Hair regrowth?

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

I’ve had about nineish laser sessions on my face. The woman doing this had been using a yag on me… but I got her to try using the alex the last two sessions(she has an apogee elite laser).

She originally had me coming in every 3 weeks to have LHR done… but then I read on here that that’s too soon, so I started waiting about a month and a half between the last few sessions . Also I asked her to try using the alex on me since I heard that can be more effective if you’re skin is light enough for it. The alex seemed to work fine for me and quite a bit of hair came out… except for some small patches left heare and there… and a weird grid pattern left on the side of my chin that was pretty annoying.

anyways… i’ve been having LHR on the face for about a year now. A few treatments ago it looked like almost all the dark hair was gone… then I had another treatment to try and get the patches that were missed. Those patches were reduced more but not completely gone. It’s been at least a month since my last session and just recently in the last week i’ve noticed that quite a bit of hair is growing back in the chin area. The hair is a lot finer than the thick dark hair I used to have… but it’s got me feeling pretty down. For months it was looking like almost all the dark hair was gone and i’d just have the blonde ones left. But now i’ve got sorta darkish fine hair coming back all over my chin.

Can someone please tell me what’s going on… is this normal?

Last time I saw her (a week ago for electrolysis on my upper lip area) she said that I should get another laser session on the rest of my face. I told her that there’s hardly any dark hair left though… and she said ‘i know, now we just need to focus on a few areas here and there’ …or something like that. Based on what I read here… Laser won’t work on the fine hairs that are coming back, and there isn’t enough actual thick and dark hairs left that doing more laser would be worth it. I’m worried she’s just trying to get more money out of me. I’m also worried about stimulating more hair growth if I tried more laser on this fine hair that’s coming back.

#2

Oh and incase it’s important…

I’m a ts girl …my hormone levels are in female ranges though as far as I know.

#3

Hello Dark

Do you know what settings your tech has been using. This seems to be the starting point to get any definative answers here on hairtell. If your tech is going too low than the your efforts are being wasted (as well as your money). Also, I FIND IT STRANGE that she has had you returning for apoitments so close together. Hopefully she knows what she is doing.

Take care!!!

Hoy Yah kungfuaaron out!!!

#4

  • I don’t know how you could have judged effectiveness of most of your treatments if they were being done every 3 weeks. Technically, you didn’t really have 9 treatments because you were just retreating the same hair several times (each time you had treatments only 3 weeks later).

  • I don’t see the most important information we need. You’re female…I see that. How COARSE is the hair you’re treating? If it’s coarse enough for LHR, then you likely DO have an underlying condition causing it to grow. And if it’s not coarse enough for that, laser is likely not the right option. Do you have photos you can post?

  • We need to know settings and your skin type. What were the joules and pulse width being used on each of your treatments?

  • Also, did you see SHEDDING after each treatment? One way to tell if something is happening is that ALL treated hair should shed within 3 weeks after the treatment. Can you clarify whether you were seeing this? I would assume you were not if you had enough to treat every 3 weeks.

At this point, I would wait about 10 weeks since your last treatment and judge from there. Please post photos so we can help determine if getting more laser treatments is even worth it if your hair is not coarse enough. In order for laser to work, hair needs to be as coarse as on your underarms and bikini line.

Also, keep in mind that treating finer hair on the face has the potential to turn that hair into darker more coarse hair.

What type of electrolysis does she perform? Are you happy with those treatments?

What kind of doctor have you see to test for hormonal conditions? What’s your ethnic background?

#5

I had a beard of thick dark hair… but not as dense as you see on some men. But yeah, being born in a male body and years of testosterone are the reason for the beard.

I’ve been on hormone replacement therapy for a year now and testosterone shouldn’t be a problem anymore (I hope anyway). The doctor testing my hormone levels, prescribing my hormones and testosterone blocker is a gynecologist who has had other transsexual patients.

