Just Got It Done

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

So I just got laser hair removal done on my underarms today. I had a huge problem with that because I used to wax so it spread to certain areas where it’s not supposed to be and it was beginning to look and feel really bad (razor irritation)…

Anyway… I don’t remeber which type of machine she used (I already posted about that once, apparently it was a good one for my skin type II - brown hair).

She said it would feel as a rubber band snapping on my skin; well, it felt that way, only a bit more painful (I’ve had a tattoo done before on my wrist, and laser hair removal felt worse). It was painful but I got through it just fine. It felt like I got my underarms waxed… really sensitive, stingy, and basically like the hair was pulled out of the root one by one. It also smelled like hair burning during the procedure. I mentioned that to the lady who did the procedure, she laughed and said that she’s so used to the smell that she doesn’t notice it anymore. I assume that’s normal?

Anyway… all she did was apply a really cool aloe gel onto the area and used the lasr beam over the general area (covering more around it). After the procedure she said that the hairs were already coming out when she wiped the aloe gel off. I came home later and took a nap. Woke up and checked on it a while later, it felt really sore. It felt like I got waxed basically. It also looks like A LOT of the hairs that were there already came off. There were a few that were visible, coming out of the follicles. She said it was okay to just shave them off because they will fall out on their own anyway. Well, I pulled off a few of them on my own, and they literally just slid out of the follicle.

I know that I will have to have the procedure done again a few times more (at least) to clear the area completely (she said to come back in about 3-4 weeks or so).

So I’m wondering if my procedure went well. Is this how the process is supposed to go? (the hair falling out right away and I didn’t know that it would happen so quickly during just one session.)
And also, I have a few stray hairs that are too light to be taken out by laser, is it okay to get them out with electrolysis because I’m afraid that they might turn dark and course?

P.S. the procedure cost $95 for the whole area.

Thanks!

#2

hi mallow,

well i’m no expert so let’s hear what they say!

but it sounds a bit strange to me. i only every smell burning when the laser hits hairs that were missed shaving or that weren’t shaved close enough to the skin, so it’s not that much, as she goes over the areas again herself with a razor.

i’m a bit confused as to the hairs coming out so quickly?? usually redness doesn’t last very long for me too and it’s definitely not sore later.
as for hair shedding, it occurred about 2 weeks later for my underarms. i then waited until it looked like a full growth before i went for my 2nd treatment, that was about 8 weeks from the 1st.

maybe it’s a different experience because of your skin type and colour? although i’ve never come across that.

#3

I shaved a couple hours before going to the place to get the laser done. The whole time she was doing the procedure it smelled like burning hair, which I thought was kind of icky but she said that she didn’t notice since she’s used to the smell. I waxed before (as I already mentioned) and right now the area looks like I got waxed… basically the follicles where the hairs were are kind of bumpy and some of them are red, but many are not. It is not sore anymore (it’s been about 12 hours since I had the procedure done). So the area feels fine now but it definitely looks like I got my underarms waxed.

A lot of the hairs that I had there look like they’re almost completely gone… there were only about 5-10 hairs there were sticking out a little bit and literally just slid out of the follicles when I pulled them out with tweezers (I did not have to force them out at all, they literally just came out).

She told me to come back in after I see more growth, but not to wait too long… she told me to wait about a month, which is what I planned on originally anyway since I think that after about a month some of the remaining hair should start growing out again.

She has been doing laser hair removal for 10 years (she also does electrolysis and has even more experience with that - she’s also done laser hair removal on her own legs and says that she rarely has to shave anymore… maybe like once every few months), and gets great results with all her clients.
I am just wondering if quick results are common since I expected the hair to be the same till the get pushed out on their own. Right now it looks like I got the closest shave possible, and a lot of the hair is gone. She told me to just keep shaving them when they grow out but that they will fall out on their own over time. Well, for me it looks like at least 60% of them already fell out. Weird. Maybe it’s just me since I have never seen laser hair removal results before, but it definitely looks better than I thought it would; before the treatment, even after shaving, I could still see all the little dark hairs inside the follicle, but now a lot of them are gone and my skin just looks better.

