Laser hair removal on back

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

First of all, hello everyone. This is my first post and I’ll try to keep it as brief as possible, but please bear with me as I do have a lot of questions.

I’m a 24-year-old male who happens to be covered in very dark, coarse hair. The hair on my chest doesn’t bother me much, but my hereditary back hair has been the cause of most of my self-esteem problems since the day I turned 18. I tried treating my back with IPL before, but the results were pretty much underwhelming.

I got an appointment for my first LHR session next week. My back is pretty much covered in hair, so I’m looking at at least 10 sessions here. However, I couldn’t find as much data as I’d like on google, and I’m not comfortable moving on with the treament without these answers.

1 - How ‘permanent’ is laser hair removal? I’m not naïve and I’m not expecting 100% removal, and I do have a lot of hair. I know the laser is supposed to permanently kill affected hairs, but I also know the human body is supposed to produce new hair. If I carry on with 10 treatments and then stopped going back for anual touch ups, will my back hair eventually grow back as full and coarse as it used to be?

2 - How long should I wait between treatments? The doctor said the minimum I should wait between sessions is 21 days, but as far as I can tell I’d be treating the same hair I treated in the last sessions. Shouldn’t that count as touch ups?

3 - The only laser I could find in town is a diode one, a LightSheer one. Is it as effective as the alexandrite ones? They seem to be the most popular in the forums.

4 - Is it possible to only reduce the quantity of hair withouth patchiness? Like I said, my chest and stomach hair doesn’t botter me much, but I’d like it to be a little less coarse.

5 - I’ve heard that treating shoulders and upper arms can increase hair growth. I’ll be treating my back, my neck and my shoulders. I usually shave my neck hair, so I’m not sure how coarse it is, but it grows back pretty fast (I have a lot of stubbles in a day after shaving). Should I be worried about growing MORE hair on my neck? (my shoulder hair is pretty thick, and I’m not planning on having my upper arms done for now)

My skin, from what I can tell, is a type I or II. I do not tan easily, and I’m very pale. I’ll be providing pictures as soon as I can find a decent camera.

Thank you all so much for your help in advance, and forgive my english, I’m not a native speaker.

#2

Hey there, hope this helps:

  1. Laser hair removal is permanent, the hair will not grow back unless the tech uses too low of a setting. Yes your body may produce new hair in the future but it’s new growth it’s not the same hair coming back. It will never come back like it was unless you have an underlying hormone problem. You probably wouldn’t even need annual touchups.

  2. You need to judge for yourself how long to wait, but generally I’d wait at least 8 weeks. At 21 days you should have no hair on your back as it should have all shed out by then so there shouldn’t be any hair there left to treat at 21 days. You need to do a session, wait for all the hair to fall out then wait for it to all grow back in the next cycle then go again. I find this is usually around 8 weeks.

  3. Diode is okay and you should have good results if the hair is dark and coarse. Alexandrites are generally the best as they can target even finer hairs but if it’s not available then Diode is definitely good as well at the right settings. You just want to avoid IPL.

  4. You can definitely do a reduction, but you need to make sure the tech knows this and has experience with it. They need to make sure they treat you 100% and overlap. Even one spot missed will lead to a patch of more hair there, so make sure they know your desires.

  5. Shoulders and upper arms can induce growth if the settings are too low, you should be okay though if they use high settings on you. Again you want to go as high as you possibly can even if it hurts. Like LAGirl always says on here, pain shouldn’t be what you go by for treatment settings, it should be how high your skin can handle without burning.

Hope that helps, your English sounded perfect to me :slight_smile:

#3

Please read the FAQs at the link below asap. I would recommend not to go to your appt just yet until you can do more research and we can help.

Can you post a photo? I’d like to see how coarse and dense the hair actually is.

#4

Sorry I took so long to reply.

So, I bought a new camera, and I would take a picture, but I just shaved my back and chest for a rugby match in the coming days. So I’ll wait a bit longer before providing you guys with a caption of my chest n’ back pelt!

I ended up not going to my appointment yet, but I’m confident this clinic it at the very least much better than the previous one. They aren’t sure they can do reduction though, I’ll try to be more specific the next time I talk to the technician and the dermatologist, maybe I wasn’t specific enough. That or I need to find another laser clinic in the area (which will be very hard, as I explained before).

Thank you guys, this forum is really a godsend for people looking for noise-filtered information.

Cheers!

#5

That would be great.

To answer a couple of your original questions:

  • No, you can’t get 100% removal with laser alone, BUT you can remove 95%+ of coarse hair. Laser only works on coarse hair. After a bunch of treatments on coarse hair, there will be a bit of finer hair left, inevitably. But that shouldn’t dissuade you from removing the majority of it. If you want 100%, you will need to finish up those finer hairs with electrolysis.

  • Yes, upper arms, shoulders, and upper back can develop more hair if you’re treating hair that’s not both coarse and dense and with high settings.

  • Yes, treatments at 3 weeks should be free touchups on missed hair (the only hair that should be there at that point after shedding). Due to hair cycles, it should take 8-12 weeks to need another full treatment on the next phase of growth.

#6

Hello again, I’m uploading the pics tonight.

I didn’t take pictures of my back and shoulders because I’m keeping them shaved for my series of matches this month, and god knows I’ve had enough of locker room jokes!

However, I took pictures of the hair growing on my abdomen and chest. Plus, I’m considering laser for my neck because I get lots of ingrown hairs there when shaving. I’m planning on getting my back, back of the neck, shoulders and possibly abdomen done.

I still haven’t booked an appointment with the clinic. I’m trying to find someone using alexandrites in my town, but apparently everyone uses diodes and there are people using IPL claiming to be lasers. I’m a bit nervous and I still don’t know if the results with a diode laser will be good enough for me.

