Flash lamp failure, will laser work better?

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

Hi everyone,

Couple of years ago I went to a beautician and received 9 treatments of IPL Flash lamp. Unfortunately I cant remember which machine she was using. And after paying like an imbecile for these 9 treatments, I noticed that not only my hair had grown back, but it was even worse then before i treated it!

So now I’m stuck with these even darker, longer and thicker hair arround my bellybutton and my nipple :frowning: i am so ashamed of myself and very unconfortable when … you know…

After reading lots of articles and forums, I am very confused with what I should do. Maybe the problem was the machine the beautician was using, maybe SHE was incompetent, maybe I’m one of the 20% of the patient who doesn’t respond to IPL treatments… I dont know.

But what I do know now, is that I have to get rid of these hair, and also the ones on my arms. This time I dont want to risk ending up with a problem even worse (right now the hair on my arm is thin, but dark and long, but I dont want it to become thicker!!).

Here’s my profile :
I have very dark hair, white skin that tans easily (I can even look like an Indian during the summer, but I never do since I dont get to spend a lot of time outside).
I have never shaved, waxed or pluck my arms hair. And my goal is not necessary to end up with NO HAIR at all. Just fewer, thinner, and shorter hair would satisfy me.

Anyone here had a similar experience with flash lamps (or unexperimented beautician, or a certain brand of machine) that finally managed to get rid of unwanted hair?? Would it be better to try Alexandrite, diode, ND Yag, or simply another brand of IPL ? Is there a way to find out if one of these laser would work BEFORE paying hundreds of dollars and make the problem worse?

Thanks a lot for reading!

#2

Well if you have darker thicker hair than before, that’s good news at least, since laser works best on dark coarse hair. Usually IPL makes the hair finer which makes it hard for a real laser to treat. If you’re light skinned an alexandrite or diode will give way better results than IPL. IPL isn’t the best for hair removal, it’s more for skin treatment. It can be effective if the person knows how to use it properly but still in general, it doesn’t even really compare to a true laser. I had good results I think with the Lumenis One IPL module, but I finished up with alexandrite. Put it this way, if there’s alexandrites, diodes etc available to you, then you have absolutely no reason to do IPL. IPL should be more of a last resort if nothing else is available. There’s no way to test if the laser will work without just doing a test patch but you need many treatments to tell how well it works. We usually suggest starting with a small area like underrms which are usually inexpensive to try out.

#3

The one thing you don’t mention in your post is whether the hair is COARSE and DENSE like on your bikini line and underarms. That’s the only type of hair that will be affected by laser. So this is very important. Generally, the hair on the areas you describe is not generally coarse on most women, or at least not most of it. Can you post photos?

If any of your hair is actually coarse enough for laser, then a Yag laser would be the only one you should use. However, if most of your hair is not coarse enough, you need electrolysis and not laser. Laser on finer hair can induce more growth as you experienced already, and this is especially common on people with darker skin types.

#4

Hey LAGirl why do you say yag if shes light skinned and dark hair? She said she tans easily which is similar to myself but yag only works well on my face where it’s VERY dark and coarse. I’ve had yag on my arms and stomach before and literally had 10% of the hair shed and had to have it all redone with an alex which made it all shed…

#5

If she’s dark enough to look Indian when tanned, then she must have a lot of underlying pigment in her skin. Alex should be tested as well. I’m just not sure decent settings would work on a skin type like hers. Best would be to go to a clinic with both types of lasers, especially if she’s starting treatments in the summer.

#6

Oh okay that makes sense. Actually to add to my above post about the yag, I think it’s just slower to shed since I had treatment with it just 14 days ago which I know I know is too soon to judge, I’m just used to the alex which is usually fully shed by now. I just went upstairs and exfoliated my arms and a lot of hair fell out, so I’d say we’re about 60% shed so I take back what I say lol. Always paranoid with yag that it won’t be as effective. What I do know though is on my face it’s amazing, alex doesn’t even come close to giving me 100% shedding on my upper lip or chin, maybe 10%. With the yag it’s almost all shed.

Either way, if you get that tanned then yag would be good, but like LAGirl said find a clinic that has both like GentleMAX or Apogee Elite. Because for myself for example, in the winter I use the alexandrite, but I’ve been trying so hard to stay out of the sun but they said I’m a bit darker and will only use the yag on me, so at least I have options.

#7

Wow thanks guys for all the replies!

