Hair Removal for men

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

Hi,
I am a 27 year old guy of Indian origin(Asian). So I have brown skin.

I have quite hairy arms and I really hate it. I try to trim the hair sometimes but still there is hair on my arms as well as on the back of my palms and fingers.

What I am loking for is not coplete removal of hair from my arms, but a substantial(say 60%) thinning in my arms, and complete removal of the hair in the back of my palms and fingers(knuckles).

What do you guys suggest I do?

I live in texas and so I wear T-shirt all the time. I would not want to shave my arms completely while I am going through the treatment. I want it to be a gradual thinning, but people shouldnt notice that I am having treatments done.

I dont think I can shave my arms and show up to work…I know Laser can be done only if I am totally shaved.

What should I do?
Anyone else who has experienced the same problem?

Thanks
Prabs

#2

If you don’t want to shave, you should do electrolysis, although that will involve a lot more time. It’s not that weird to shave your arms btw, there are more than one male here at my work place who do that. You can also wear a long sleeved shirt for that 2-3 weeks while you await shedding. The laser you should be using is a Yag; and for those areas you just want reduction on, you will need a few less treatments.

#3

Nobody cares if you shave your arms. Since you have dark skin, few people will even notice that you shave IMHO.

Like LAgirl said, you can get electro or wear long sleeves.

RJC2001

#4

I also agree that no one would really notice if you’ve got shaved arms. Just as there are a lot of men who have hairy arms, there are a lot of men that don’t have much hair on their arms. Personally, I think the hairy arms are more noticeable because they look soooo hairy. If its not there, its not missed.

This, of course, is just looking at things through my sunglasses.

#5

Hi Thanks for your suggestions. Its just that people have seen me for the past few years at work and they I am sure know how my arms look. Suddenly if I go there all smooth one day it will be weird. i guess I will have to do it anyway…

But one question. As I mentioned, my aim is to not be totally smooth but get the hair in my arms thinned out. I understand that when subject to laser, there is a chance that hair will grow back in patches and wont be unifrom.

What is your take on that?

I mean I would want to have uniform hair in my arms, but much fewer hair which are thinner as well…

Any speacial precaution I need to take to get my desired results.

Also, any suggestions for a good clinic for LHR in Austin, TX who would use YAG Laser?

#6

you just need a good practitioner who will be careful not to miss spots. run a search on here for recommendations, or check out Candela and Cutera provider searches on their websites.

#7

You should just get an electric clipper like they use in barbor shops and trim the hair to level 1 once a month.

If you do laser you’ll go once a month anyway and the results won’t EVER be uniform. There is always patchiness, especially on men, and especially men who are hairy.

You’re looking to laser to cure your problem but it will not and then you’ll be left like everyone else trying to figure out how to combat the weird regrowth that everyone at the office sees. Then you will have to shave your arms everyday to hide it.

#8

RC2001 and a few others here have had good non-patchy results. Everyone has their own personal experience.

#9

Thanks for the advice Jimmy. Yeah it is indeed a big dilemma for me. The problem qwith clipper at level 1 is it makes your hair short and it is obvious that you have tried to do something with it. Its almost as though you shaved and it has been a couple days since…

Just curious. Out of the guys who read this forum, how many of you are happy with your laser results…Just interesting to see how many have had good results

Thanks

#10

unfortunately, most people who are happy don’t stick around. people come here to look for answers to problematic situations. there are a few of us dedicated and interested enough to come back, but most don’t care to after they’re done.

#11

I’ve had 2 treatments on back, shoulders, upper arms. Used alexandrite. Eventually I will do arms for the same reason as you- thinning them out.
It is my opinion that 2 treatments or even 3 will thin the hair out to a “normal” looking level. You can’t avoid the look just after laser and the 3-6 week growth thereafter. If you’re real hairy the growth will come back thinner and eventually no one will be able to tell you had anything done. Patchiness may happen at the 2-3 wk period but regrowth will blend in nicely.
I have no experience on lower arms but what I’ve said above has occurred on my shoulders and upper arms. My back has had great results just after 2 treatments. My back still has regrowth but only sparse long hair. This is from a really hairy guy.
Just 2 treatments and my anxiousness about going shirtless has really taken leaps and bounds for the positive. Laser types vary so check into which seems to give the most irregularity on coverage and avoid it, and getting a good tech who does NOT miss spots will help as well. Good luck.

PS-I used to use clippers with the guard on and run this on the arms, it cuts the length, gives a thinner appearance, and prevents clipper from getting too close/short and leaving a slight patchy look.

