I just joined this forum and this is my first post. I must say I have found a lot of very good and well stated information.
I have decided to get laser hair removal after having waxed for years. Don’t know if for my question it is relevent but I am a Type III. I am planning on doing everything from the neck down though haven’t decided how much of a brazilian to do. Sort of leaving that up to my wife. So far the only thing I am concerned about is related to the same reason I went to waxing versus shaving; hair regrowth in the areas were the Sun don’t shine and the belt line was very painful. I can only describe it as being like rubbing a really, really nasty sunburn or like hundreds of needles were poking me nonstop. Maybe I just used the wrong shaving techinique for those parts of my body, don’t know, but waxing certainly took care of that.
Here is the question. I understand that prior to a laser treatment I am going to have to shave. Am I going to experience the same hair regrowth pain prior to the hair actually falling out? That would be nasty.
You are correct in the fact that the hair that has been lasered does appear to grow after treatment, however the hair that grows above the skins surface is not like shaved hair, or at least in most peoples experience. The lasered hair is considerably damaged and is much weaker and not as stubborn, lasered hair that is successfully treated also regrows considerably slower as well.
Yes, it’s not the most comfortable feeling in the world but for the sake of 2-4 weeks of discomfort whilst the shedding process begins and is taking place, there is then around 4 weeks of pure smooth bliss before you have to shave again to prepare for your next treatment.
Perosnally, as long as the hair in the areas you want lasered have the correct thickness and colour, I wouldn’t let the idea of shaving put you off getting the hair permanently removed via Laser. I certainly would advbise against getting waxed during laser treatments as this removes the follicle, affects regrowth and generally interferes with the laser being able to attack the hair altogether.
If you don’t mind me asking…
What colour is the hair you want lasered? (as in, does it differ in colour and thickness on certain parts of the body)
And what lasers do the clinics in your area offer?
Thanks Benji. Considering it is more about the ultimate goal than the trip I may just have to deal with the minor obstacles.
I am dark haired, light skinned, though darker skinned on my inner bottom. I would say the hair is certainly more on the course side than thin. I ended up researching 3 providers; 1 IPL, 1 Alexendrite and 1 Diode. At this point I am leaning towards the provider with the diode (Lightsheer).
The Diode Lightsheer is a good laser, however Alexanderlite is as well. If your relativley light skinned with dark hair the Alexanderlite works very well, as the makeup of the Laser is designed to target pigment (therefore pale skin and dark hair work perfectly). Although thats not to say that the Diode wouldn’t do a good job as well.
IPL’s on the other hand do not always yield the best results and certain models are infamous for Laser waxing, rather than permanent or at least long term hair removal (bearing in mind that the FDA term ‘permanent’ as long than 3 months).
A good idea is to get a test patch with the pracitioners that youv’e short listed and have a look to see how the hair reacts to each laser, as well as getting a general feel about the clinic and where you feel most comfortable. It also gives you time to chat to them about settings e.g. Joules, Pulse the model of the laser etc.
alex is the best type of laser, followed by diode for you. both will work well given a good clinic and operator. run a search here for your location to see past recommendations. you will be happy you did this. hair starts falling out after 1.5 weeks or so. be aware that it will work best on coarse hair and you have to make sure they’re using high enough settings.
I tried the search and got mixed searching results. I was searching for NYC but did not get any matches for a 1 year range. I searched for “New York” and got a nummber of matches, some of which contained “NYC”. Maybe the search engine does not deal with less than N number of letters.
Of the 3 places I have talked to, all of the technicians seemed very knowledgeable and competent.
For the Alex facility, they also have a Yag, they seem to be bit pricier, have a much nicer facitily and are talking about treatments at 6 week intervals. I was told they would end up using both types of lasers on me. They did a test on my shin and though it was a bit painful, she said that she used that area because it is the most sensitive and I would have a pretty good idea of what to expect. The package deal is for 6 sessions with reduced pricing for additional. The fact that I am still pretty tan in some areas did not effect which body parts to do or when to start them. This was also the only technician that wanted to check each area to she what she was dealing with. That seemed very sensible to me. As my back and chest are not all that hairy she quoted me reduced rates for those. After a few days the test area is fine and smooth. Also this is R&J and they certainly have a known reputation.
The diode facility, while not nearly as nice, was talking about up to 12 week intervals. She felt it was more effective in the long run to wait longer. She said when the hair is too thin the laser does not very well so the longer wait would be better. From my limited knowledge of hair growth patterns and that seems to make more sense. Once nice aspect here is their package is for 3 years. Whatever number of sessions was needed over that time was included, though she said 6-8 would probably work for me. She would start with the non-tanned areas now, if I wanted, and then do the tanned areas in early November. I was tested in two areas. After a few days, the folicle area is still a bit red but no discomfort. I was not able to find any good or bad published information/reviews on this facility though they have been around for a while.
What is interesting about all this is the decision making process. There is no 1 for 1 comparison and what you don’t really know is how effective is any one technician with their particular equipment given your specific body. Given my knowledge so far it seems to boil down to a decision based on comfort level.
It sounds like both would be a good choice. Is the second one Laser Nurse? If so, there are previous discussions about her here; she uses LightSheer. You will be able to judge spacing for treatments yourself and come in when there is enough hair, so you won’t stick to 6 week intervals anyway. Chris, RJ’s owner posts on these forums once in a while btw.
and yes, he search feature doesn’t do under 3-4 characters or so.