Hi all,
I’m female, 26, and I’m thinking about getting laser hair removal on my arms. However, I am very afraid that it will induce more hair growth or that it will come out patchy. The hairs are fine and long, brown with a golden shine. They are not only on my forearms, but also on the back of my upper arms - they reach the part where T-shirt sleeves end. Between these dark hairs and on the very tops of my upper arms, I have very fine, blond peach fuzz, which does not bother me, but I guess it could be potentially triggered by laser and change into more visible hair. My skin is very fair.
I hope the attached photos are visible. I will be very grateful for any advice or if you share your experience.
I’ve had problems with excessive hair since puberty. If I shave or pluck hairs on ANY part of my body, they become thicker and darker. That’s why waxing or shaving my arms is not an option. I had blood tests taken by both gynecologist and endocrinologist, but PCOS was not confirmed and my levels of male hormones was borderline, but not high enough to be treated by medication. I suppose my hairiness is at least partly inherited, it runs in my family.
Just to sum up my laser hair removal experience: I started shaving my legs when I was about 13, and by 17, my leg hair has gotten so dark and thick that it was visible under the skin even after shaving and I suffered from terrible ingrown hairs all over. When I was 22-24, I had my leg hair removed by diode laser Lightsheer Duet. After 8 treatments, I was very satisfied with the results, I achieved circa 90% reduction. That’s why I decided to try it on fine hairs of my happy trail and a few hairs on my chin. That did not go well. Just 1 laser treatment, or maybe shaving the hairs once just before the treatment, resulted in more hairs on my chin, even white vellus hairs became thicker. Under my belly button, I’ve had maybe 4-5 laser treatments, but only occasionally, not in recommended intervals. There are some bald patches, but after the last treatment, I believe some of the hairs have gotten longer and darker, and they’ve spread into a wider area.
Recently I’ve started seeing an electrologist for the hairs on my chin, but she refused to do it on wider areas - she said she doesn’t have a needle thin enough for finer hair and it’s too time-consuming. I live in a small country in central Europe, and it’s impossible to find and electrologist willing to treat my arms or belly. I am still thinking about laser, but I am very hesitant. There’s a place with the alexandrite laser CANDELA GentleLASE in my city, might that be a better option for me than diode laser? Or should I abandon the idea altogether?
Sorry for the long post.
I am located in the East of Slovakia. It’s 6 hours by train to Bratislava, 4 to Budapest and 9 hours to Prague. It’s quite difficult for me to travel very far for regular treatments every week or so, because I work a full-time job and most practitioners don’t work during weekends. But anyway, if you happen to know about any good electrologists in the central Europe area, I’d be grateful to know about these options.