I just had my first laser treatment today after having had several IPL treatments in the past. The laser was a Lumenis Light Sheer Diode Laser but unfortunately I had to stop treatment halfway due to feelig ill.
I have had several treatment in the past with IPL but never a laser before, I found the IPL pain very tolerable but the Light Sheer Diode Laser was excruciating like 3 times worse than the IPL, I was in so much pain after the first few zaps on my slightly sun tanned arm. My skin is an olive complexion type 3 - 4, and the operator treated my arm with 20 j/cm at the start but when I couldnt handle the pain she dropped it down to 16 j/cm.
Is this reduction likely to give me poor results? and is the amount of pain I experience directly related to my skin burning because of the laser?? If i was absoloutly sure that the excruciating pain which was 10 out of 10 wasnt actually burning my skin then maybe I could just put up with it but in my experience the higher the pain the worse the burns and scabing have been in the case of the IPL in the past, is it the same with the laser?
The reason why I stopped treatment halfway today was beacuse I started to have severe muscle spasms and twitching during my treatment, I have a rare neurological disorder that distrupts my body temperature. Certain areas on my body get really cold and other areas like my face overheat and the imbalance causes complications. The treated areas were feeling really hot and and I was starting to feel cold and shivering and this sent me into some weird shock type spasm. I even started to question my safety. I know this is a tough case to eveluate but when I go back tommorrow I will feel aprehensive about the rest of the treatment incase I have another epidose like this.
This doesn’t really depend on the laser type or whether it’s an IPL. It should hurt regardless, especially if the hair is very dense and coarse (worst on this type of hair). You should not be burned though. If your skin is getting burned (especially at these low settings), you need to go down to a Yag laser instead. Also, you shouldn’t be treating tanned skin. If your skin is tanned, you become much darker than a type III or IV. Laser should be done on untanned skin.
You were not burned unless it looks like you were (still red? scabbing? etc). You didn’t mention this.
You may want to consider using a numbing cream next time, and a Yag laser because effective treatments do hurt.
Yesterdays treatments on my right arm felt and looked a lot better this morning when I woke. I went in for my second treatment for my left arm today and things went horrible. My arm hasnt stopped burning since I got home 5 hours ago. Ive never had this much pain last this long from treatments before. My left arm is very red and I can feel heat radiating out from it.
I have been constantly washing it with cold water and putting ice on it but the pain wont go away and my skin feels really hot to touch. Im really hoping this isnt going to cause complications like scars. I told the operator to take care with the settings cause of my tan yet it seems she failed to do so. Worst case scenario if iI end up with scars from this will they dissapear eventually?
They shouldn’t be treating you if you’re tanned. There is no point of treating at low settings to avoid burning as it won’t kill the hair.
It sounds like you may have been burned this time. You should go back to the clinic and ask to see their doctor. Or see your dermatologist. If it’s bad, they can prescribe a cream. These things are rarely permanent, but you should take care of it as you would of any burn.
Please wait until your tan completely fades before having any more treatments. Also, you may want to find a clinic with a Yag laser just in case.