Does Yag actually produce permanent results?

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

Hey everyone,

Does anyone have any experience or know if Yag actually does produce permanent results? Reason I ask is, I’m skin type 3, I tan easily and went on a trip a month ago to Mexico where I was super careful not to get dark but of course did tan a little. I went for a treatment last week for a few areas and when doing my underarms at first, the first few blasts hurt like hell. She then told me she was trying the Yag module on the Apogee Elite since I was a bit dark, but she then switched back to the alex. Which was good. She then did my full face and I found it felt pretty much normal, but then after she said she used the Yag on my face since I was a bit tanned. Kinda sucked because I only want to be treated with alex and I’m not that dark that I need a yag, I would have rather not had treatment. Either way my face looked and felt the same way after, so so far it feels identical to the alex. She told me it would be the same and just as effective since it’s just dark coarse hair on my face.

My concern though is after reading about Yag’s it seems like everywhere says they haven’t done enough studies to show if it produces permanent results. What concerns me too is Wikipedia “Nd:YAG laser: 1064 nm (Near-Infrared) (for darker skin; Yag is capable of treating all six skin colors. However, there is not sufficient evidence that this laser can produce effective long-term hair removal)”

So I sort of feel like I just got ripped off in a way. I know she wasn’t trying to rip me off or anything, she was just trying to do what’s best for my skin and not to burn me or anything and she said Yag is just as good but should I be concerned that I just had a useless treatment?

Edit: One interesting thing I found was that the alex feels more like a burst of heat snapping on your skin, but the Yag felt more like the opposite, almost like someone using tweezers and pulling out a bunch of hair quickly with each shot. On my face both hurt just as much (a lot, but I had numbing cream to help but as anyone knows face is brutal!).

#2

I came across the same thing on wikipedia when I was doing my research, and that worried me as well. However, I think part of the reason for that comment is because the yag hasn’t been on the market as long as the alex so they haven’t had sufficient time to judge its effects within the parameters of a scientific study.

It was pretty crappy of the clinic to not tell you they were using the yag laser on you until after the treatment was finished. Maybe you can ask them for a free session to make up for it? It will be interesting to see how your results after this treatment compare to the alex though (yay for being an unwitting guinea pig, right?)

#3

Oh I know, I’m a huge guinea pig there though, any time she’s like oh we could try this setting or that, or we could increase the settings here but I’ve never done that before, I’m always like sure let’s go for it haha. I’ll see how my results are, if I don’t get shedding I’ll definitely go back. I don’t think she was trying to scam me or anything though, they only use Apogee Elite so they can treat all skin types and she just used Yag because I was slightly tanned. I was more concerned by that wikieda thing!

#4

I didn’t read your whole entry yet but I have been treated with a YAG. The only place it’s been long enough (a year) to comment, is my underarms. I’m still hair free (apart from the super fine few hairs left).

#5

Maybe they need to make a machine that combines Alex, Diode and Yag together. I personally think that the gap between Alex and Yag is too big to jump between them. Alex is best for type 1-2 and Yag is best for type 5-6 so if you are a 3 and get a bit tanned to temp 4 then you are kinda stuck in the middle.

#6

I find that a lot of clinics use Yag as their only machine. I’m normally a low skin type 3, after sun a higher type 3 which is probably what I’m at now. If I didn’t wear sunscreen and went on a trip I’d be type 4 most likely. The thing is we did alex on my underarms, stomach etc, just yag on the face which is what I thought was odd, but oh well we’ll see!

#7

My clinic uses an Apogee Elite (YAG and Alex). I’m type IV and have had great results with the YAG. I can also say bikini treatment has given me permanency as my last treatment was 6 months ago and it’s still clear.

They recently got a Lightsheer too.

#8

Awesome that’s great, mine uses Apogee Elite as well I love that machine. I guess if Yag does work then the benefit is that I can continue doing facial treatments over the summer even if I tan a little where as before I thought I’d have to stop doing laser for a few months since last summer I didn’t tan at all. This summer I refuse to and I’m putting laser on hold to enjoy the sun. I guess the one positive for me as well is that Yag is better on just coarse hair where as its not as good on finer hair that an alex can hit, but on my face it’s all pretty much the same type all coarse.

#9

Yes, the Yag produces permanent results just like alex and diode. It just penetrates deeper. It works just as well on coarse hair as alex and diode. It’s all about the tech and settings. I would rather get treatments with a Yag by a clinic who knows how to use it than with an alex or a diode by a clinic who doesn’t know how to use those.

#10

That’s really interesting, thanks LAGirl. I was getting worried because when I went a few days ago I did abdomen to my hair line, underarms and face. My abdomen I shaved the hair line lower to have a really low hair line. When she started, she did a couple rows there with the yag then switched to Alex for my abdomen and underarms, then Yag on my face. This was a few days ago but I’m noticing that on my hair line where we did the yag, the hair is growing back fast, the same as if it was shaved then just growing. Same with on my face, it seems like I didn’t even have treatment. I know it usually looks like it’s growing back, but usually it seems to be slower and just looks different, where this looks like nothing happened at all. I know it’s only 3 days so we’ll see, but if Yag goes deeper like you said then on my face it will probably give me better results since my chin hair refuses to shed, I think just because chin hairs are so deep compared to the rest. Will keep everyone posted!

