Had test patch with GL+ at full power...

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

Ouch!!! The tech (and owner), who has done thousands of treatments, seemed to immediately know that my skin would have no problems with the GL+. As it turns out (24 hours later) she seems to have been correct. She pointed out, as was clear to me already, that the highest efficacy of treatment is gained with the highest power settings (assuming one’s skin can take it, and one’s brain can take the pain). :smile:

The test patch was 10 pulses worth (at 15mm spot size and 30j/cm2) and it DID hurt. I think I can take it for a full treatment, but an hour or so of treatment for full chest and stomach will certainly tell more of the story. I’m opting to go without topical anaesthetic (as she seemed to have slight concern about the effects of topical anaesthetic on treatment efficacy, though she admitted that the jury is still out on that point), and will likely just take a few tylenol before the treatment. Advil actually works better for me, but she recommended against Ibuprofen because it sometimes makes people more likely to bleed (or not clot as quickly). The test patch was toward the side of my stomach (just inside the love handle area) so I’m guessing it won’t get much more painful than that…

Immediately after the treatment I had redness and swelling which gradually faded throughout the 24 hours since. Now, the swelling is gone and just very minor follicular trauma (almost unnotieceable) remains. I definitely smelled vaporized hair and with the full treatment I’m thinking it might actually get hard to breath in there… haha? She did say that they sometimes use a mask during treatments. :fearful:

The price for my treatment does seem high, I think, at $1200.00 for chest, stomach (down to several inches below the belly button) and the back of the upper arms… This clinic doesn’t seem to like the multiple treatment discount plan thing, so I didn’t push it. It seems that their treatment success is very high and I’m guessing that’s why they don’t do much with the multi-discount stuff. They seem to be able to attract their customers (who desire more treatments) back with the results of their earlier treatment(s). They actually had more than a million pulses on their GL+ and were just getting in a ‘new tip’ for it early next week…

Will keep the board informed of my progress…

#2

Argh! 1200 for chest and stomach for one treatment??

I got a consultation for chest and abs a couple weeks ago at Advanced Laser Clinics and it was around 550 for a single treatment.

#3

Yeah, I thought $1200 was high (though it does include the back of the upper arms too). Sadly, there’s no Advanced Laser Clinic in this area, and because only a doctor can operate a laser in NH I am constrained to Massachusetts clinics. There are a handful of them and I’m going to make a couple calls tomorrow. I’ve already been thinking about canceling the $1200 appt. (which is scheduled for Wednesday morning) and will likely do that tomorrow. She really gave me very little discount off of their listed prices… I suppose it doesn’t make any sense to go there if when I extrapolate their prices I end up at 10Gs or more to do my whole body (which I’d like to eventually).

Any more thoughts on how outrageous this price is (particularly with respect to the Massachusetts area)?

#4

That’s awfully high for the area in question, unless you have a ton of hair.

#5

Yeah, I thought so too. I cancelled and did some more looking around locally. I found a woman who used to be a laser trainer (intructor) at Candela, but has now transitioned and become a practitioner. We worked out 2 treatments on the areas I’ve spoken of for the same $1200, so essentially half the price. I had the first treatment yesterday and am very happy for now…

Boy, was it painful though. I’ll never contemplate going without the topical anaesthetic again. She went from 30 joules (15mm spot) down to 25 and then down to 20. The pain was still awful, particularly on my chest. She found this a bit odd, considering I’m quite muscular, but she said it’s been her experience that fatty tissue tends to mitigate the pain more than muscle… I really couldn’t handle even 20 joules on my chest. We had to take a long break while the ELA Max had a chance to do its work. Things were much better after that and I will definitely use the topical before the next treatment (brought a tube home with me for just that purpose)… :wink: She used cold packs, too, for what that’s worth.

Funny how the muscular part of my forearms (yeah she did forearms instead of upper arms, along with chest and stomach) didn’t really hurt at all, but the pec pain was vicious… :confused:

#6

Mx, did you have any scabbing when you had your forearms done? When I started laser treatments I left out the lower arms to save money and I was worried about scabbing on them and I ususally wear short sleeve shirts. Now I wish I would have done them too. My upper arms did have some scabbing but when I switched to the Lightsheer is was much less.

The Aurora seems to scab less than anthing else and I may have the forearms done if I have the time. Shaving my forearms is a PITA but it looks stupid having hair free upper arms and hairy lower arms. Shaving is worth it though to have the muscular definition.

I have never found laser chest hair removal to be very painful at all, even when I first started and was extremely hairy. I quickly went up to 40 Joules, even with the Apogee and it never hurt very much. Everyone has different pain threshholds though. The base of the neck hurts the worst by far.

RJC2001

#7

I don’t seem to have any scabbing on my forearms, no (nor on the chest or stomach). Virtually all of the irritation is gone now on all my treated body parts. I thought the same thing as you about waiting on my forearms, but when she started doing them I didn’t complain and figured what the heck… lol Better now than in the summertime I guess.

I’m hearing you about shaving being a PITA. It sure is. Hopefully, after my next treatment (number 2) I’ll be close to finished on my upper body (wishful thinking probably)… My forearms don’t look bad after about 80 hours now. There’s a bit of stubble, but not much at all. Funny how my chest hair seems to be much more apparent (read: noticeably longer) than the hair on my stomach (which is just slightly stubbly looking like my forearms). Here’s hoping that chest hair isn’t still growing cause I could only take 20 joules. I’ve pulled a couple hairs out on my chest, but they don’t seem to come too easy (easier than they would have before the treatment, but not as easy as I’d have thought)…

Man was the chest pain brutal for me. The sternum was the worst. When she was pulsing me right on the breast bone or right next to it my foot started spasming… YOUCH!!! I’m no wimp, but I can’t remember pain like that…

#8

Oh, for what it’s worth (in conjunction with the no scabbing commentary), she used 30 joules on both of my forearms…

#9

Thanks for the info. You’ll probably need more treatments, but that is normal. Maybe at later treatments the fluence can be turned up.

RJC2001

#10

i got my inner thighs done and whole lower leg and bikini.
surprisingly, the lower leg was the most painful!
think tattoo: the bony bits are worst and the fleshy bits least painful. i was treated at 30fluence (Lightsheer) and used the clinics aneasthetic cream, which i am not sure was that effective. next time i will get hold of some Emla which is supposed to be much stronger.

#11

mx, I know what you mean about the bony areas-- sternum and collarbones were worst for me, and along jawbone.

EMLA and ELA-Max can help with this, though some practitioners believe it may reduce effectiveness. I’ve never seen any published data on that, though.

Glad to hear you found a cheaper place, too. that first place was a bit pricey!