HELP: Nd:Yag Lumenis One or Altus?

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

Hello everyone,

I’m starting my laser sessions tomorrow and I have a question, I thought with the members’ experience here I’d find the answer!

I got a test patch a long time ago on a LightSheer machine. I wrote about it in this thread:

After explaining my symptoms this time, I’ve been told that they’ll try lowering the settings to 20j on the Lightsheer. However, I’m starting to wonder maybe I should just go for the Yag because I think 20j is just too low(I’m Middle Eastern, so although my skin seems light, I might be Type IV). The test patch was done on my arm, which is slightly darker than my legs so I might not have the same reaction, but I’m also afraid of the reaction I’ll get in the darker areas - for example my knees.

They only have Lumenis One and Altus, I wasn’t sure which one is better. Please let me know…also telling me what are the ideal settings would be very helpful!

Thanks!

#2

20J is likely too low on LightSheer. If you’re middle eastern, you have underlying pigment, which means you’re at LEAST a type IV, but possibly V. Either way, skin types are approximate. If you can’t handle higher settings on LightSheer, Yag is the only way to go.

#3

Thank you! They only have Lumenis One and Altus for Yag…which one is better and what are the ideal settings for it to be effective?

Also, it would be great if you could check the image I attached in the other thread of my test patch after 3 days of using LightSheer 22j and let me know what you think.

Thanks!

#4

The same clinic has both machines? Let them tell you which they find best and ask them what settings they would use on you since they can see your skin. We can tell you if the settings sound aggressive enough if you post spot size, joules and pulse width.

I saw the image, but it’s hard to tell much since the hair is barely there. If you can keep all your posts in one thread, it will be easier for everyone to follow the entire story and help. Thanks!

#5

I will keep writing about my laser experience in this thread.

Unfortunately, the types of lasers they had written on their website aren’t available in all of their branches! They only have one branch here and they only use LightSheer - claiming that with their 15 years experience with Middle Eastern skin, it will work…so I had to go with that because of the lack of options in the country.

I treated:

Arms: 22j
lower legs: 20j (probably low but I couldn’t handle the pain, my skin is fine so I can go higher but I actually cried during my treatment!)
Upper legs: 22j
Abdomen line: 22j
Under arms: 20j (also should have gone higher)
Brazilian (darker area): 16j, 30cm (on all the other parts, auto was used instead of 30).

My arms and lower legs seem okay…bikini and underarms weren’t as effected.

I’m guessing the settings are on the low side so I’ll definitely have to go higher. The treatment was 2 days before my period which was a bad idea…they said the skin is extra sensitive around then.

I have my touch up session in a few days…please recommend settings for me!

#6

Which Lightsheer model do they have? 12mm or 9mm spot size?

How long has it been since the treatment? You can’t tell what was affected until you give it 3 weeks post treatment and see what sheds. Touchup should be at 3 weeks.

Yes, best not to have treatments close to your period.

Once again, we can’t recommend settings. You have to ask them to test higher joules on auto and see what the highest YOUR skin can handle without burning you.

#7

Thank you for the response! They use Lumenis (I didn’t ask but I saw it written on the machine) and the size was 12mm.

#8

Those are not horrible settings with the 12mm machine. Make sure they use compression though. Very important on this machine. Let us know how shedding goes in 3 weeks.

#9

Do you mean the up and down motion and pressing hard on the skin? If that’s compression, then yes, she did that - however, she still missed a lot of spots which will be treated in the touch up session. My arms, legs, underarms, and abdomen seem okay but with a lot of missed areas. In my previous treatment, I treated 3/4 of my arms, although I know the upper 1/4 isn’t coarse enough…now I’m reading that it could make it worse so I’m stopping.

My bikini area hair is growing very normally just it used to without using laser! It’s been 7 days since my treatment but the hair seems way too normal and strong! The settings must be too low. Should I ask her to keep the pulse as auto instead of 30cm2 or do we keep it at 30 and test increasing the joules? (considering the fact that the area is darker).

A new clinic has opened and they have Yag laser…I’m going for a consultation on the 17th before my touch up session with the 1st clinic on the 19th. Can I get a test patch or should I wait longer?

#10

You can’t judge anything yet at 7 days. A lot of times shedding doesn’t even start until day 10. Please wait full 3 weeks before judging what was missed.

Yes, compression is pressing vs. just lightly gliding.

I would wait full 3 weeks here and do the touchup if necessary before trying out the other clinic. I’d wait until the next cycle of growth to try another.

#11

So I went with my friend to her laser appointment and I talked to the lady about Diode/Yag. She tested the yag on a patch that I’m sure was not treated in my first laser treatment. She used GentleYag 18j, 18mm, 3ms. It was not painful at all, just tingling. She said I can definitely go up to 22j or even more - but she didn’t test it because I ran out of untreated areas haha.

Do you think these settings are effective considering my skin type?