#11

Here’s one of the few studies I’ve found on Yags. This one had a really small sample size (20 women), but the results and photos six months after just three Yag treatments looked pretty encouraging :slight_smile:

#12

Prior to electrolysis and after 10 sessions of IPL (ellipse) i had on session of YAG on fully evolved facial hair. There was almost no effect. Ok, type 2 skin and medium to dark blond hair…

Beate

#13

I guess we’ll find out in a week or so, nothing like taking one for the team! One thing I do know though is that on my face it’s still sore a few days later, similar to alex but I think maybe even a touch longer. Difference though is I find alex messes your face up a bit like you feel like your on accutane or something. You’re slightly swolen, not dark or anything just your skin and face looks and feels rough like as if you maybe had bad acne at one point or something. Either way, if it all comes down to how experienced your tech is, I love mine and if I had to experiment with a Yag with anyone it would definitely be with her.

Just a quick update, treatment was just over 48 hours ago, and pulling on my facial hair 2 hairs slid out on my chin, which was the hardest area to treat with the alex, it would hardly ever shed. Normally shedding wouldn’t even start for 7 days after treatment and it’s been 3 so kind of interesting. Most are firmly rooted though but usually I don’t get even a single hair falling out until day 7 with it really shedding around 10 and up.

#14

beate_r - YAG is not meant for type II skin and that kind of hair. I do not know why you are being treated with it.

#15

beate - laser doesn’t work on hair that’s not both DARK and COARSE. It seems that you didn’t have this combination. It’s not the laser. It shouldn’t have been treated with any machine in the first place.

#16

Maybe. Or maybe using chromophores. My hair has probably been near the limit of what is accessible with photoepilation.

Anyway, although the 10 sessions of IPL prior to the YAG have lead to a significant regrowth, mostly as white hair, the money i spent was not lost: sometimes a reduction of hair growth over several months is already a great win.

According to a few studies, the YAG is inferior to most other methods of photoepilation to to its comaratively small contrast of the absorbtion coeffecients of melanin and the surrounding.

Anyway, i am aware, that 90% is the skill of the operator… and that is the biggest problem with photoepilation here in Germany.

Beate

#17

Beat_r - You could get Chris from Romeo & Juliette to treat you with a Gentlelase and it still won’t change the fact that you can’t get your blonde and white hairs permanently removed via laser. This has nothing to do with operator skill or the effectiveness of lasers. It has to do with you not being a candidate for laser hair removal.

I’ve had one treatment with a Gentleyag, which I’m a good candidate for (darker skin & coarse hair), at 18mm and 8J and had no shedding. I could run around to every forum on Earth screaming about how the laser industry is a giant hoax. Or I could realize I was undertreated and try again. Six weeks after one effective yag treatment and I have a huge reduction from where I started. I’ll keep you all posted on how permanent it turns out to be :wink:

#18

I had one yag treatment done on my face with a Sciton laser, and the hair that it removed so far has been permanent for the last 2 months.

#19

Beate, it has nothing to do with the machine if the hair being treated is not right for laser. The clinics will tell you anything you want to hear to get you to pay them money. That doesn’t mean anything. Yag is as effective on coarse hair as any other good laser, AT GOOD SETTINGS. A good laser operator simply won’t take your money when they see hair that’s not coarse or dark enough. We need more clinics like that. Unfortunately, that’s still not the case, even in the US.

How much white hair did you see? There is a good chance that hair was always there mixed in with the rest of the hair, but only noticeable once the other hair was reduced.

Most studies are funded by a laser manufacturer, so they’re not unbiased. They also rarely take into account settings.

Did you see all treated hair shed after each treatment? That’s at least one indicated that the hair was affected. Though, it can be affected and not disabled permanently if settings are not high enough to heat up the follicle to disable it for good. That’s why we recommend treating at highest settings your skin can handle safely. Also, IPLs often fall into the category of not disabling the hair permanently, but just damaging it temporarily.

#20

LAGirl I have a question though with Yag as you said it can be better. I’m skin type 3 average, if I see any sun then I get darker so I try to avoid it while doing laser. Months ago I went to do my forearms and my tech thought I looked a little tanned. She did about 10 pulses on my elbow then told me she was trying the Yag on me. I found it hurt more also, but she said my skin/hair had no reaction. She then showed me the same spot on my other arm with the alex, and when she’d fire the laser, you’d see almost a spark as the hair was poofed away. Any slight stubble would literally puff away and burn off, but with the Yag there was no reaction on the hair it didn’t do anything, that’s why she said Yag wasn’t good for me and continued to use Alex.

When I went a week ago, as I mentioned the first few rows on my lower abdomen/hair line were with yag. She pointed out how this time the hairs were poofing away which is good. That was almost a week ago but the hair is long there again almost like I shaved and didn’t treat it at all. Again I’m not judging yet since it’s way too soon but just confused why if Yag is better, why it didn’t have an effect on my arm? Or were you referring to it being better for people in skin type 3 that can handle it or an alex?