Comet users

I was just reading some of the messages/experiences people have had with the comet. I had a treatment done 10 days ago on my face. The hair on my face is very blonde and up until a treatment with Lightsheer, it was very fine. The lightsheer seemed to stimulate growth and made the hairs courser. So I decided to give the comet a try. I know it’s only been 10 days, but I honestly see no difference. I have had lightsheer for the bikini and underarm area and it worked great. You would see black dots for awhile and then they would fall out. But as far as I can tell, the facial hair treated with the comet seems to be growing. Am I being impatient? Could it really stop growing and just fall out even though it hasn’t stopped growing in the 10 days since the treatment? The will do another treatment for free because the first one hasn’t helped at all, but I don’t know if all of a sudden the hair growth can stop and the hair will fall out. I also don’t know why a second treatment would work if the first one didn’t. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I was just reading some of the messages/experiences people have had with the comet. I had a treatment done 10 days ago on my face. The hair on my face is very blonde and up until a treatment with Lightsheer, it was very fine. The lightsheer seemed to stimulate growth and made the hairs courser. So I decided to give the comet a try. I know it’s only been 10 days, but I honestly see no difference. I have had lightsheer for the bikini and underarm area and it worked great. You would see black dots for awhile and then they would fall out. But as far as I can tell, the facial hair treated with the comet seems to be growing. Am I being impatient? Could it really stop growing and just fall out even though it hasn’t stopped growing in the 10 days since the treatment? The will do another treatment for free because the first one hasn’t helped at all, but I don’t know if all of a sudden the hair growth can stop and the hair will fall out. I also don’t know why a second treatment would work if the first one didn’t. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

First of all, lasers, like the Lightsheer, do not work on blonde hair. Even if you did have hair loss with it, that would only be temporary.

The Comet may help with the blonde hair. What RF and laser fluence did they use on the 1st treatment? With blonde and/or fine hair they are supposed to use at least 40J RF and long pulse mode on the laser, fluence there will vary.

Yes, sometimes the hair seems to be growing while it sheds. It is hard to believe, but that is what happened with my beard. For the first two weeks it appears to be growing and the hairs will not pull out easily. Then, all of a sudden, the hair will fall out in clumps when blade shaving. It was amazing to say the least. But my beard hair is (was) mostly black.

RJC2001

I had the exact same experience and questions as you. I used to read these peoples posts after a laser treatment that claimed they only needed to shave once since a treatment. I was thinking, if this Comet is so great, why does it look like nothing happened?

The Answer: RF works a little different, it disrupts the target cell’s inner mechanism, it doesn’t just kill it on the spot by sheer voltage alone. The cells need time to die. Ten days is too early. I didn’t notice increased smoothness in some treated areas till three or four weeks after treatment, and by that time a new generation of dormant hairs are entering the growth cycle. So after some smoother days, you see hair kind of increasing again, then you get another treatment, you get a bit more smoother, then a bit more hairy, and the decrease/new generation hair cycle continues and you start seeing very real and great smoothness. Just like electrolysis takes it’s own brand of patience to deal with ‘real reduction’, the Comet takes a bit of patience to see it through to the time when you get very real reduction.

I figure the Comet practitioners and aestheticians must get a lot of complaining folks that expect results too quickly. Even on the Syneron website, it mentions mistaken views of ineffectiveness. I feel sorry for them because the patients are comparing it to Lightsheer and other Diodes, and one really can’t do that.

I know exactly why you may feel about what you’re seeing right now. Today, five or so days after my second treatment , like you, I’m seeing more hair than I expected to see at this point growing. But, now I know this is nothing more than the “second generation” on it’s last death march until the active hair cells sputter out from the radio frequency’s internal damage. Now maybe all of them won’t die, but a good chunk, and many of the larger and coarser ones will, and I’ll be that much smoother. Anyway, you have to look at the long range. Like I say, you have to kind of “believe in it.” Hope this helped. I hope it helped with some unease.

Mantaray

RJ - I’m not sure of the settings they used. I never thought to ask. I do recall her saying that they prefer to go with a more conservative setting approach until they see how your skin and hair reacts and would do a free follow up session if it is not successful for you. My concern about the “conservative approach” is that I hope it doesn’t stimulate hair growth.

Mantaray - I was on their website today looking for the article that talked about people’s misunderstanding of how it works and I didn’t see it. Can you give me the link to that page?

Thanks for sharing your personal experiences with the comet. I know R said the facial hair is dark. M - what colour is your hair and is it fine or course? Also, because you described the way the hair falls out almost at the same time new hair grows in, how are you supposed to gauge when you need a treatment? With lightsheer (underarm and bikini), it’s easy to know when I need another session. My fear with the facial hair is that I don’t want to do anything that will stimulate growth and fear if I go for a treatment too early, it will cause more hair to grow. The facial hair is so blonde and soft but there was enough of it that it was noticeable.

Thanks for replying to my original questions. It definitely helped to know what my expectations should be.