#12

I guess I’m one of those who has been sticking around. I am very pleased with the results of LHR. I started with the idea of getting the hair reduced on my legs and bikini area. I had 6 treatments on my legs (5 with Aurora and one with CoolGlide) and I have had a good reduction of at least 60 percent. It has been over a year since my last treatment. I’ve had more treatments on the bikini area and the areas treated have had a far better reduction - probably 95 percent. I also found that I like the “no hair” look. When I first started, that thought didn’t enter into my thinking. I’ve got fairly muscular legs and the clean appearance makes them look good. My wife prefers them this way, too. I have had some electrolysis on my legs because the remaining hair had become fairly fine.

#13

prabs24, I think you’d be surprised at what people will notice. I was bald in my twenties and decided to get a toupee. I started wearing glasses full time at the same time I showed up with the toupee. Everyone thought I looked different because of the glasses and had completely forgotten that I was compeletely bald on the top of my head. Really amazing. So unless your arms were extremely outstanding, most people won’t notice when you shave them. Besides if you get the hair permanently removed, it’s going to look shaved anyway, so start getting used to it.

#14

Thanks to everyones reply. Yeah, I actually bought a clipper and tried it out yesterday. Looks fairly neat. But I have a feeling I would have to do it EVERY week or every other week.

Here is what I have decided. I am going to do just my upper arms and my knucles. (The hair in my upper arms are fairly thin compared to forearms.) But I am going to try these two areas, have 2-3 treatments, see how it is.

If I like the results in my upper arms and knuckles after 3-4 treatments, the summer would be over by then and although we hardly have a fall and winter here in Austin,TX, I would probably start wearing full sleeved shirts to work in the fall, when I can get my forearms done.

Now all I have to do is find a good technician to do the laser. Do I just look at the phone book and starting calling those that have a YAG laser and go with the reasonably priced one?
Or is there any other way to guage how good the technician is?
Thanks

#15

Prabs,

I’ve done both laser and electrolysis.

I personally would prefer electrolysis over laser for the arms.

The arm hairs tend to go fairly quickly with electrolysis. If the arms take 5-7 laser treatments, you might need fewer treatments (on a per hair basis) with electrolysis. The drawback with electrolysis on the arms is that you will have some hyperpigmentation (red) and so you’ll need to wear long-sleeve shirts to hide the scarring and keep out of the sun.

However, the scarring is short lived.

Another benefit is that I think you’ll spend fewer total dollars for your treatments although the tradeoff is that you’ll be spending more time on the treatments.

Good luck in either case.

#16

you shouldn’t have any hyperpigmentation or scarring with laser if it’s the right laser at correct settings. if you’ve experienced that realsore, something was off. it’s not normal to expect that. and with electrolysis, most get dots for a few days as well.

in either case, this doesn’t depend on the area. it depends on how coarse and dense the hair is and what color. if pabs can provide a picture, it would be easier to tell you what to go with. you say the hair is finer on the upper arms, but it’s impossible to tell over the internet how fine, since this is pretty subjective. basically, hair like the bikini area hair, which is coarse and dense, gets the best results with laser if the skin is light and hair is dark. if the hair is very fine and sparse, you should be careful with getting laser on upper arms, because some report more growth when doing that on that area for men if hair is SPARSE.

please read the FAQs I wrote which outlines how to find a good technician. you can also start by running a search here for your city.

www.hairremovalforum.com/faqs.cfm

#17

The drawback with electrolysis on the arms is that you will have some hyperpigmentation (red)

A little quick reading there eh LAGirl <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

#18

it was kind of a black and white assessment that wasn’t entirely true and somewhat exaggerated. the dots are not hyperpigmentation. those are red dots from insertions that should go away within only a few days. hyperpigmentation is actual change in pigment of the skin, i.e. darkening of the skin for an extended period of time, not irritation. these are just red dots for a few days, and not everyone gets dots even after electrolysis and not on all areas. some people do on some areas. i get none on my face most of the time. and other areas maybe have a few dots which turn to little scabs within a day or 2 and fall off under a week.

#19

Prabs24,
I wouldn’t even bother with laser. I’ve had it, and I’ve had electrolysis. Electrolysis is far superior. There is no real comparison between the two.

Mantaray

#20

sure, and i’ve had both laser and electrolysis done, and laser worked great on all dark coarse hair and electrolysis is great for all the fine and sparse hairs i’ve had taken care of.