laser or electro, trying to decide

lx1 · March 1, 2003, 8:27am

Greetings,

I’m a 23 year old male, already with a ridiculous amount of body hair. I’m looking to remove the medium-density hair on my shoulders, and some on my upper and lower back. I’m trying to decide if laser or electrolysis would be more appropriate for my situation. What I’m trying to figure out is:

How costly would electrolysis be for this area?
How time-consuming would it be?
How would these two compare to laser?

Obviously, more exact estimates would be had in a consultation, but I was wondering if anyone had tried to do a similar amount of hair, either by laser or electrolysis, and could give me a ballpark idea. Laser seems like it would be a lot easier, but the permanence of electrolysis is nice too.

Thanks!

ants · March 1, 2003, 12:45am

I personally started with Laser and then now I am having electrolysis. (More of my story is available in Restricted Area.) I’d like to mention that it is not Laser won’t work, but for some areas, I’d prefer to have electrolysis done.

<blockquote>quote:<hr />How costly would electrolysis be for this area?<hr /></blockquote>Electrolysis is charged by time, it is removing each hair one by one. Laser is usually charged by the overall area to be treated.
<blockquote>quote:<hr />How time-consuming would it be?<hr /></blockquote>Electrolysis is very very slow compared to Laser.

Well, you can have a small area done (say small pitch on chest) for 20+ hours with elelctrolysis and only less than 10 min with Laser. However, laser requires multiple treatment and you need to be the right skin/hair colour type.
And laser is classified as permanent hair reduction. (Permanent hair removal may be achieved with repeated treatments.)

If you want to have finer hair instead of completely removing them), Laser is a better choice.

hairnot · March 2, 2003, 3:58am

my 2 cents for u to consider. i started electro in my late 20’s and continued on and off for about 10 years. first, the process is time consuming. . .sold in blocks of 15 min, 30 min, 60 min, etc. one hair at a time second, price varies but, depending on the amt. of treatments it will get expensive. third, depending on the area of ur body being treated i can be painful. . .for me taking asprin before and after really helped.

finally, in my own experience i had work done on my upper arms, shoulders and area below hairline on neck/upper back. after years of treatment and thousands of dollars it all grew back! while the treatment is on-going it stays off for many weeks before growing back and some, maybe most come back finer but, i’ve stopped for several years now and it all grew back. the most success i had was on my upper arms but, i assume everyone is different.

that’s my story so take it for what’s it’s worth. i will now attempt laser and this forum has been great with info. if the laser doesn’t work i guess it’s waxing several times a year? oh well, hope this helps. . .

ants · March 3, 2003, 1:19am

Just add another information.
I noticed the newspaper advertisement yesterday, the Australian Laser Clinic’s ads said “Permanent Hair Reduction.” (The Sun Telegraph, 2 March 03)

The Australian Laser Clinic is where I had my laser treatments, I am very happy with the results.

[ March 02, 2003, 05:20 PM: Message edited by: ants ]

RJC2001 · March 3, 2003, 2:31am

Rates will vary a lot between geographic areas and even among practitioners in a single city. Call and ask for prices over the phone. Some will give ballpark prices over the phone or have a technician talk to you. Getting a consultation will give you the best answers.

FWIW, the first two laser treatments for my back were $700 total but would be more expensive today. I had 50% clearance after those two treaments and 50% after one treatment on my chest. The chest hair was more coarse and responded a little bit better than my back although the back did great.

I have followed up with electrolysis to get those few hairs that the laser missed. Most of the missed hairs were white ones and some were black ones that appeared to have deeper follicles or had become so fine that they would not respond to the laser.

I recommmend laser first with electrolysis follow up. I have found the diode laser (Lightsheer) to be the most effective but the alexandrites can work for you too.

RJC2001