Laser Hair removal (Head)

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

Hi everyone. Have posted before about my LHR all be it a while ago now. Ive had 9 treatments so far with a pretty old Lightsheer system, and am going to start new treatments with a gentle max in about 2 weeks. Im just looking for opinions and advice really on what you guys think so far. Ive basically been having lots of problems with patchy regrowth pretty much ever since day 1 of treatments. So the new techs i am seeing now and myself basically decided to wait a while to let it all grow and then re start treatments from there. So ive been waiting now for about 7 or 8 months which is probably far too long, but im pretty sure now that whats grown is all that is going to in any major way at least. Here are some pics for everyone.

It probably doesnt look too bad to most, but the areas with growth are still dark enough to leave obvious patches even if i shave it. The real problem i have which is one of the main reasons i had the treatment in the first place is that i get very bad folliculitis every time i shave my head, even with the growth that is left and it is really stopping me from shaving my head. Now i am stuck in a very depressing position where i dont feel like i can shave my head and i cant go out in public without a hat looking like i do. Im just hoping that more treatments with a better machine will get rid of some of it. I was looking into electrolysis and still am. I did find someone here in the UK by the name of Sheila Godfrey who has published books on electrolysis and she seems to be held in quite high regard. Unfortunately i have been unable to contact her as of yet.

Does anyone have any suggestions ? Would laser still be able to treat these hairs. Originally i was told by my first tech that i would need about 6 or so treatments. But the people i am with now say for the head it is more around the 15 mark.

#2

Hello.

  1. What were the settings used for your LightSheer treatments? How many weeks apart were your treatments? Did you observe shedding and any reduction?

  2. Quickly glancing at your photos reveals that your hair may not be dark enough for laser. However, GentleMAX is a combo alexandrite/yag laser and is one of the best lasers on the market for LHR. You may be able to get thinning of the hairs such that future shaving may not induce ingrown hairs. Your best bet will still probably be electrolysis. If you post your location in the UK perhaps a fellow contributer on this forum might know the whereabouts of someone recommendable in your area.

#3

Settings for the lightsheer i cant quite remember, been a while since i had a session. All i know is that the fluence was at 60 which he said was the max and it hurt so much that i felt like passing out quite a few times. Didnt help that thre was no form of cooling for most of the treatments and the head size was so small it was always going to be likely that i would get patchy results. Which is why i have changed to a different place now i have educated myself. I wish that kind of pain on no one. for the first 3 or so treatments they were about 6 weeks apart if i remember rightly. I had very think coarse dense hair and it took a few sessions to clear it. I always observed shedding and reduction. Then the rest of the treatments were about 9-12 weeks apart.

The only thing that bothers me about the new place i am with now is the tech there told me she would like to get to a point where i dont need to shave at all and only need to go in for touch ups maybe twice a year. From what i have read on this site it doesnt seem very likely that i can get to this point with just laser alone. So i am a bit confused as to why she would say that.

#4

The hair in the photos looks somewhat fine and light to me.

If you’re going to use GentleMAX, I would ask for Yag settings since scalp hair is deep.

#5

i did ask her about the yag when i had my patch test a few months ago. Seems like a pretty good idea to me. As you say. The hair on the scalp is quite deep. I guess it must be pretty similar to the beard area and i know one other member has had much better results with the yag on their beard. But She basically said that she would not use it on my skin type as it would be extremely painful and it would probably burn my skin. One of the girls is the national uk trainer for cynosure so i guess ill ask her and hopefully she gives it the ok. As long as it doesnt hurt quite as much as the lightsheer on max i should be ok.

#6

Nd:Yag is safe for all skin types.

#7

It makes no sense that it would burn. It’s less likely to burn than any other type of laser. It’s made for darker skin types specifically.