Hi i had laser hair removal about 4 days ago using the gentleLASE and was wondering if people had any tips or advice on what i should be doing now to help the hair shed and general advice. I tried running a search but too many irrelevant posts kept appearing. i heard i should be exfoliating around now and was given some gloves, do i need a special scrub/lotion?
~ i thought it would be a good idea to make a general page about this, on what you should do after treatment.
There is really nothing specific you need to do. At this point, you should just wait 2-3 weeks first without doing anything. Shedding usually doesn’t start until week 1.5 or so as mentioned in the FAQs. If you have irritation, you can apply ice and/or pure clear aloe vera gel a few times a day to help the skin heal. If you have a bunch of pepperspots left 3 weeks after the treatment, you can exfoliate then to help them out. You don’t need a lotion for that. Just scrubbing gently in the shower helps. You can get an exfoliating body wash too.
ok. should i get an exfoliating body wash to use now or after 3 weeks? i would like the hairs to shed a.s.a.p.!
I wouldn’t exfoliate until at least around 2 weeks have passed. You’ll notice it when shedding will start. You should give at least 1.5 weeks for the skin to rest and heal before scrubbing it.
I was never very patient when it came to shedding. I found that washing with a wash cloth was usually enough to get the hair out that was ready to shed.
The exfoliating scrubs always irritated my skin - although I would suffer and through them occasionally to get rid of pepperspots.
Oh - don’t forget to use sun protection! That should be on the after treatment care page.
Jessica, were you able to get your clinic to up the settings?
Also, you mention using a 14mm spot size on GentleLASE in your last update. There is no 14mm spot size on this machine. It’s 12mm, 15mm, or 18mm. Were you talking about the joules?