Usually IPL makes the hair finer
But I guess that is impossible to achieve without a minimal risk of making things worse

Put it this way, if there’s alexandrites, diodes etc available to you, then you have absolutely no reason to do IPL.
Price and availability are the only reasons I can think of. For exemple, here in Switzerland, the only clinic offering alexandrite (Gentlelase machine)would charge me 500$ only for the arms; Vs 190$ for IPL (the machine is called Emax from Syneron). And the only 2 clinics I found that offer more than one method both use IPL and Nd Yag : both arround 300$ for the arms.

There’s no way to test if the laser will work without just doing a test patch but you need many treatments to tell how well it works.
And of course since the hair on my arm is really different from the hair arround my bellybutton, then the test would be useless if I were to treat both regions.

The one thing you don’t mention in your post is whether the hair is COARSE and DENSE like on your bikini line and underarms.
Since the IPL treatments I had involved shaving my hair, hair arround my bellybutton and nipples is black and coarse, but there’s few of it (about 20 hair that really bohers me, in each region). While the hair on my arm is definately not coarse like the hair I shaved, but more dense, still dark, and “long”, but fine (atleast compared to a man’s arms)

If she’s dark enough to look Indian when tanned, then she must have a lot of underlying pigment in her skin.
That’s really interesting… I thought the only thing that mattered about the skin was the actual color (I mean the visible color). I never thought the underlying pigment had a role in the type of skin.

However, if most of your hair is not coarse enough, you need electrolysis and not laser. Laser on finer hair can induce more growth as you experienced already, and this is especially common on people with darker skin types.

This is probably the best advise I ever got.
I’m a complicated case since electrolysis could easily be done for the 2 small areas (where unfortunately the hair is coarse enough for laser) but would take forever on the arms (where the laser could be useless!).

I’m sure the neutral and logical advise is to forget about my arms and use electrolysis for the 2 small regions - and considering this makes sens - but my arms … I was really hoping to get rid of that summer hair complex… but I can’t resolve to end up with a problem even worse…

Damn stupid hair! I should have been born a man!!

#8

Oh and one more thing…

If they ever invent a type of laser that does not require the patient to SHAVE before each treatment, well I’ll do it! Nomatter what it would cost, I’d be there!!!

#9

I don’t think there will ever be that type of laser! Laser works by firing light energy into the hair, the hair absorbs it and kills the root. If you don’t shave, all the laser energy goes into the hair above the surface and doesn’t even make it to the root. I don’t mind shaving before though, except my legs because the hair is growing back while I wait for it to shed and it’s driving me insane at work!

#10

Shaving doesn’t make the hair worse. That’s an old urban legend and has been scientifically proven inaccurate more times than should be necessary.

But electrolysis is NOT just for small areas. I am using electrolysis on my arm and it’s been about 35 hours. I suspect I will be done in another 10. So 45 hours total. At $60 per hour that’s $2700 for 100% removal. I am doing my own electrolysis, so I am sure a professional would be much faster than that (so the cost may be cut in half). That’s very similar to what you might pay with laser, actually. Granted, I’m only doing one arm (the other will be lasered as an experiment).

Lots of people who go to the electrolysis company I go to for pro work get their arms or legs done. Very large areas. It’s boring to have to sit still for an hour or two at a time, but otherwise, it’s totally doable.

#11

I will reiterate the point made about electrolysis. Electrolysis IS NOT only for small areas!!! Modern electrologists work to affect hair permanently and speedily. You need to find an electrologist that “gets it” and has updated her/his tools and skills. I’m sure there are some choices in Switerland. We are talking about pinpoint precision permanent hair REMOVAL - not scattered reduction.

Always remember that electrolysis is for everybody - matters none what the skin color is or what the hair color and structure is - it simply works. What is not simple is getting all electrologists on board doing the same thing using equipment and techniques that work well.

Dee

#12

Was just going to say that’s a great point Dee. Even if people generally think of electrolysis on larger areas as being time consuming, at least it’s 100% going to work and be permanent vs laser being a bit more risky. Would be worse if you spent all those hours doing it just to find out it didn’t work or something, so at least there is a light at the end of the tunnel!

#13

For 20 hairs or so, you shouldn’t even be considering laser at all. That’s a 5 minute electrolysis treatment. And it won’t expose your nearby skin with no hair to induced growth from laser.

You can definitely do electrolysis on your arms. A good electrologist with a good machine using thermolysis method removes 5-10 hairs per minute easily. It’s not as difficult as you may think.

And to reiterate what is said above, shaving DOES NOT do anything to the hair. It’s not any different than trimming the hair. Anything that cuts the hair above the skin doesn’t change the structure of the hair. It’s an old wive’s tale. You can shave without worries all you want.