The webpage that has the “mistaken for ineffectiveness” bit is: web page -it’s in the physician’s FAQ section. It’s really good reading for anyone seeking treatment. RJC gave me that one. As for my skin type and hair type, go under the thread “Just Got My First Comet Treatment” all that info is there. As for when somebody needs to know when to return, that’s all based on hair cycle data; patients return in six weeks for body, four weeks for facial treatments. That’s the best bet to get maximum clearing.

Some here have said to go back when bursts of hair growth are witnessed. That seems like a good idea, but with the Comet that could just lead to double treatment of hairs that are on their way to death anyway. I wouldn’t recommend that. Why? because then you’re cutting short your waiting intervals and hairs that may surface in two or so weeks will go untreated. Also, you really don’t want more than necessary treatments, it is a high-energy laser and radio frequency that you’re dealing with. Spaced out treatments are approved by the FDA, but not rapid fire ones. The physician may even refuse to see a patient inside of three weeks. Anyway, that’s off your topic.

As for stimulating hair growth, you really want any hairs laying dormant to become active for treatment porposes anyway. True, you don’t want to be hairy, but you don’t want hairs sprouting a year after treatment. That’s just my take. I can understand your concern. Phone, and talk to your doctor about it, they’re more likely to give you the best answers. I found my aesthetician very willing to answer all questions, because they want you to be happy. As for more powerful treatments beyond the conservative approach, take it easy, they can really crank that bad boy up, and believe me, it can hurt and burn. You may not need all that power. Me? I’d rather get one more session tacked on to a series of five, than risk getting unnecessary burns that are due to over-power treatments, but that’s my take.

I don’t mean to prop myself up as an expert about the Comet, but I do want to give you all the knowledge I’ve learned from reading and asking about it. Because that’s what we need here, solid facts to let people make their own decisions.

Mantaray

hi ht2003
i was wondering if there is any update from yourself on your experience with using the comet on your face?

Darn, I should’ve kept one long thread to keep adding my experiences like LAgirl and a few others have done. I guess this thread is as good as any so I’ll update this one.

Skin Type: IV (four)
Hair color: brown-black
Areas done: full legs, feet, abdomen (future: Beard, back)
Prices: Full legs - $299, Abdomen - $150, Feet are now - $50
Intervals: 6 weeks
Hair removal between sessions?: Yes, shaving daily
Skin treatment: only aloe baby oil after shower.
Type shaving razor: Gillette Custom Plus Pivot, dispose of after one use. Pay about $5.85 per ten pack at Wal-Mart.
Shaving Lubricant: SoftSoap brand liquid soap and muff.
Previous hair removal methods: Epilators (Braun 2170 & 3370, Emjoi Gently Gold Caress), blade shaving, electric rotary shaver, Nair, waxing sessions.
Laser type: Syneron Comet - on long pulse setting
Pain levels: Varies with technician. Depends a lot on effective use of cool air machine. I take three extra-strength Tylenols 60 to 90 minutes beforehand. They do help.
Favorite soup: chicken, in a crockpot, with lots of carrots

I just had my fifth Comet treatment. As I mentioned somewhere here beforehand, I now see that a laser setting of 30J/50RF is now what I consider the laser setting region where true gains are made. Laser settings of less than 30 will lead to thinning, but are a lot less effective. Having previously been treated earlier at 20J/40RF, seeing some loss, followed by sessions at 20J/50RF, and seeing more loss. Then, on my fourth session jumping to 26J/50RF and seeing a lot more improved loss. I decided to just deal with more pain and jump to 30J/50RF treatments. Surprisingly, they didn’t hurt much at all.

Doing the treatment this time was a new technician that has lots of experience using many other lasers. Instead of using two individuals; one working the cool air machine and the other the laser, this person did them both with each hand and did it exeptionally well. I also think taking three Extra Strength Tylenols instead of two helped as well, and not backing down during the test firings I would strongly advise. She test fired on a meaty part of the thigh instead of the very sensitive abdomen that almost always makes me cringe. The first test firings always catch people offguard and influence them to get treated at lower levels than what they can tolerate once they get the treatment in progress.

The 30J/50RF trigger pulls felt a lot more penetrating. I could feel the buzz sinking into my skin. It’s almost like I could feel the incineration of follicals going on. My skin was a lot more smoother after this treatment. Although not really a true indicator of effectiveness, it does give an idea of the laser’s increased power and ability to char surface hairs where previous treatments didn’t do that, or did it less. Judging on gut feel, I think I will get better results from this session. The tech kept the cold air at a good pace in front to numb the skin before each zap. The previous tech kept the cold air trailing, or right on the gun. It made a huge difference in the decrease in amount of pain I felt.

This session had it’s token arc. This time on my outer left calf. The mark left? Like a fleabite. Also two faint red streaks about an inch long just below the knee, like a semi-arc. Nothing notable. No lasting general pain or redness.

Overall I’m very happy about the treatments. Getting lasered with the Comet takes a bit of patience. People shouldn’t believe the “Smooth by summer” ads. Just as electrolysis takes resolve to stick with, the Comet requires it’s own brand of patience. The patient will go through steadily decreasing peaks and valleys of hairiness at during the six or eight week treatment intervals. Me, I started getting hairier about a week before this treatment with a new wave of incoming active follicals. That’s usually the case, one or two weeks before the next session. And I think this time I hit them just right in their growth phase. Some sessions will be good hits, and others can miss the highpoint of the incoming growth cycle, but it all comes out even in the end, the reason six treatments is a minimal number for real effective hair loss.

