Had my first lightsheer treatment today.

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

Hi everyone,

Just had my first lighsheer treatment today and wanted to let you know how it went.

I have had a couple of epilight treatments to my upper lip in the past, but decided to go with laser after reading the posts on this forum. I was so nervous today. The technician was kind of scary looking, fake tan and lots of makeup. It wasn’t what I expected. I chose this doctor’s office even though it was more expensive only because the receptionist told me that the tech had five years experience compared with only 2-3 at other places. The price was twice the amount of other places. I wanted someone with experience who would not burn my skin.

At the appointment the tech sits me down and reads all this stuff to me. I’m not even following most of it because she is going so fast and most of it I’ve already read at one point or another. So I just nod. Then she tells me the only way to get rid of the hair is by attacking it with high levels. She wanted to start off with 50 joules. That scared me, cause of the posts I’ve read, most start at about 20. I have light skin and dark fine hair. I asked her what my skin type is (i’m guessing fitzpatrick II) and she coudn’t even tell me. She just kept talking about other things. When I asked how long she had been doing this, she said over 7 years. Slight discrepency from what the receptionist told me. She said that there were only two people in all of Canada that have had that extensive of experience, herself and another tech in Toronto. She also said she is the one that trains many of the tech around now. I don’t know what to believe. Anyways, I was looking forward to having the laser done today, been thinking about it so long so I agreed to the treatment. It cost me $145 Cdn.

She shaved the area first and then did the treatment. It hurt quite a bit, like elastics snapping on your skin and it hurt more under my nose than the areas around my mouth. It only took a minute to do. She mentioned that there weren’t many popping noises (a which is a sign that the laser is treating the hairs) but she also said that it usually occurs more in coarser hair areas (like bikini). She then put on aloe vera gel and gave me an ice pack. I took a look in the mirror and my upper lip was red and swollen. I walked home from the office which took a good 40 minutes. The redness was considerably less by the time I got home, but still red and swollen. I don’t know if it worked; I think it did but it’s too soon to tell. After several hours, the skin is still red but looks okay when I put concealer on it. It looks a little swollen but not too noticeable, thank goodness. The areas that are really red are the ones where the hairs where. In some spots where there was no hair, the skin is normal.

I have to wait four weeks till my next treatment. I think I will go to someone else at that time. My biggest concern was having an inexperienced tech using too high a level on me, but I think the tech today did that. When I asked her why there was such a price difference between her office and others, she said it’s because other places charge less, use low levels that don’t do anything so that they can get you to come back more often. She goes with higher levels cause she knows it works. She says it takes those levels to get rid of the hair.

I don’t know if I had a good session or not. I hope and think that I did because my face is somewhat red and swollen. What do you all think? Do you think I should go to someone else next time? I want the treatments to be effective. It’s hard when you read things and then are told otherwise. I keep getting different information.

I’ll try to update over the next few days.

Emle

#2

Where did you go in Toronto? What companies have you checked and who had the best prices?

#3

I know how that is, when you try and talk to a practitioner as an informed consumer. It must be because 99.9% of people getting Laser or Electrolysis have no clue as to what is really going on. The clinics and nurses are so used to this, I find it takes me a few times of interupting there canned speaches, and a few questions that make them look at me as if I am some kind of hostile reporter, before they snap out of it and talk to me like a human and not a child. You might want to say something like, " I have done a lot of research on Laser and belong to an internet Forum where it is discussed in great detail, and I have a few important questions I want to ask you. Please listen to me." If they don’t respect this then move on.

#4

Hi Emle

I’m a male with a relatively strong beard. I began my laser treatments two years ago. I must say that removal of the beard was extremely painful, especially under the nose area. The best I can describe the pain is like being hit with a 2x4 in the face 500-600 times.

After my treatments my face would be red and swollen for about 4-5 days. On the tenth day most of the hair would fall off.

The pain and redness you experienced is normal in the facial areal. I’ve had 10 treatments, which is 4 more than the normal. Most of my hair fell. However, considerable amount of hair turned white and still remains. I also have patchy hair spots around my mouth area. I must still shave everyday, although I no longer have the 4 o’clock shadow.

I’ve recently tried a different laser machine on my arm and chest and it doesn’t seem to hurt as much. Too early though to tell if that laser is as efficient since my treatment was done only a week ago.

As far as costs for my beard, I paid nearly $2000 CDN in 12 monthly payments.

Cheers.

#5

Were did you get the procedure performed in Canada and how were they?

#6

Epiderma Clinic in Montreal

#7

Hi everyone,

Well it’s been over a week now. The redness was gone by the next morning. The area was sort of swollen but not really noticeable. The hairs that were treated were still visible and didn’t seem to be growing but weren’t shedding either. I waited about 6 days and then just gently squeezed around the hair and they all just popped out. The hairs looked shrivelled up and were kind of curly or twisted. I have never seen that before. There is some hair growth but not much. There are a couple that appear to have not been affected by the laser and some new growth, but the hairs look so fine and thin that I’m wondering if the laser can treat them. I’m pleased with the results so far. If those hairs that popped out end up not growing back, I’ll be happy with that.

EMLE

[ April 09, 2004, 07:26 PM: Message edited by: EMLE ]

#8

In my case, the hair would fall off easily on the tenth day. It was like this for every treatment, just like clockwork.

I don’t suggest you pick at your face before then. It might cause irritation and possibly infection, which might leave scarring or discoloration. You can still continue shaving 3-4 days after treatment. Although, because of the redness and swelling it might not be very comfortable.

I was very pleased after my first treatment too. It was a marked difference from the thick beard I had. However, keep in mind that hair will start growing within the next month. In my case I looked like a Zebra on the left side of my face. This was from regrowth of hair. No matter how much I tried shaving it off, the stripes were evident because the shadow was from the hair under the skin.

I have done about 10 treatments so far. I still have patchy spots under my nose and around the lips.

I must still continue shaving every day. Although the hair isn’t as dense as it once was. Except for the patchy spots, I no longer have the 4o’clock shadow. The other thing I noticed is that a considerable amount of my facial hair turned white and very coarse. I had initially pointed this out to the clinic and they were dismissing it as being me getting older. Eventually they confirmed that in some cases laser treatments causes this pigmentation reaction in the facial hair. My chin is all white, although the hair isn’t as dense as it use to be.

I wish I could get rid of the white hair. I’ve tried electrolysis but it takes forever and I would have to go unshaven the full week which my work doesn’t allow me.

I have also tried the F1 Diode on my chest and so far after 9 days I don’t think it has had any effect. While doing my chest I asked the technician (a friend) to zap my face and remove the remaining black hair. I noticed the pain was considerably less than the LightSheer. However, very little hair was removed.

Keep us posted with your results. Good luck.

[ April 10, 2004, 12:57 PM: Message edited by: Quattro ]