Laser gone wrong - My story

Oh if I only found this forum sooner. Like many others on this site, I fell victim to the unscrupulous practices of laser hair removal practitioners. Let me begin by saying I live in New Jersey where you must have a doctor perform laser hair removal on you. In college, I came to a point I could no longer deal with my facial hair problems and turned to laser. I earned every dollar that went to laser, working hours and spent thousands of dollars which I would later find out would go to waste. I trusted my doctor. Her sympathy and understanding sold me. She said I’d get rid of my facial hair with between 4-8 treatments spaced 4 weeks apart. After a the second or third treatment I noticed the hairs were thicker, but I was in denial. I continued to get treatment from her, and she continued to provide it without any guidance nor concern for my condition. Her words, however, were kind and knowledge fair. I trusted her. When I realized that the laser she was providing was not working, I turned elsewhere. A friend had told me about a place in NYC that has an unlimited monthly package. They used a laser different than my doctor back at home. Another $3,000 of my hard earned money as a recent graduate with loans down the whole. The results were temporary on my face and I could not wait until the next month when I could get the next treatment just to be clear for a few weeks. After discontinuing laser at that place because I believed it was no longer worth the expense, the hair came back in full force. Ugh, the anguish I have dealt with over the past year. Thick hair all over my face. I bleached every two days. I was afraid to wax because the hairs came back horribly, thicker, and pimply. I was at a complete loss. I had anxiety and sleepless nights over my thick facial hair.

Thank god for the internet. In my search to find another laser hair removal practitioner to continue treatments on my face, I found this website. I learned that laser hair removal could stimulate growth on the face. Thank god for this. After serious, serious consideration, I decided to begin electrolysis. I wish I took a picture before I began, but the condition was unbearable for me and could not even get myself to take confront it by taking a picture. I began electrolysis with a very skilled electrologyst a little over a month ago. I have completed about eleven hours with a very skilled woman. I have not cleared my face yet, I expect this to take another 5-7 hours. With an extremely busy lifestyle, this is an incredible time commitment. I am thankful to have little regrowth in the areas she has cleared, however I know that I have a long way ahead. In fact after two clearances on the small area that my electrologyst started with, I have had no thick regrowth for the past month. Is this typical?

I am a south asian female with hereditary patterns of heavy hair everywhere. I just want to be able to get past this and be comfortable in my own skin. With almost $6000 down the drain, it is hard to believe anything will work. I won’t say I’m a believer yet, but I am starting to find some hope in electrolysis. I am not sure whether to explain my laser results on this post or not, but if you would like to read what I have to say, I am more than happy to discuss.

Thank you everyone on this website for sharing your stories and hopefully I contribute positively as well.

This is why I always say that I don’t like laser hair reduction for a woman’s facial hair. A good electrologist can handle the hair, no matter what color it is or its structure.

Well, it 's too late to say this now, but $6,000 spent over a period of about 18 months, give or take, could have got you permanent results without stimulating the thousands and thousands of hair follicles that were not a problem on your face before. I say this to others that may be on the verge of lasing their faces.

You are now on the right path with a professional electrologist, so this nightmare will come to an end soon. The area you are excited about has only been cleared for one month’s time. You have layers of hairs that will come forth in dribs and drabs over the next nine months, so fasten your seatbelt and stay true to a good schedule to get any new hair that comes to the surface. This is all normal due to the nature of hair growth cycles.

If I’m imagining this correctly, you have a face full of hair that can be seen today, but there are many tomorrows ahead where new hairs will come through as other hairs shed. You will see what I am saying as you get further along. Keep at it and don’t become discouraged half way through. Electrolysis works, but in cases like yours, it will take many hours on the table, adhering to a good schedule.

If only you could get back that $6,000 and use it for electrolysis now. This is disgusting. Did you complain about this stimulation to the doctor and the other place where you went? If not, how will they ever know that this happens? When I mention this to other laser specialists, they say they never heard of this happening. Truth? or Lie?

You are a consumer and your feedback is always important. Businesses should know the consequences of their actions, so they can become stronger and make restitution.

It would be great if you could detail your laser experience here. I guarantee you it will be helpful for the new reader to this site and you may spare them the despair that you felt.

