GentleYag Settings-Help please!

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

Skin type IV/V. Dark coarse hair on legs.

Ok, so I’ve been reading about GentleYag and other Yag lasers’ settings and getting very confused!

I have 2 places to go to. Place ‘A’ has a CoolGlide with 10mm spot size. They would treat me at 45J and 20ms.

Place ‘B’ has 2 lasers- GentleYag and LaserScope by Lyra. They want to use Laserscope on me with the 10mm spot size. Settings, I’ll know this Saturday and inform you. I want them to use GentleYag and I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to convince them to use GentleYag on me.

Now, GentleYag has variable spot sizes(8, 10, 12, 15, 18)

I’m not sure which one I should ask them to use. Considering my skin type(taking type V to be on the safer side) and treatment guidelines by Candela(link:http://www.scribd.com/doc/408850/Yag-Protocol) , I would not be able to go higher than 30J on a 12/15mm spot size and 20J on a 18mm spot size. And I highly doubt if they would use the highest settings right from the beginning!

sslhr has said quite a few times on cosmeticenhancementsforums.com that anything less than 30J is ineffective on a YAG, irrespective of the spot size. (http://www.cosmeticenhancementsforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5211
http://www.cosmeticenhancementsforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4976
http://www.cosmeticenhancementsforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4901)

Now, stoppit&tidyup(skin type IV, similar hair on legs) seems to have great results with Apogee Elite(YAG side)- with 12mm spot size, 30-40J, 15-20ms PW. (Hoping I can compare her settings to mine as the wavelength is the same and I can get treated at 12mm on GentleYag, though it is a different laser)

“On the Gentleyag, 18 mm is not necessary, as it is going too deep and penetrating way below what is necessary for hair removal on darker skin complexions. My suggestion ( just a suggestion ) may be 30 joules, 15 spot size with 10 msc pulse width ( instead of 3 msec ). Less painful, more effective.”-detigiwa. I guess it’s Chris from R&J.(link:http://www.cosmeticenhancementsforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4901)

So what laser should I opt for? What spot size? And what settings?

Pictures:

Explore mumbaigirl

Explore mumbaigirl

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

#2

  • Largest spot size is best, so 18mm

  • Max on 18mm is 30J. Pulse width is not fixed on this machine, so they can set it anywhere between 3ms and 100ms. The lower, the better.

  • Basically, use GentleYAG and have them test the highest joules and lowest pulse you can handle on 18mm

  • sslhr was talking about other Yags which typically have 12mm or smaller spot sizes. For larger spot size, lower joules than 30J are fine.

#3

Thanks for the reply.

Quoting sslhr "Now as to the GentleYag. Max on a 18 mm is 30 joules, but this is a function of the machine power and pretty low. We never use an 18 mm spot on a yag, except perhaps for a man’s beard due to density. Max with the 15 mm spot is 44 joules. I personally believe that 20 joules on a YAG is almost worthless. We actually have treated people with multiple treatments at 20 joules on a yag in an effort to promote collagen build up and have seen no hair removal effect. And the same goes for 24 joules.

But that is not to say that there aren’t centers that use those settings."

http://www.cosmeticenhancementsforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5211

#4

mumbaigirl - I don’t know much about spot sizes.

For my sister’s legs they used 18mm 22J and 40ms. The first treatment had huge missed patches, so lots of areas that didn’t shed. She went for a “touch-up” (read: free full treatment) at week 3-4. She got shedding. She had that one appointment in July 2011 and we decided we did not want to go back to that clinic. Now, 7 months on, her legs look no different from prior to treatment. I know people will say ‘all the hair cycles’ etc but as you know I was done in 3 and there WAS a noted difference 3 months after my first treatment (I had long spacings between). Additionally, we made sure she had an almost full growth of anagen hairs at this appointment by waxing about 3 months previously.

She’s decided she would rather have electrolysis, although we are considering one treatment back at my old clinic. Okay, they might use 12mm and 30-35J but you know, it seemed to work for me and my sister’s leg hair is extremely coarse.

#5

Hi mumbaigirl, I just thought I’d chip in and say that I’m a type IV male, and I actually just had a GentleYAG treatment 3 days ago on my neck, shoulders and back where I have dark, coarse hair. The settings were 18mm 10ms 22j on back and shoulders, and 20j on neck where the hair is a little more dense/coarse.

I know I won’t be able to give you any immediate input on this, I need to wait 3 weeks or so, but the treatment was quite painful for me and I had a big reaction on my skin with redness and swelling around follicles.

Now, I don’t know if it would be better to do something like 15mm 10ms 30j like Chris apparently mentioned, but there was another poster on here who was type IV/V and said she had great results on her bikini area with 18mm 10ms 18j. In any case, I can update you and the forum on how shedding goes after 3 weeks.

#6

@stoppit&tidyup: Is the hair at least finer?

Yes, I think treatments at 10mm or 12mm spot size with higher joules might work for her. What’s her skin type?

I’m thinking of 10mm spot size for treatments on legs. Can you do one thing? Ask her electrologist to find out the depth of her leg hair by treating few of them. You can then choose the spot size according to the depth of the hair. Umm…makes sense?

#7

@androby: That would be great! Please do keep us updated. Do you remember the id of the person whom you mention? I’d love to go through her posts. Thank you.

#8

No, there is absolutely no change. There hair is as coarse and as dense as before.

She is type IV, more tan than me. In MAC foundation she’s an NC40.

No electrolysis until September I’m afraid. If we do more Laser, it will be with the 12mm because everyone who has been to that clinic (I referred a few of my friends and cousin) has responded. My friend was also ‘done’ in 3 treatments (she is the same skin tone as my sister and waxed about 3 months before her first treatment). Same situation as me where the thighs have more hair remaining than the lower legs. She decided to stop rather than spend more money trying to remove it as it seems too fine.

#9

Sure, I don’t think she’s posted here in a while but it’s “KLT55”.

#10

@stoppit&tidyup: Was the treatment painful?

@androby: Thank you! :slight_smile:

#11

Yes it was but not painful enough compared to the 12mm treatments she had at my old clinc, on different body areas. We did think 22J was too low anyway. Which seems to agree with Chris’ comment that anything less than 30J may be useless…

I really don’t think there is anything wrong being treated at 12 or 15mm if the rest of the settings are aggressive.

#12

stoppit&tidyup, I think the treatments your sister got were on the MPX, not the GentleYAG, is that correct? Also, is it possible that the ineffectiveness of her treatments had to do with the pulse width being at 40ms? That seems a bit high. You mentioned that 12mm and 30-35j seemed to work for you, but what was the pulse width? Was that also on the MPX?

“I really don’t think there is anything wrong being treated at 12 or 15mm if the rest of the settings are aggressive.” I would agree with that, but I’d still be curious to hear what LAgirl has to say because she is always saying that largest spot size is best.

#13

Mumbai girl.

You can do Gentleyag or Gentlemax or GentlemaxPRO on the YAG side. Based on your pictures you can try 18 spot, 3-5 ms , 22-24 Joules for lower legs and perhaps
15 spot , 5 msc 24-28 joules on upper legs.

For all who are posting, please note that it is not just energies that count but pulse width as well. It is the RIGHT COMBINATION of both that gives optimum results.

I am not eager to discuss energies, spot sizes, etc in a public forum. every person is different. My suggestion is to find a center that is experienced and knows what they are doing.