"gliding technique" with LightSheer

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

Looking for a bit of feed-back on this method of using the LightSheer.
I am having my upper legs treated and have only had one treatment so far - and am not so sure that I am happy. It has been 3 weeks and only about 20% of the hair has shed… I don’t think this is a good sign?
I paid $500 for upper legs and touch ups to my previously treated bikini and lower legs. The price is fair if it works - but if it doesn’t…
I was not aware that they would be using this technique as I didn’t realize it was ever done with a diode laser. They use a huge pile of ultra-sound gel to glide the laser over the surface and from reading some previous posts - she did use some compression, but I’m not sure how much would be necessary.
I did have some highly-ineffective IPL treatments on my upper legs where they did this, so this makes me very suspicious.

On my lower legs, the previous clinic I went to used a grid technique and surged the laser (not sure of the correct terminology) on each square of the grid they stamped on my legs. This was highly effective.
The reason I didn’t return to this clinic was cost… they wanted $550 per treatment for upper-legs and only gave a 20% discount to re-treat any new growth on previously treated areas (my lower legs).
Why would a technician/clinic choose to use the gliding method? I don’t find it any faster - she spent 2 hours doing my upper legs and touching up my bikini line and lower legs (the hair is VERY sparse/spotty on the previously treated areas - maybe 5-15%)
Any advice for my next treatment or should I just go elsewhere and cut my loss?

#2

Do you have coarse black hair on your upper legs?
Also, if you did IPL there before, it’s likely that hair got finer and now is even more untreatable than it was before.

#3

I have some coarse dark-brown hair and yes, some of the hair became finer and lighter with the IPL (actually it was a Soprano - so not sure if that is an IPL). I think the machine caused more fine hair growth ( I see this being discussed on these boards now).
Interestingly though, the hairs that aren’t shedding with this current LightSheer treatment are the coarse ones!
I have hard stubble on my thighs and when a try and pull out a few of the individual hairs, they don’t release.

#4

Soprano is a diode.

#5

Can you post some photos? Most women’s upper leg hair is not coarse enough for laser, or at least the majority of it.

For good LightSheer treatments, up and down method and compression should be used. If they’re gliding, compression and proper overlapping are very important.

Do you know the settings used? What’s your skin type?

#6

Thanks LAgirl…
I didn’t take before pictures and now I will have to wait for the hair to more fully grow back before I do.

I have some coarse dark hair, some dark medium hair and a bunch of blonde (medium and fine). I am not looking to get perfectly hair-free smooth skin… I just hate a stubble feeling on my upper legs a few days after I shave.

I found after having my lower legs treated 4 years ago, even though I have had 10-15% new growth, I only need to shave maybe once a month and when the hair grows back it doesn’t feel stubbly (probably because it is sparse). I am very happy with this result, sure beats the 5 o’clock shadaow I used to get on my lower legs 12 hours after shaving! They felt like sandpaper. Yuck.

I made an executive decision today and decided to go with the clinic that is currently doing the electrolysis on my upper lip.
They have an ancient GentleLase Plus, but from what I’ve read it sounds like this laser will have the best chance of removing the bulk of my hair. They said they use a smaller spot size when the hair is less coarse… does this make sense? Should I insist on 18mm or do you think 15mm would be the correct setting?
I am a type 2 skin and I will link to pictures once the hair grows back a bit. My appointment isn’t until July 22nd as I wanted to wait at least 7 weeks after my LightSheer treatment.
I appreciate your feed back.
E

#7

It’s a good idea to wait at least 8 weeks or so from your last treatment.

Some professionals think that using a smaller spot size helps target finer hair better. Some believe the largest spot size is most important. There is no true agreement. We generally recommend largest spot size of 18mm and highest joules you can handle without burning. Max on 18mm is 20J. On 15mm, max is 30J because the impact of the joules decreases when you decrease the spot size. So if they do that, make sure they’re compensating for it by upping the joules.

I would still expect good results only on the very coarse hair. Some of the medium hair may become finer and more sparse. The rest will probably stay the same.

#8

Much appreciated LAgirl…
As I have mentioned in a few posts, I have had some good long-term results on other areas with LHR, but what I want to avoid is having the first couple of treatments set so low that they have little effect. That’s basically the way I feel about this upper leg LightSheer treatment I just had - feels like I totally wasted $500 and at that price I’m not willing to go back for a second go to see if they get it figured out.

With my lower legs, I’m sure the first 2 treatments only resulted in a 10% reduction and for the last 4 treatments they really started to get aggresive and that’s when I saw results.

I did have some bruising and a mild burn on a 1 inch square patch on the backside of my knee on a prior lower leg treatment, but it went away after a week. I guess the problem for the technician is that they can’t really see if the client is being burned until after the treatment is over!

This clinic with the GentleLase did do a test patch when I went for my original consultation last year - it was on a sparse area, so not so sure about the efficacy, but I definitely didn’t have any redness or swelling. I’m guessing if I tell her this, she will set the initial settings a bit higher than what she did for the test patch?

I’ll start a new thread when I get those before pics taken and post my results throughout my treatment…

#9

I would also call and ask for numbers they used on that test patch.