Hi,
i know there’s some expert’s here and i hope u can give me an answers because i’m really confused, no matter how much i search on the net i’m still confused.
My questions are mostly about the sitting.
1- I know that the higher the energy is the best result u get, but how can you determine the pulse to use? let’s suppose that the spot size is 10 or 12mm. for an alex laser.
I know that for the dark skin it’s better to use a high pulse like 40 or 50 and it’s also good for the coarse hair (plz correct me if i’m wrong)
2- Does the pulse 40 effect thick and fine hair or only thick hair? le’s suppose you have a skin type IV, is it better to use pulse 40 in the first session for a fine hair or it should be 20?
3- I’ve read in a previous posts that GentleLase is the best for the fine hair, does it mean that it’s not effective for the thick hair?
4- Is it safe to combine 2 treatments at the same time? Like IPL then laser?
i think you’re confusing yourself a bit. coarse hair is easiest to treat with any laser. finer hair is harder to treat with any laser, but some like alexandrites do a better job since they’re more powerful. However, more powerful=more chance for burning too since laser works by being attracted to the dark pigment. The higher the joules, the higher the spot size, the lower the pulse = the more effective it is on most hair. GentleLASE pulse is set at 3ms and doesn’t change. On some other machines, it’s adjustable. 10 mm spot size is pretty small. 12mm and up is better. GentleLASE offers 18mm (20 joules max), 15mm (30 joules max etc), and 12mm sizes. If you’re using a lower spot size, you need to up the joules. Basically 18mm/20joules puts off approximately same amount of power at 15mm/30 joules. So it’s both things that matter. Lower pulse is more effective, but also more dangerous on darker skin. So, if you’re burning at 30 joules and 30ms on a LightSheer diode for example, increasing pulse to 100ms may prevent burning, etc.
The answer to your last question is : why would you do that? IPLs are generally inferior to true lasers on all types of hair.
so you increase the pulse only to prevent burning, not for the hair thickness? and do you mean that pulse 10 and 5 actually do a good job for the coarse hair? of course with a high influence and large spot size.
I know that IPLs are not true lasers, but the practitioner told me that she will start the session with the IPL because she can reach the pulse 40 cause i have a combined hair (coarse and normal) and the higher the pulse is the more effective it is for the coarse hair… and then she’ll switch me to laser because she’ll use pulse 20 for the normal hair. because their laser can reach pulse 20ms max.
I asked her when do you use pulse 10 and 5 she said we never do because it will only burn the surface of the hair not the hair follicle, it will be like waxing or shaving and you’ll never benefit from the session.
Please tell me that she’s not stupid and she didn’t waste my money.
P.S i’m skin type 3 dark hair my tolerance with pain is great.
I can tell you one thing. Argueably the best laser on the market is GentleLASE alex (which I was treated with btw, all on coarse hair) and it has a set pulse width at 3ms. And it works best on coarse hair too. Which IPL is she using btw? There are very few that can do as good of a job as a true laser.
Unfortunately, this is not true. And in fact, violates the physic principles that are at the heart of laser hair removal.
Lasers work a little like a microwave in that they heat the hair from within and the heat then radiates to the surface. From their the heat then goes out to the follicle and kills the cells.
The idea that a short pulsewidth will only burn the surface is just wrong.