My ethnic background is mostly English, Scottish, …some French …and a small percentage Native Canadian. My skin type is propably about a 3. I can burn, but I don’t burn easy… I can tan fairly dark for a caucasian I guess. I’d say I look pretty light without a tan though. My hair (on scalp) is dark brown. Ethnicity-wise (is that a word? lol) I probably look sorta like Josie Maran (if only I was that pretty though lol)

Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures, and I don’t have a camera. The hair that I had was at least as thick as you’d usually see on someone’s underarms or bikini area. I had thick blonde hairs scattered over my face too, but much less of those than really dark ones. Now I have bits of the thick dark hair scattered here and there… But I also now have quite a bit of hair coming back over my chin that is about 1/3 as dark, and half as thick as the thick dark hairs.

I asked her today what joules and pulse width she used last time we did LHR with the alex… She told me “20 20”

Since I started doing LHR with her I have been seeing a large percentage of hair shedding out within 3 weeks each time I had a laser session. When I’d go in 3 weeks later it was just getting the hair that was missed the first time (at full price… and there was probably at least 30% of the hair left). At certain times through this process though I’d notice more hair coming back in areas that were much clearer not long before.

As for electrolysis with her… she’s been using the blend method on me. I’m not sure if I should be happy with those treatments. Sounds like flash thermolysis would be way faster. I asked her about the flash thermolysis method and she said that it would cause too much scabbing etc and I wouldn’t be healed in time for the next session a week later. I asked, “well what about when we get to other areas like around my chin.” She said maybe… then mentioned something about maybe using a “flash blend” method.

I started doing electrolysis on the upper lip area in the spring this year (2009) because there was very little hair being shed in the area around my mouth after laser sessions. At this point she’s able to clear my upper lip (except for blonde hairs… that I think are too long to be left there) with enough time to get to the area just under my bottom lip. I go in for an hour each week for electrolysis.

#6

As a TS woman, you need to understand that you will need to “switch to electrolysis” to get the job done. If your current practitioner is unable, or unwilling to do what you need done, then you need to look elsewhere. When you look elsewhere, make sure that you find someone who can do large areas, and get full clearances.

You could be at a point where you are getting hair removal every 6 weeks with electrolysis at this point. People who live in the same area as I am headquartered, often get full clearances every 3 weeks, and in that way get to stop shaving all together.

I wish you l luck.

#7

Ok, indicating that you’re a TG was a very important part :slight_smile: That changes the entire hormonal issue discussion. You have male hair you’re trying to remove. :slight_smile:

Anyway, here’s my feedback:

  • ALL treated hair should shed within 3 weeks. Touchup at 3 weeks should be free.

  • If you’re not getting the above, you may want to look for another provider. In order to be getting effective treatments, you need to go to someone who can achieve this shedding effect, at least 80-85% each time. Otherwise, you’re wasting money.

  • As James mentioned and you seem to realize that you will eventually need to switch to electrolysis to finish the job on the finer hair that remains. However, there is no reason you shouldn’t be able to kill all COARSE hair with laser if you get good treatments.

  • 20j and 20ms is not too bad. Lower pulse width may help.

  • How many clinics did you check out before sticking with this one? How many electrologists?

  • Thermolysis/flash doesn’t cause any negative side effects when performed correctly. Just like blend doesn’t when performed correctly.

#8

Thank you all for taking the time to help. I had a feeling that things weren’t going as well as they should be with all this hair removal.

This place I’ve been going to was recommended by a friend and was so close by… so I hadn’t checked out any other places. I’m not even sure if there are any other places in my town… I will be looking though.

Thanks again.

#9

Forgot to mention, that an alex laser would be best for you. Try to find someone with a GentleLASE if you can. It has the biggest spot size of 18mm and the lowest fixed pulse at 3ms. Also, finding someone who is experienced in treating male beards is very important. Overlapping needs to be done in order to not miss hair.