She also said other lasers are much better with less coarse hair (for example, thighs) so does that mean if I decide to go with it I should use a different laser for my thighs? (when the hair grows I might post a pic).

The shedding is going okay (my bikini area just won’t shed!) but I don’t think I can go higher with the Diode so if the Yag is better I’ll just switch :frowning:

#12
  • max on 18mm on the GentleYAG is 30J, so 18J is pretty low. 22J and up on 18mm and 3ms (this is good, lowest pulse width available) would be much better and you should be able to handle that and may be even slightly higher with your skin type. But she’d need to test.

Nothing works on non-coarse hair. I wouldn’t recommend treating that type of hair at all. Also, if you can handle other more powerful laser on good settings, then you wouldn’t need to be using the Yag for anything.

It’s not about better of worse. It’s about settings or technique. That’s how you choose the machine. LightSheer is harder to use, but 18j on 18mm on GentleYag is too low.

#13

The thing with the thighs…they’re dense not coarse so the doctor said, we can try and it’ll probably take more sessions but it can’t get worse (because they’re already pretty bad lol) so I’d like to try it since electrolysis isn’t an option because I wouldn’t trust anyone here so if the hair is slightly improved I’ll be happy.

I read this on several threads…that Yag is only effective on coarse hair and other lasers could also help with less coarse but dense hair. For example, this quote,

Hence, my confusion…

I’m trying to really understand this because I can’t depend on those clinics to use the right settings, I realized that pretty much everyone is undertreated and have the belief that even if you’re done with laser, you’ll have to touch up for the rest of your life! Even the clinic I visited that has the Yag, the lady has more experience with Alex so she treats everyone with it…to the point that when I insisted on the Yag and tried to see the settings…I said "so you’re using 3 ms, that’s good) she didn’t know what 3 ms meant really! I think it’s fixed on the GentleLase? She never had to worry about it?

ps. she has 8 years of experience

:frowning:

#14

Can you post a photo? If the hair is not coarse, it will not get less dense. It will likely get more dense with induced growth.

ALL lasers are only effective on coarse hair.

Yes, pulse width is fixed at 3ms on GentleLASE, but it IS adjustable on GentleYAG.

#15

There is no hair at the moment because of my laser session. However, you see the roots of the hair and ingrown ones (it looks like this even when I just shave, no laser)

So what some people are saying around the forum is wrong?? I even read around that pulse width should be less for fine hair and more for coarse hair :s

Since the pulse width is adjustable, I think I’ll have to tell her what to do if I decide to ditch the Diode since she seems somewhat clueless when it comes to that :’(

#16

It’s all relative. You can TRY to treat hair that’s less coarse, but be prepared for little to not result or induced growth as a result. My stance is better safe than sorry (and best not to waste money unnecessarily).

#17

Thank you for your response! I was just confused because based on several posts on this forum, such as:

I got the impression that other lasers are more effective with less coarse hair.

I’m assuming you couldn’t really tell if my hair is coarse enough from the picture? I’ll post a new one when the hair grows back!

It would be great if you could explain to me how to work pulse width and joules. For example, if I can handle 20j on 18mm and 3ms but I cannot handle 24j with the same settings, does that mean 24j on 18mm and higher pulse width - say 15ms - works? Also, what gets the priority? as in, it is better to decrease the joules and keep the pulse width at the minimum or increase the joules as well as the pulse width? (I’m just trying to understand how this works, obviously they all have to be tested)

Thanks a lot!

#18

That statement is stretching the truth. GentleYAG, which is a Yag, ONLY works on very coarse growth. It’s made to cater to darker skin, so it’s less powerful than Alexandrites like GentleLASE, i.e. someone with lighter skin is usually better off using GentleLASE since they can handle high settings on it because it will work better on moderately COARSE hair (not moderately fine). If you assume any of these work on any type of fine growth, you will be disappointed.

You should be using whatever combination your skin can handle with max settings on each element. Higher joules and spot size are most important, but you don’t want to go up higher than 30ms on pulse width, especially on moderately coarse hair.

#19

I got my touch-up session (they wouldn’t wait for 3 weeks…2 weeks was the max). Everything is fine but the bikini area, she’s too scared to increase the joules enough although the first session pretty much didn’t affect it at all.

Apparently, the first session, she used 16j and 30ms for the outer area and 14j 30ms for the inner. This time she used 18j 30ms and 16j 30ms instead. she wanted to go for 16j auto instead of the 18j 30ms but I thought maybe going for the 18 is better and since the hair is coarse, the 30 ms would be okay, especially that I was desperate for increasing the joules. She said the 16j auto is more effective. What do you think?

I think I’ll just have to go for the other clinic (Yag), even if it’s just for the bikini area, otherwise, she’ll keep undertreating it :frowning:

#20

The bottom line is that you should be getting treated at the max your skin can handle. It doesn’t sound like she’s willing to even test to figure out what that is.