Welcome to hairtell and sorry to hear your story, but you are now seeking the right remedy - electrolysis.

I wish I was able to reply earlier, but for some reason I could not sign in at work. You all are very wonderful on this website and am thankful for you graciously offering your advice and knowledge.

The hair on my face was not thick. I just thought it was thick because no other girls had hair on their face like I did. I realize now that that did not necessarily mean I had thick hair. In retrospect it still was relevantly thin. To be honest, I never asked about settings. I did not do my research and just expected the doctor and technician to be knowledgeable enough to treat me. I was dead wrong about that. I know I was treated with a yag with the doctor. With her, I had my face, stomach line and feet done. I believe I received reduction on the stomach line and feet and it has been almost a year later. In NY, I utilized the unlimited package and got many areas done. I never felt any pain and now I realize that was a sure sign she was not treating me right. Btw, they had an apogee elite, which I think can be a yag and alexandrite, so I have no idea what she used. I spent $3000 there.

I did call many times and wrote a letter to the doctor’s office I received laser from. Is there anything else I can do? I knew I was getting into shady services from the laser place in NY, but am in the process of writing reviews cautioning consumers from this place. Moreover, I plan on writing a testimony for my electrologyst who is working on some sort of campaign against laser for the face. I feel strongly about this now and hope that no one else goes through this.

If I may, I’d like to seek your advice, guidance, and knowledge about my electrolysis experience so far. Ms. Fahey, I appreciate your words, but I am not going to lie, it makes me quite nervous. I know this is going to take a long time over many months, but what I feel like your saying is that it could take 30-40 hours? I have been going at this for eleven hours and the thicker and denser hairs are gone on the treated areas. What comes back is finer with the addition of 3 or 4 dark hairs (like hairs that one would find on the bottom chin as they get older). The untreated areas I have left are a little on the sides of my face by my sideburns and about half of my neck. My electrologyst says I am making incredible progress and the results I’m seeing are not typical in her experience. The only area that I am experiencing significant regrowth is my chin area.

I hope that in explaining my experience others will be able to follow and have some hope.

Your story is unimaginable. Please discuss this with the laser-doctor and recover at least some of your money. Consult and attorney because you have been damaged. I believe all procedures such as electrolysis and laser have an implied guarantee. It does NOT matter that you may have signed something. My work, for example is specifically guaranteed: I tell the client that if he/she will follow my instructions and allow me to do my work and if they are not satisfied completely, they get 100% of their money back. I don’t think that’s asking too much from those in the business to remove hairs permanently?

I don’t even know where to begin to get my money back. I don’t have pictures and I began electrolysis because it was unbearable. Now that I almost done with the first clearance, it would be hard to show? I know I went about it the wrong way, but it was all out of desperation I suppose…

In order that we could do an approximate estimation of the hairs that will appear, you must give us some information:

How much time has happened between the last session of laser and the beginning of the Electrolysis?

What system of temporary elimination have you used meanwhile (waxing, shaved, to cut with scissors)? If it is that you have used someone, and when was it the last time?

Hairgoaway, I can imagine what you are going through. The best way to try to get your money back is to complain and write reviews about the place. You can file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau ( bbb.org ) and find the listing of the Laser place and file a complaint.

With regards to what is happening, you should also check your hormones as stimulation could also be a sign of a slight imbalance.

The last time I had laser was November of last year 2009, so over a year ago. For temporary purposes, I just bleached (literally bleached every other day, and each time had to keep the bleach on for almost half hour to be a little effectively and which not to mention extraordinarily irritates the skin). I waxed once at the end of October 2010 and since then just shaved as they started to grow in bc it was coming back in all pimply and did not want to have that issue with waxing. So, basically before I started electrolysis in December, I let the hair grow for a month and change. There is one area on my neck that I used to thread, and have gotten that area cleared twice, but continually see significant regrowth there. I kind of think that it’s because of the threading that I am noticing noticeable/significant growth there.

For the money issue. Maybe I have to rationalize with this. Right, I did not get my moneys worth. However, I believe I did get reductions in some areas. I don’t think all the money was entirely wasted… and now I guess I have looked at it as a sunk cost. I just don’t even know how I could ever recover any of that money.