If you’re reading this and have type I to III fair skin with dark, brunette, gray, or blonde hair just be mindful that you will enjoy the laser’s benefit’s as a “Short Pulse” laser (the Comet has short pulse and long pulse settings). That is, by the fourth or fifth treatment, you could be pretty hairless. The Comet’s diode laser is more effective at this pulse setting. If you’re a type IV to VI then be prepared to get more than the six recommend treatments, and to have the unit give hotter, more discomforting, higher strength RF blasts.

With my next, sixth treatment, and all subsequent treatments I’m planning on 40J/50RF/Long pulse settings. This is pretty high for the Comet, and a technician probably wouldn’t start out a new patient at this level. The technicians want to see if your skin can take it without adverse effects, and only move up the power in safe steps. I’ll post again to give feedback on the most recent treatments. Hope this can be of use to some.

Mantaray.

~“Don’t pick at your ingrowns.”~

I now see that a laser setting of 30J/50RF is now what I consider the laser setting region where true gains are made. Laser settings of less than 30 will lead to thinning, but are a lot less effective. Having previously been treated earlier at 20J/40RF, seeing some loss, followed by sessions at 20J/50RF, and seeing more loss.

This is the setting I got treated with on my first Comet treatment. With the lower settings did your hair come back in patchy? I am thinking about doing the forearms for some thinning, but I don’t want them to be patchy.

Doing the treatment this time was a new technician that has lots of experience using many other lasers. Instead of using two individuals; one working the cool air machine and the other the laser, this person did them both with each hand and did it exeptionally well.

Thats exactly how my tech did it too. She kept the Cool Air machine in one hand, and the Comet in the other. She was very good at it, and I had no issues with pain.

The 30J/50RF trigger pulls felt a lot more penetrating. I could feel the buzz sinking into my skin. It’s almost like I could feel the incineration of follicals going on. My skin was a lot more smoother after this treatment.

Yea, same here. I could really feel it in the skin. It didn’t feel like a rubberband snap, but like a deep penetrating buzz.

Also two faint red streaks about an inch long just below the knee, like a semi-arc. Nothing notable. No lasting general pain or redness.

I got those too. Two faint red streaks across my left hand. It cleared in about 8hrs.

You wrote: “With the lower settings did your hair come back in patchy? I am thinking about doing the forearms for some thinning, but I don’t want them to be patchy.”

I’m thinking that’s a tough one to answer. I know somewhere someone posted about diodes (like the Comet) gave a patchy result, but I’m not so sure about that. I think there would have to be a pretty controlled study using various technicians to even make that claim. There’s too many variables to control; the tech, the body area, the pulse, the setting, hormones, hair color, age, gender, clothing on skin. There’s just way too many factors involved for someone to make those claims.

The tech this time used a completely different style than the last tech, and a stronger power. The last tech would stop, zap, stop, zap with a lower power. This tech would slowly glide the laser so it was more spread out and used a higher power. I’m really interested to see what happens this time around.

I can, however, tell you what I see with my results. There were some areas that lost very evenly, and there were some areas that showed streaks of follicals. And those streaks weren’t mirrored on the other leg with identical treatment, so I think it’s a operator issue. With the same power, area, time, patient, and machine …The operator’s technique is the variable.

What I saw were rows of follicals in a perfect line on the outside of my right thigh. Not real pronounced, but present, as if this was an area that went untreated due to the operator not overlapping the tracks. These “streaks” then disappeared. The hairs in them all fell out. So if I’m planning on eight or so sessions, should I worry about these follical streaks? Not really, they’ll be targeted eventually. -But if I’m just after thinning on the arms and will have to live with these? Yes. I would be concerned, and I would really pay attention to track overlap. I would point out any streak to the tech weeks later and let them know it’s not a desired result.

Just remember though, I think it’s way better to go with the laser that works, patchiness or not. GentleLase is tempting for me as well, but it’s an older technology that may not be suitable for your IV skin type. Patchiness is also something that can be temporary. Because only the active growing hairs first surface, and it’s rarely that uniform and even. Eventually other hairs will sprout and balance everything out. Areas on me that were patchy two sessions ago then became very even as time went by. And you can also pluck here and there to do your own evening.

Mantaray

My fear with the facial hair is that I don’t want to do anything that will stimulate growth and fear if I go for a treatment too early, it will cause more hair to grow. The facial hair is so blonde and soft but there was enough of it that it was noticeable.

Thanks for replying to my original questions. It definitely helped to know what my expectations should be.

Going to early will not cause more hair to grow. It can be a waste of money though if there is not enough hair in the growth stage at the next treatment to make it worthwhile.

A laser rep (who sells many different brands) told me that triggered growth is more likely to happen if somebody has just one treatment and doesn’t follow up or waits way to long for the next treatment. He was at my practitioner’s office when I went in for my last treatment.

And undertreatment of course can lead to triggered growth.

RJC2001

RJC2001