Induced Hair - When to stop LHR on male beard?

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

I am a guy who is just starting the long process of transitioning. I am not yet on hormones but as my age is slowly ticking away (late 40s), I thought it best to start on LHR for my beard area before too many greys set in. I have had 2 treatments already and coming up for my 3rd - the results so far have been pretty encouraging (I have dark brown hair which is/was very coarse and dense on my face). I have also had laser to my bikini area, feet and legs and I consider the results from that to be successful (last session for these was 3 years ago).

My question then. I have read that it’s possible to get induced hair growth after LHR on the face. Could you please advise when it’s best to stop the LHR treatments and start electrolysis (I don’t want to just continue in ignorance and then find induced hairs starting to come in and ‘undoing’ all of the good work done by the laser).

I’ve been having YAG treatments and have noticed obvious shedding followed by significant reduction to the 5 o’clock shadow - I’m guessing that I will need at least a further 3 or so sessions yet.

Thanks in advance.

#2

From what I’ve seen, this is only the case for genetically-born women (is that a proper term?) I’ve done laser on my beard and a lot of coarse hair became finer, but even doing laser again over that now-finer hair did not result in induced growth. I basically did a few sessions (~5? I think) to try and reduce the density, and basically I’ll work on finishing up with electrolysis now. It’s possible another 1-2 laser treatments on my face could reduce it further, but it seems my neck has reached its limit on how far it will go, and I’m not sure if I’ll see enough reduction on the rest of my face to make electrolysis worth it. For example, I could do more laser and probably not have to shave my cheeks later, or it will take about 1 hour of electrolysis to do a clearance on my cheek. I’m going the cost-effective route.

My suggestion would be to do laser until you don’t think it will be cost-effective anymore, and then switch to electrolysis. Just me 2 cents

#3

Thanks very much for your reply Brenton.

Ciswomen is the correct term but don’t ask me what the ‘cis’ stands for.

I have a further 5 sessions with the laser to go yet and so I will continue as I planned. I am really hoping that I can get nearly all of the hair gone and dramatically reduce the amount of electrolysis I need to have. I was just worried about getting induced hairs if I carried on for too long with the laser but you have allayed my fears. Once again, thanks very much.

#4

I agree, it’s more of a female problem. You may find that your beard may be patchy or have circles and these may never fully disappear. electrolysis will even it out. Look at the link for other peoples stories. http://www.realself.com/review/12-tx-male-beard-laser-hair-removal-disaster

I did touch ups for a mans beard. He had lasered it for 5+ years and he was fine with the patchiness since he thought it was better than dealing with ingrowns. He come back once a year to help thin it again.

#5

Thanks CareBearhair,

I’m now 1 week after my 4 out of 7 treatments with Alexandrite to my male facial hair. So far it’s going pretty well but it’s too soon to talk of any kind of success rate. I’m not on female hormones yet and hope to be close to (if not already on them) by the time it comes to moving from LHR to electrolysis. So far I’ve experienced some patches growing in but they seem to be eradicated with the next treatment and (fingers crossed) I have nothing as extreme as the guy in your link - if I were him, I would have transferred to electrolysis some time ago.

#6

If you find success has stopped after a number of treatments, switch to the ND Yag since the penetration depth of a yag is deeper and some hair roots are out of reach for the Alex or Diode. Beard hair are usually pretty deep. Since you will be having electrolysis after I’m sure the Alex will work out fine for you.

#7

So very sorry for misleading anybody… for the above please read - I’m now 1 week after my 4 out of 7 treatments with [color:#FF0000]YAG[/color] to my male facial hair. So far it’s going pretty well but it’s too soon to talk of any kind of success rate. I’m not on female hormones yet and hope to be close to (if not already on them) by the time it comes to moving from LHR to electrolysis. So far I’ve experienced some patches growing in but they seem to be eradicated with the next treatment and (fingers crossed) I have nothing as extreme as the guy in your link - if I were him, I would have transferred to electrolysis some time ago.

Thanks again CareBearhair - yes, I chose YAG because I read here that it is better for the deeper male facial hair. Sorry for misleading - I had Alexandrite on my legs, bikini area and feet.