Hi there, I am one of the many people who believed that laser hair removal was the solution to thinning out my arm hair, it has been about a year since my last laser session on my arms, however, the hair has grown back much longer than ever, is there any way of shortening the hair back to its normal state, i know elevtrolysis can remove some of the hairs but this will not solve the issue of having long hair below the elbow and none above.
As far as I know there is no permanent solution to controlling length of hair. You can either thin out the density or completely remove the hair with electrolysis, but nothing can make your follicles grow shorter hair. Your option is to just trim the growth.
I have observed the same phenomena of my chest hair growing in long and straight after laser treatments. I’m not sure if the hair actually got longer or they appear longer because before laser, they would naturally grow in wavy or curly pattern making them look shorter.
I don’t want to completely remove the hair because that was never my goal I just wanted to reduce the amount, however now the hairs are very long I fear that if I try and reduce the hairs they will look long and sparse which will not look natural
Same phenomenon here on my under arms. Also can’t tell if this is due to laser hair removal or from growing straightforward. Normally I have curly body hairs.
My solution was also to use electrolysis and yes, this made things better. Actually some of them looked quite unnatural, like damaged roots.
I’ll see if I can get permission to post a photo … but a nice young guy had 8 laser passes, and while it looks like some hairs were killed … what remained (lots of hairs) are now growing wild: longer and straight out. it looks horrible. The fix is going to be total removal … not anything he’d anticipated.
Oh, the area was the chest …
This isn’t giving me much hope, I really don’t want bare arms as this is not normal on a male, I just wanted a reduction! Is there no way that the hair can be reduced but not totally removed and still look good?
Lots of men don’t have any hair on their arms, there is nothing unnatural about that.
No one can guess here what can and can’t be done in your situation. Go visit several electrologists and see what they say. Or post your pics and perhaps Michael Bono can give advise. Every situation is unique and there is no generalized answers or guarantees that you will end up with results you picture in you mind.
Fenix i understand what you are saying, but to me that is a very last option, I have been hiding my arms under clothes for 2 years now though so I am getting to the point where I feel like there is nothing that can fix this! Here are some pictures http://myalbum.com/album/9sMfztHpEtmG , any advice is welcome.
I must be missing something. I don’t see anything in those pictures that looks unnatural. Laser can certainly thin out hair provided the technician uses good settings and overlaps properly (from your picture, I’m guessing the former wasn’t satisfied)
I’ve learned that what the person sees on himself is what they see on themselves; my opinion on "what is appropriate’ is inconsequential and irrelevant. People want what they want, and they have a right to it too: it is, after all, their body!
My suggestion would be to try a trimmer and clip the arm hairs down to about half their length. Within a year or so, the hairs might return to their original length (as they go through several growing cycles).
I also personally agree with you that forearm hair on a guy looks better than cleared … mostly this depends on your race, e.g., Asian guys look fine with no arm hairs … an Italian would look odd with such an appearance; especially if he had a thick black beard. Somehow, the whole picture has to fit together.
The problem mostly is that the hairs near the elbow are now really long so it goes from long hair to nothing very quickly, ideally id like to transition this so its a gradual change which is what it is like on most people, I am Indian so my race is generally quite hairy and I don’t think i would suit being entirely hairless, but your opinion is always welcomed Micheal!
I’ve had comments such as ‘why does you hair just stop there’ when ive tried to just wear a t shirt, so I dont do it any more.
Yep … the kid I’m working with is Indian too: a “hair pie” like I WAS!
We had a disagreement about what to do with his arms: I had it looking great … a perfect transition from lower arm (untreated) to bare shoulders. He wanted the entire upper arm cleared 100% … “fight was on” … and he won.
I’m SUPER hopeful that the ONE clearance of (lower) half of the upper arms will satisfy the guy … if not, I don’t know what the next step is going to be. He can’t have totally bare upper arms and FULL growth on the lower arms. As you say, this looks terrible! If he says "yes,’ I’ll post his photos … or maybe do a Youtube video on “what no to do!”
And yes, I did what I didn’t recommend … I know I’m going to have to “pick up the pieces” when he realizes what this looks like. Sometimes patients should listen to their electrologists?
I know it just doesn’t look right at all! I always look back and wish i never touched my arms because they were never hairy to begin with. I’m going to see an electrologist on tuesday, any questions that I should ask to ensure that she knows what she is doing? Or i may just have to fly out to the US to work with you michael.
Oh golly … no need to come over here (although the surf IS UP!).
Your arm case is super easy; I would have her thin the area … not clear. Arms are typically not very painful so she’ll be able to go at a pretty good “clip.” (I’d go with a nice fast thermolysis on this case.)
Just take it slowly, and progressively look at the hairs and stop when it looks about right to you.
(Don’t beat yourself up either … no regrets “mate!”)
That makes me a whole lot more confident! which area should be thinned the bit just above the elbow or on the elbow itself? I just need a general consensus to see if it matches what she is going to say.