#4

Hi Mallows – your experience sounds very typical. Everyone is different. When I had my armpits done, it took over a week for the hair to come out. But when my friend had it done (and she was used to waxing) it basically all disappeared instantly. So it all depends on your hair, what you did before, etc. I always shaved my armpits prior to laser, and they were nasty! I had to shave every single day. During the removal, tons of my hairs “jumped out” of my skin, the technician was quite impressed. She said she could even notice the ‘shadow’ of my armpit had already changed drastically.

My armpits were verrrry sensitive after the procedure… I remember not wanting to take a razor to them for weeks. But eventually they healed, and also my friend also commented how sensitive her armpits were also.

It’s been 4 weeks since my first treatment and today is the first day I had to shave, and the only hairs that grew back were really fine, thin brown hairs. All the coarse dark hairs are the first to be destroyed. It’s so cool… I’m very happy with the results, I know you will be too :slight_smile:

#5

I used to wax a long time ago but I stopped after I realized that waxing was making things so much worse. It took me years to realize it but at least I stopped and haven’t done it for a few years.

A lot of the hair seemed to have come out, and like you said, the shadow has changed. It’s been a couple of days since the procedure and the hair is growing back veryyyy slowly. I definitely don’t have to shave but I wouldn’t go out wearing a tank top either because the hairs are still visible. (I also used to have to shave every single day.)
My underarm area was also very sensitive during and after the procedure. The next day I looked at it and some of the hair follicles (mainly the ones that were very prone to ingrown hairs) were really red and irritated. Basically, it was like I got a painful wax and it felt uncomfortable. I haven’t done anything to the area since and don’t plan on it till I see more growth… I think shaving right now would just cause more irritation.

Thanks for the reply. It sounds very promising. I hope I don’t have to get too many treatments done, but as long as I see a significant reduction I’ll be satisfied.

#6

The funny thing I noticed with my armpits when the hair looked like it was growing back, was that I would try to shave them… and my razor seemed to “pull” on the hairs but it wouldn’t cut them - know what I mean? It’s like the razor couldn’t cut the hairs because they weren’t ‘anchored’ into the skin anymore! So I would run the razor along my armpit, and it looked like nothing was shaved, LOL! Let me know if you have that problem, when you do shave… it was very strange to me! But I guess it makes sense – things don’t cut very well when they aren’t affixed under the skin. Don’t worry, the hair eventually falls out and you can shave again, but it’s just a weird thing that I noticed… :slight_smile:

#7

Everything sounds fine. It’s normal for some hair to come out during the treatment. The rest will fall out in the next 3 weeks.

DO NOT SHAVE if you can avoid it. It will speed up the shedding process.

You should NOT come in again in 3-4 weeks. That’s way too early. If everything is going well, shedding will only finish at 3 weeks and you shoudn’t have anything to treat at that point. Treatments should be 8-12 weeks apart. Come in WHEN you see new hair appear.

Right now, the best thing to do is to leave it alone and to just apply aloe vera gel (the clear stuff) to soothe it if you want.

I would find out the name of the machine and settings being used. It can be helpful in the future.

#8

I agree LAgirl, 4 weeks for the next treatment is way too soon. It’s for the client’s best interest - you want to get the most for your money. For best results try to wait 8 weeks, absolute minimum. Otherwise a treatment too soon won’t result in any real benefit. Mallows – see if you can postpone your next appointment by another month?