I have pulled some files related to some of my female clients that are victims of laser hair stimulation. Two of them are, as I see it, normal,fine, and beautiful, but they want to continue with the hair removal and GOD BLESS ME, they know that I can see every last blond hair and expect me to serve them! Just to give you an idea of hours and insertions made:

client A = 92 hours and approx. 70,000 insertions
client B = 98 hours and approx. 68,000 insertions
client C = 62 hours and approx. 62,000 insertions

All this blond fuzz can be corrected, but you have to know when to stop and be satisfied. Women are supposed to have fine vellus hairs on their face. These women are on my table two or more hours at a time, up to five hours per session. Two are now seeing me on an every 6-8 week schedule. One comes as she wants. Outcome is nice and emotions are much better - happiness reigns. If you can’t recover your money, then too bad. I’m just telling you from my experience as an electrologist that likes working on peach fuzz, this is not easy. That is why I get so worked up about these laser stimulation cases. To fix this can be expensive and timely, but I do get a new best friend who enjoys listening to NPR with me as we work away. There is always something to be positive about… :confused:

Can you submit a picture?

ALso, I do believe an attorney came to this site years ago inquiring about this subject for class action pursuits. You can do a search here or on google???

Romeo - I noticed your post after I posted this. I am going to take up that advice and report them to the BBB, as well as write reviews. Thanks.

It is a pity that you were not beginning with the Electrolysis just after the bleached (before the waxing). This would have allowed to kill the maximum density of hairs for every zone of the face and the neck in the first clearance.
(50 % minimum/more than 99% maximum, -will never be 100 % because any hairs falls down daily during sedding phase)

One month from the last waxing it is very well for the face, but it is not sufficient time in order that the majority of the hairs are present in the surface of the skin (it is necessary that they are visible to be able to be killed), for what it is not strange that for some 3 months from the beginning of the treatment, appear hairs in the treated zone.

The majority of the emergent hair will be increasingly thin because they are hair that they need more time to appear (new root with waxing). Do not worry if any thick hair appears between the thin hair, this is normal during the first 3 months, nevertheless, your hairs, every time, will turn out to be more distant some of others.

I agree with Romeo, to leave witness of your case in the competent organism.
But my advice is that you do not spend your money in a judicial process. You it will be very difficult to demonstrate that the increase was produced by the laser. How to be sure that it was not a consequence of the age or the racial inheritance? An expert dermatologist would throw below all your arguments -in front of a judge, without giving you time to blink.

I am going to try to get some money back, but if I can’t I think I just need to deal with the loss and move forward. Everyone makes mistakes right? Ugh, to know that I could have spent at least half of that on my loans is infuriating, but I can’t linger on it… I suppose I know what works now and need to just invest the time and money on that…

Depilacionelectr - The untreated areas on my face used to be prickly to the touch. I could not bare being seen in the sun because I felt that I had a shadow on my face bc of the shaved hair. Now on the treated areas, it is definitely not prickly (I don’t really shave it either, only right after I get treated once a week to have a clean face) and definitely don’t feel like I have a shadow in the treated areas when I am in the sun. I guess my first concern with the electrolysis timeline is the number of THICK hairs, which I began with. Those hairs seem to have the shortest cycle and grow fast. I believe those were the hairs present when I began electrolysis. Now that those are mostly gone on the areas treated, every once in a while a dark hair like those will pop up. (And for everyone out there, I think this has been an incredible improvement and am feeling better about my appearance after each appointment.) Everything else is thinner regrowth for sure. I guess my question is, how long can I expect the dark hairs to keep popping up?

I just realized I need to be a little clearer with my language. I had coarse hair on my face, not necessarily thick (dense) after being treated with laser…

Hiya,

I don’t think anyone can give you an exact timescale as it is dependent on a lot of factors. Such as: How strong are the hairs? How aggressive is your electrologist being in treatment? etc. But you will see a marked difference in a few months.

In my experience, you will have two things happen now. Some thick hairs will come up which weren’t present when you started treatment and will need treating for the first time, and secondly, the treated hairs will grow again but if the treatment is working, then they should be at least finer.

