Histamine Reaction to laser Hair removal?

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

Hello

I am a laser tech and I’ve never seen this happen with any of my clients, though I have read about it when I studied about LHR.

Had a client that came in for a test spot because she knew she’s extremely sensitive. previously used to wax her body and had extremely bad reaction the next day (broke out and had blisters and infection. Glad she warned me so I was already prepared that she will start reacting more than the avg person.

Here are the specs:
Skin V, using 18mm/12J/10ms on YAG with cryogen spray.
When I’d treat, the area would get slightly red which is normal. BUT about 10-15 mins AFTER i treat the area THEN she complains of it getting really hot and thats when i see all these very raised circles. Compared to my 18mm spot size, circles are 10mm. Seems like it could be from the cryogen.
Throughout I am doing a lot of cooling, doing aloe vera gel, and even rubbed an antihistamine that helped.

Anyhow 2 hours later, the redness is all gone, the bumps are still there, but not as prominent.

4 days later, client comes back to show me. Bumps have all gone down. but now in just a few places like arms there are still darker circles that haven’t faded away. Doesnt look like a burn at all because its no where else around the entire body.
Seems like it affects arms because thats most exposed to sunlight. what do you think?

Has anyone ever experienced this? Wish I had a picture of what it looked like when the reaction first broke out during treatment. Will send a pic of what it looks like now.

Any advise or input would be great from the other laser techs.
Thanks!!

qwerty Attachments

photo.JPG

#2

so no one has experienced this?

#3

Why don’t you write to Candela with the pictures?

Do you think it could possibly be cryogen burns since your settings seem to be on the lower side? What were the DCD settings? More cooling and less heating can cause cryogen burns…just a guess…I have never seen a cryogen burn before so I wouldn’t really know.

#4

Does it seem like hyperpigmentation or actual red spots? If she had scabs it was most likely a burn (unless she likes to scratch and pick). If was a burn maybe her upper arms is be darker from the summer?

If no scabs and is now dark circles…I have seen (on myself) red welts that never scabbed but, later turned into pigmentation that went away within a couple years. It hurt, felt sore for a couple days but, never scabbed. It was only is certain spots and not the whole treated area. The settings were too high, but not high enough to cause blistering.

If this is neither than I’m not sure what to offer for advice other than maybe do a couple new test spot at with higher ms. I’ve worked with Yags but not with the larger spot sizes. call candela and see if settings are correct but I believe they may open a “file” if a burn was suspected.

#5

Thanks for the response. it is quite possible that these were from the cryogen as the settings were quite low. and the way the cryogen bursts out, the marks were smaller than that actual Spot Size of the Laser. Nothing scabbed or crusted. they just started as raised red circles, that flattened after a few hours, and then some turned dark .
In any case, few of the marks have faded after a few weeks, but not completely. its still hyper-pigmented in a few areas. At this point what would you recommend? This client had a history of severe reactions to any other hair removals such as waxing. It seems to be a strong histamine reaction of some sort.

Any idea how long it takes for pigmentation to noticeably fade away? And what can be used to aid with the removal? Would love for everyone to share their experience. for obvious reasons I stopped treatment

#6

i had a very similar reaction on my arms as well took about a month and a half to fade. Never really know what caused it

#7

Sounds like pigmentation, which means settings too high still. Try higher pulse width possibly?