#9

canuck,

You may want to consider total permanent hair removal when laser has done all it can for your underarms. From the electrolysis side of the fence, I see many lased underarm cases that have very fine and mostly numerous light colored hairs after the series of laser tx’s have been accomplished. That is the time you switch over to electrolysis if you so desire. Some people are just happy shaving these fuzzy wuzzie’s every week or so and then you don’t need to bother with the electrolysis clean up team. For those that want total hair removal, a modernly equipped electrologist can remove all the remaining hairs from both underarms in less than an hour. You will need a few shorter follow up visits after that in the future, but it’s well worth it. I use PicoFlash thermolysis in auto sensor mode set at .4 seconds. MicroFlash would be another great option.

Underarms is one area where laser followed by electrolysis works exceedingly well.

Dee

#10

Thanks for the tip Dee! My goal is complete hair removal in that area, so I will definitely consider electrolysis. Do you know if it works well in the bikini area also? Currently I’m having my full legs + bikini + underarms done now … wish I started this process sooner, I’m getting impatient :slight_smile:

#11

Laser is great for the areas you are focused on. Just know that, electrolysis works well for any area, any hair color, any hair structure on any color of skin. If there were no laser hair reduction options available today, electrolysis would be the only procedure availbale to permanently remove hair, just as it has been for the past century and a half almost (137+ years).

Get proper laser to these areas first and then get proper electrolysis care for these areas after laser has done all it can for you.

Thank canuck,

Dee

#12

If you want 100% removal, you’ll inevitably have to switch to electrolys. Laser can get you to 90-95% removal on the coarse hair, but then you’ll have a bit of fine hair left that laser can’t target. That’s when you switch to electrolysis, which works on all types of hair (laser is just more efficient for coarse dense hair).

Legs have long hair cycles, and you shouldn’t need treatments any sooner than 10-12 weeks apart there.

Btw, you don’t need to argue with the clinic on timing. Just come in when you actually have hair to treat. And if there is a lot of hair that hasn’t shed at 3 weeks post treatment, you need to ask for a free touchup at that point.

#13

I haven’t set up an appointment yet. She asked me if I wanted to schedule one right away but I said no mostly because I don’t even know when I will see new growth (plus I need to pick a day that I have off from work anyway). I told her that I’d come in when I see new growth. She told me to come in when I do see it, but not to wait too long (months). Of course I don’t plan on waiting months to come back in.

Oh, and I know what you mean about the razor and growth thing. I can’t shave. I noticed that some of the hairs were coming out of the skin today and I tried shaving just some of them, but it didn’t really work. The follicles are really bumpy and I think I’d just make matters worse if I shaved… I would probably experience major irritation and razor burn/bleeding so I just left it alone.

#14

Just curious, how long did it take to do your under arms?

#15

Do you mean how long the treatment is or how long it takes to complete a set of treatments?

#16

One treatment only took like 5 minutes or so. It’s strange that my right side (the one that seems to have more hair) took less time to do than the left side. My left side hurt more though probably because I tend to get a bunch of ingrown hairs on the left side, and when she went over those with the lazer it hurt a lot.

The hairs are still falling out but very slowly… it’s only been a week though. Sucks because it’s getting soooo warm outside but I cannot wear sleeveless tops since the hairs are poking out but I can’t shave them… they simply won’t go away. Running a razor over them does nothing. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to wait a couple of more weeks.

#17

My armpit treatment took a whole ten minutes for both. Such a short time for the cost of it, but what can you do? :slight_smile:

Mallows - I hope the weather gets cooler where you live so you won’t miss wearing tank tops :slight_smile:

#18

It takes 2-3 weeks for shedding to complete.

#19

Haha, thanks. It keeps getting warmer but at last it’s supposed to rain so tank tops are not an option but I’ll live.

#20

Wow, okay so it seems like it’s been forever since I got it done… I guess about 4 weeks and there are still a few hairs falling out here and there. They’ve mostly fallen out and now I’m starting to see very minimal, slow, light regrowth in certain areas. I liked not having to worry about it at all for a couple of weeks, but I guess now it’s back to shaving every once in a while till I see a full growth and go back for another treatment.

Cannot wait to get this all over with so I never have to worry about regrowth and shaving on a daily basis.