Hair Stimulation due to Lasering.

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

Hello!

I first used this sight 2 years ago out of despair, I was told about Laser-Active by someone on here, and I had my first Laser session last July. I am utterly thrilled with the results and service I have received at Laser Active, Im lucky enough to have the owner treat me but I am sure all the staff are amazing.

Anyway, I have had my buttocks done 4 times now, the last time being yesterday. I have had less and less regrowth every single time and yesterday it barely hurt at all.

I now want to have my upper arms done, which have a sparse amount of dark hairs ontop of the vellus hairs.

My laser-Nurse, who is undoubtedly about as expert as they come, has said she is very concerned about causing stimulated hair growth on the shoulders or back or upper arms because the hairs that are there at the moment are not severe and it is a common(?) occurence in faces on women and arms/shoulders/backs in Men.

I have been reading a sheet she has given me on it, with statistics (which state that 12% of those who had facial lasering experienced stimulated growth).

However, using ice packs appears to prevent this to a degree.

If anyone can shed any light on this topic, as apparently I am rare for only wanting my arms done (my shoulders and back are not hairy) and therefore the risk of developing shoulder/back hair is totally undesirable.

Does anyone know about this? the frequencies of it happening, how it can be prevented and any personal experiences…Would be great for some info/replies.

Thanks.

#2

I don’t know where they got that 12% number. It’s much much higher than that in my opinion. Laser doesn’t work on fine sparse hair and vellus hair. You won’t find one single positive story about treating that type of hair on any forums. That should give a clue. I would guess it’s more like 50-60% induced hair and the other 40-50% is unchanged. I would guess there are ZERO people who actually get results on that type of hair. To add to that, upper arms is one of those areas that almost ALWAYS gets this side effect. Please listen to your clinic and do NOT do this. Only electrolysis should be done on this area in your situation if you want permanent removal.

Oh, and ice packs have absolutely nothing to do with it. The problem is that the hair is too fine.

#3

I have to disagree. I wouldn’t have guessed it’s as high as 12%.

If I’m correct, you’re getting your information from the consumers complaining on the Internet? Happy consumers RARELY get online, or anywhere for that matter, and brag that they are hair free. Those, like you, on this forum that so graciously update us on their progress, are usually people who had bad experiences first, and then came here looking for answers, or those who had no experiences and came here doing research. Very few of my clients do any research before contacting me. And I’m sure most professionals would say the same thing. Those that come to forums like this with complaints about electrolysis or laser or just hair removal in general are just a drop in the bucket of the consumers that have made the hair removal industry surpass 2 billion dollars a year. Overall, even with the news-breaking, scare tactic stories generated by the physicians out to get any non MD performing laser, consumers are happy with laser.

Would I treat Tom’s upper arms with laser? Probably not. He would readily have another CHOICE with me (get the screen name connection, now?) So, if his experienced laser provider is saying not to do it, then I would say, listen to her. Find an electrologist.

My personal opinion, and I stress personal opinion, no scientific study here… is that it’s not that it’s fine or sparce hair, it’s that the hair is not absorbing all that energy, and it has to go somewhere. I’ve heard for over 20 years that too low intensity doing thermolysis can stimulate vulnerable follicles. Proof? None that I know of. But, if that is in the least bit possible by treating one hair at a time and triggering an adjacent follicle, then of course using an 18mm spot size to treat one active follicle could definitely wake up adjacent follicles. Laser is photo-thermolysis. Same principles of heat disabling/destroying the papilla. So, I also recommend ice packs. Get the heat out as soon as possible. If nothing else, it feels good! My 2 cents.

#4

It’s comforting to know what you’ll experience during and after your laser hair treatment sessions.
During laser hair removal, you’ll wear goggles so your eyes won’t be exposed to light from the laser.
At first, you will likely feel a stinging sensation, indicating that the laser has been activated. The treatment involves a series of impulses that cause prickling and a slight burning sensation. Your clinician may also apply a topical anesthetic to the area being treated to minimize discomfort, but most people can tolerate the procedure without it.
Some people have likened the feeling to that of a rubber band snapping against your skin. You might also detect the smell of singed hair, which is nothing to worry about.

#5

I try not to take into account people who first find this forum in order to complain AFTER something has gone badly. I’m only taking into account people who started treatments after doing their research and then experiencing this side effect.

But either way, this is obviously not a science yet as there are no studies involved here. As a consumer, I wouldn’t touch this area in a situation like this. I would think for most it wouldn’t be worth the risk. So I would recommend to go with better safe than sorry.

#6

I have to say Im feeling very confused now after all of that.
Cwannz - I’ve had lasering for the past year and I am not concerned about it, I was simply giving you a bit of backround so you could all see that I am not a novice myself. I have experience as to how it works through lots of research and having such an experience Laser-Nurse.

LaGirl, one thing that really interests me is this scenario -

If you start with some vellus hair and some thicker hair, and you laser them…

Worse case scenario after the 1st/2nd/3rd session, the whole lot turn into thick coarse hair, Can you not just then Laser them?

Can stimulated hair not be lasered away eventually?

I am grateful for your honesty, It just doesnt ‘feel’ as if it would cause any problems, I’ve had my neck done and I’ve had my ass done and they’ve both gone fantasically well without a hitch.

And also Lagirl, Ice packs cool the areas around it (the back and shoulders in my case) which stops the thermal energy from reaching them to cause the hair to start being produced.

The sheets she gave me on it was the findings of a report into stimulated hair growth, it was not biased or anything, and it gave figures for billions of things… and it said ’ since using cold ice compresses on the surrounding areas, the incidence of hair stimulation has stopped’ , although it gave no figures for it, because it was focusing on hair stimulation rather then prevention of hair stimulation.

AND — I do not expect the vellus hairs to be treated or changed, just the darker thicker hairs…

#7

Worse case scenario, and I think the most common scenario, would be that there is more hair overall and the vellus hair is actual hair now, BUT none of it is coarse enough for laser to target it. Most people you read about on this forum for example end up having electrolysis on the area because it becomes their only option. And if they started with electrolysis in the first place, they would need a lot less treatments overall.

Btw, ignore that spammer above. They’re just copying and pasting stuff from their website into unrelated threads.