Cheers!

#7

Diode is still good, alex is just a bit better at getting more fine hair but you still will get results as long as they use high enough settings. Don’t do IPL at all it’s a waste. I did it on my abdomen and I did have great results but I’ve noticed some hair has come back and I just don’t think it’s worth it. Does anyone use a yag?

#8

Diode is fine if the clinic is experienced with it because it’s harder to use. When you go for consultations, ask what settings they will use and post them here so we can tell you whether they’re too conservative (joules, pulse width, spot size)

#9

I went to talk to the clinic’s dermatologist last friday. They will start treatments with 33J, but unfortunately I can’t remember the pulse width and spot size they mentioned. I’ll call them tomorrow and ask for those again.

Unfortunately, all the technicians there seem to use the gliding method. They mentioned the striping pattern as a result but actually made sure they would catch those later. I keep my back shaved most of the time, those are not the problem, really. From what I’ve read from the forums, it seems gliding is not effective and hair reduction will not be permanent, is that correct?

It kinda pissed me off that they’re the best clinic I can find in town. There’s nobody else left, only IPL techs left and right and no electrologists to be found. Also, they’re pretty much the only ones I could find which seemed to know what the heck they were talking about. My previous experience with IPL made me very picky, but I’m not sure it’s gonna be enough right now.

EDIT: I’ve searched google for both Candela’s and Lumenis’ websites, and, comparing the spot size of the machines I saw on those websites and the one I saw on the clinic, I’d have to say that the one on the clinic is the older model with the 9mm spot size. Can this machine be effective? Or should I lose hope altogether?

#10

Just posting this to make information on the post above easier to read:
After analysing my skin type and coarseness of my hair, they settled on 33J, I’m pretty sure they have an older, 9mm spot-sized machine, and probably set on auto.

That would make the settings 33J at 9mm spot-size and 15-16ms pulse-width, I guess, right?

#11

Those settings are decent. And yes, LightSheer has eitehr 9mm or 12mm spot size.

They can glide, but they need to make sure to press down and to overlap. You can potentially ask them about it. My concern is that they think striping is normal and can’t be avoided, which is not true. It’s only the case when not doing gliding properly, i.e. not pressing down and overlapping.

Can you add your location to your profile?

Also, check out tips on finding clinics at the third link below.

#12

I think the striping thing comes with the clinic being run by a dermatologist. He seems a bit wary of burning the patients/customers, so he prefers not to overlap and get the missing spots later. That’s just a guess, of course. I shave most of the time, so if the end result is as good as with overlapping it’s not a major concern, at least for now.

The main problem is my location. I live in southern Brazil, the majority of laser clinics are located in Sao Paulo, which would take a long trip to get to. Kinda like going from Atlanta to LA just to have laser hair removal. And even there I doubt there are really good clinics with excellent technicians. Like I said, this clinic was the best I could find at a reasonable travelling distance.

#13

The problem is that you may never even out the area “later”. It can remain patchy. And in order to achieve it, you’d need about twice as many treatments, which are of course not free either.

It’s up to you what to do. I’m just letting you know what to expect so you can make a decision having facts in front of you.

Also, all treated hair should shed within 3 weeks after the treatment. Whatever doesn’t wasn’t affected and should really be touched up then at 3 weeks, for free.

#14

Oh, that definitely does change things a lot. Thanks for the info, I’ll try searching for other clinics again and talk with other technicians.

You guys are a lot of help, I can’t thank you enough, really!

#15

Here are my results from using lightsheer on 35J with a 9mm spot size.

As you can see - pretty damn ugly burns.

I would be VERY cautious with what joules you use and thoroughly spot test first. Personally I’d just stay away from the lightsheer.

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#16

So, I’ve found another clinic in the area. I went in for a consultation and the doctors and technicians want to start the treatment at 35J. They use the same machine as the previous clinic (9mm or so) and a set fluence of 30ms. I don’t know if these settings are good or not. (I have very light skin and very dark hair, coarse hair on my back, shoulders and torso. My camera died AGAIN so the pics are not gonna happen that soon, sorry about that!

I wanna thank you guys again for the support, it’s been a boon!

#17

Those are good settings if you’re a skin type III or lighter. Ask them to do a test spot.

#18

I’ll do that. I’m not sure of my skin type, but I’m at least as pale as (if not paler than) lenno.

Thanks!

#19

Look up the Fitzpatrick skin chart. One is also in the FAQs at the link below. You should read that entire thing anyway before you do anything if you don’t want to get taken at a clinic. There are many clinics who will tell you anything to get your money and there are no refunds.

#20

Time for an update.

I looked the charts up and I’m pretty certain I’m a two. Most of my body hair is either dark brown or jet black.

I went to the clinic for a test patch at 37J fluence with the previous settings (8mm, 30ms fluence) unchanged. While it stang and hurt, my skin didn’t seem to react badly. Only a few bumps and redness that disappeared the very next day. The doctor at the clinic said he could zap 75%-80% of my back and shoulder hair, but results would be better on my chest and abdomen (is there a reason for this? Root deepness, maybe?). Are they trying to underpromise and overdeliver? I can’t tell.

Also, I found a beauty clinic which offers electrolysis services, I’m just not sure they do it on men. It seems to be a very women-only clinic. Couldn’t contact them because we where on holidays, but I sent them an email and I’m calling this afternoon.

My plan right now is to remove what I can from my back and shoulders, and maybe reduce the area and density of abdominal hair combining laser and electrolysis. I’d also be satisfied with a slight reduction in density and coarseness on the chest, but I’m mostly fine with it’s coverage (even though it’s a bit much for Hollywood’s tastes, I guess).

That’s all for today, folks! I’ll thank you again for all the help.