser machine?

jac · April 10, 2015, 4:34am

Hello

I am in South Africa, and I want to go for laser hair removal again.
I previously went to a place that had the
Alexandrite laser system (I went for about 10+ treatments)
and now all my hair is back, and worse
(but I do think it is my hormones, I need to get it checked out).

I am a 33 yr old white female, dark hair.
I have hair all over my body, thick long dark hairs on back of my legs, and top of thighs, lower stomach, and chin. Very hair arms.
And thinner lighter hairs all over, whole leg, stomach etc.

Which laser do you recommend?
These are most the types of lasers that the salons here have:

WHICH IS THE BEST OUT OF THESE 3 ?
IS THERE MUCH DIFFERENCE BEWTEEN THE SOPRANA XL AND THE SAPRONA XLi ?

Alma Soprano XL
Alma Soprano XLi
Diode laser LG 808nm

ARE THE 3 TYPES ABOVE BETTER THAN THESE 3 BELOW ?
Alexandrite laser system
SPL
Elos

AND THESE TYPES ?

The Lightsheer
Cutera Xeo
Cutera Nd:Yag
Cutera Coolglide

Impurity · April 11, 2015, 6:17pm

Soprano is useless

Diode is okay

Alexandrite is by far the best, and it’s not even close

Deedra · April 11, 2015, 11:20pm

That seems to be the consensus among many after being here on Hairtell since 2003.

Thanks for weighing in, Impurity!

sue_mccarthy · June 25, 2015, 10:56pm

Diode is okay
Alexandrite is by far the best, and it’s not even close

What’s the reason for the Alexandrite laser being better than the Diode laser?

I did some reading about this and found the following information including a few scientific studies:-

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Laser hair removal with alexandrite versus diode laser using four treatment sessions: 1-year results.

S Eremia, C Li and N Newman, Dermatologic surgery : official publication for American Society for Dermatologic Surgery [et al.], Nov 2001

Laser hair removal is the treatment of choice for hypertrichosis. The two most commonly used hair removal lasers are compared.To present the results of a comparative study examining the role of wavelength, fluence, spot size, pulse width, and cooling systems on long-term results after a series of four laser hair removal treatments using the 755 nm alexandrite and 800-810 nm diode lasers.The axillae of 15 untanned, type I-V patients were treated side by side four times at 4- to 6-week intervals with a 755 nm, 3-msec pulse width, cryogen spray-equipped alexandrite laser and an 800 nm, variable pulse width, cooled sapphire window-equipped diode laser. Each patient was pretested and treated with the maximum fluence tolerated at the largest spot size available for each laser (12 mm round/113 mm2 for the alexandrite and 9 mm for the diode).Evaluations were done at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after the last treatment. Twelve-month results with the alexandrite and diode lasers achieved 85% versus 84% hair reduction. The fact that tan avoidance was strictly followed permitted the use of relatively high fluences (25-30+ J/cm(2)) even in type IV patients. For most patients, four treatment sessions using high fluences (30-40 J/cm(2)) with relatively large spot sizes (12 mm round for the 755 nm alexandrite and 9 mm for the 800 nm diode) resulted in 12-month hair reductions in the 90% range.Both the alexandrite and diode lasers in this 12-month study produced excellent long-term hair reductions.

Conclusion from the study:- “Both the alexandrite and diode lasers in this 12-month study produced excellent long-term hair reductions.”

Of course, this is only one study, so a conclusion can’t really be drawn from it, but you mention that it seems to be the consensus that the Alexandrite laser is better and I was just wondering why? Are the results better or less side effects or something else?

Deedra · June 26, 2015, 9:57am

Diode works well, but the technician needs to use compression on the skin correctly, so I have heard. So, more skill is needed to do it correctly.