If you keep going for regular maintenance, your electrologist will be able to zap them before you even notice them. A few months down the line, you will find you need less frequent treatments for this maintenance.

When I started electrolysis, I had some coarse chin hairs that wouldn’t bleach, along with my bleached fuzz. For the first few months, there was something (in the way of these black chin hairs) for my electrologist to zap every week. After some four or five months, they no longer existed. Those hairs may still have been present but they were then fine enough that they took the bleack and blended in with the rest. From then on, I continued to have some work on my chin to reduce the fuzz but I never again felt the stubble of a thick hair trying to emerge.

Stoppit&tidyup - It just hit me what your username means lol. Did you experience laser induced hair growth? I am happy with the progress I am making (just wish I would have gotten to the first clearance by now so I don’t have that prickly feeling anywhere on my face). I am fine with bleaching in between and my electrologyst targeting the darker pigmented/coarser hairs. I really don’t find it a big deal at all and am comfortable with that. Is that what you have come to be comfortable with? I mean I am going into this not thinking I am going to remove every little hair on my face.

Ms. Fahey if you could clarify, the cases you are referring to, were they women with a lot of peach fuzz? I really wouldn’t consider the hair that I am targeting peach fuzz. I am fine with that and with bleaching every once in a while. I am totally okay with that. I don’t think my face could ever be completely bare with the hereditary genes I have.

Btw this forum is so cathartic I can’t even begin to explain.

Unfortunately, no. I found this forum whilst researching Laser, which I was already hesitant about. It became clear that Laser wasn’t appropriate for my face. So I started Laser for my body and electrolysis for my face at about the same time.

And yes, I agree with you about the hairs. There is still some more work I need to do with my beard and neck area as a good proportion of my bleached fuzz is a bit longer than I’d like. But the most problematic areas - sideburns, upper lip, coarse chin hairs, tidying eyebrows are done. I’m pretty comfortable with myself now and only see my electrologist once a month. I will also be taking a break after my current package finishes (1.5hrs left).

It still may take a year to 18 months to completely get rid of all the hair but towards the end you may only be going once every 4-6 weeks for a few hairs. The bulk will be done in 9-12 months I would predict, as long as you are regular.

Quick question stopit. How long has it been since you’ve gotten laser done?

I began my underarms in July 2008 and I believe they were “finished” with my 6th treatment in Summer 2009. There was still hair left that I felt would be better treated with electrolysis, so I switched to that. I haven’t been completely regular with it, especially over the last six months-1year as I wanted to use my electro package time more on my face. I have about 20 or so hairs left on each underarm that I would still want removed but it can wait.

You can read my progress in the thread linked my sig. My last leg treatment was in Jan 2010 and it was my fourth (only front of thigh and front of lower leg near the knee. The rest of the legs only needed 3 treatments.

If you have noticed that the thick hair already does not puncture in only one month, it is because your electrologist is doing very well the things.

And since this is a fact, the black hair that you see cannot be treated hair. The majority of the treated hair die with an alone time, and if they manage to be regenerated are late a bit more of time in appearing. And certainly, you do not discover them with the sense of the tact.
The first symptom of which the things work is that the skin changes in the color and in the tact (major homogeneity and major smoothness)

When your economic situation allows it to you, it would be nice that you were adding a few minutes only to eliminate the longest thin hair, of this form you will be improving progressively and that this thin hair and more lengths do not turn into thick and black hair.

I have observed that the first symptom of stimulation is a change in the length of the blond and thin hair, later they become thicker and black.

[quote=“depilacionelectr”]

I agree with this last point. I would notice this happening. I know someone asked this question before, but how long do you think the stimulation lasts? I mean I have not gotten laser on my face in over a year. Almost one year and two months to be more exact. I mean do you think that I will be getting stimulated hairs more than I have now in areas that I don’t see stimulation? For example, I have stimulated hairs all the way down to where my adams apple would be (I am a female but just giving you an idea)? Do you think that the hairs below that (fine vellus hairs) will of a sudden turn into terminal hairs? I did not get treated below that… All of this is making my head spin :-/