Hi, I’m male, 25 years old.
i had some hormonal imbalance as a result of a dubious “natural” medicine, and currently treating the hair with laser, to get it back to a good state.
my question is about facial hair, in the cheeks and the neck - I have dark brown and thick hair, so the laser should probably do a good job across the body (in the upper back, where I have very thin hair I’m doing electrolysis), but is there any danger or disadavantages to doing laser treatments in the neck and face area? I’m looking for hair reduction (mostly making it thinner, and soften the look a bit), and not removal, and there are a lot of (thick) hair there, so I think it will be a better option than electrolysis, but would like to here some thoughts on the matter.
added a pic. the resolution is not so good but hopefully you can it will be enough to understand and estimate the situation. all the hair grew more coarse, but the neck is the obvious problem here.
qwerty Attachments
Laser cannot “thin” facial hair growth, and is likely to leave a patchy looking result.I would change to electrolysis.
Hi
thanks for the quick replay 
I thought that the laser process usually makes the hair thinner first, before removing it. is it different on facial hair because hormonal reasons? (or the technology just lacks the precision to have good results, which are more important in these areas) and can electrolysis make the hair thinner and not just remove it?
Guy1,
Can you clarify what do you want?
- The same amount of hair but thinner.
- The same thickness of the hair but less amount per unit surface.
Don’t have a clear answer for tha because it’s a combination of those things. I want to soften the look a bit, because it got a bit rough as a result of the changes in the hair, a look not so appealing to my face.
I would like to “thin” the hair in the neck and the face (the whole facial hair), as the thick and coarse hair is itchy and uncomfortable. It also prevents me from growing a beard as I have to cut it often to feel more comfortable. and the thick hair in my face doesn’t make for a beard or even a flattering stubble.
but in the neck area mostly I also feel the need to have less amount of hair, and you I guess you can see in the picture the excessive amount of hair there, and why it might bother someone.
I really doubt your hair is due to anything you have done. Men develop more hair as they age and from what I know the early twenties is a period where many see a lot of hair coming in on the body.
My opinion - do not go for Laser. If it does work, the result will be patchy and horrible. You need a skilled electrologist to completely remove hairs in the area where you want to be smooth (i.e. lower neck, upper cheeks) and thin the rest for a natural look. This means they will select certain hairs to remove so the beard looks less dense but still natural.
Laser is completely unpredictable. The aim is to damage follicles so that they cannot produce hairs again. When the ‘damage’ is not sufficient the follicle will either continue producing a normal hair, or sometimes the follicle can be weakened so the resulting hair will be thinner. There is no way to aim for a certain result with Laser.
Another word of caution, Laser seems to have a very weird effect on the follicles in my experience and those close to me. The hairs that remain once you have stopped treatments seem to grow verrrrry long if left alone. Pre-Laser my thing hairs would grow to a maximum of 0.5 inches if left alone, before natural shedding. Now the ones left can grow well over an inch unless I shave them before that.
I agree with stoppit&tidyup
The goal of electrolysis and laser is to KILL the hair not to thin it. Your only option is to thin the AREA.This could be done only by skilled electrologist.He/She can remove selectively the thicker hair and to make your beard looks natural.
Erg, that was supposed to be ‘my thigh hairs’.
If you don’t expect or want total hair removal on the face then laser might not be a total waste of time. Electrolysis is gold standard as there is more control and predictability in outcomes but is an expensive process.
What I suggest is you do your research well before you commit. If you can find good electrologists and it’s affordable to you then go that route. It’s less of a gamble in terms of results.
Issue with laser is even if you use best lasers like Alexandrite or ND:Yag, patchiness especially around the chin and lip areas is not rare and results might look uneven in growth. You will have to commit to a lot of sessions to see some results. I think men’s neck areas do respond better to laser than chin.
There really isnt any way to reduce the diameer of hair through any method.If you want to thin out the hair, as in reduce the number of hair growing on your face, then electrolysis is definitely the way to go here. I can tell you this having had 12 sessions of laser myself, which left a patchy result and most hair regrew over time.
Whether laser or electrolysis , hairs can reduce diameter temporarily if the energy thaat reached the dermal papillae is insufficient, but sufficient to cause some damage. Over time however that damage is repaired by the body , and often the dermal papillae ir repaired with more blood supplying capillaries.
TL:DR : Thin ( as in quantity/hair density) , and the nbest tool, is yes electrolysis ( just like I said the first time !) . The electrologist can pick and choose the individual hairs to destroy, versus a laser which works over a 1 inch by one inch area on you face.
Thanks everyone,
I still decided to do the planned laser, but only on the lower neck (paid upfront for a lot of treatments, and decided to switch to electrolysis in the upper back so it’s practically free). I want the hair there totally removed, and because it is very thick and dense, I think maybe one or two laser treatment will help, but other than that, in the chin or the cheeks or all the other face area, I will do electrolysis.