Lightsheer Duet Settings

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

I had treatments from 2004-2005 with the regular lightsheer, that removed 90% of the hair on my back. I am now back to about 70% reduction without treatments, as some has inevitably grown back over the past 5 years.

I was happy with the efficacy of the laser, but we would use high settings. Back then I really hated my body hair. I would use about 5 bottles of emla on and wrap myself up with saran wrap, and pop a few vicoden on an empty stomach !! My back would get super red and sore, but the hair was destroyed. I am not willing to go through that regimen again however, as in retrospect I do not think it is safe or healthy

Yesterday I restarted treatment at a new clinic using the lightsheer duet. The nurse was very good, has been using the duet for about a year, and spent quite a bit of time talking to me and doing a thorough treatment.

I felt very little pain from the session though, without drugs or cream, so I am a little skeptical it is effective. I did notice redness where the hair was destroyed, but I know if will take 6months to really know if it is working. I will post an update in the fall.

I am a skin type 2 with dark brown hair. Does anyone know if 10.5 joules and autopulse, is a high setting ? I can push her for more next time again. She started at 9, but I felt nothing with it that low, and got her to raise it to 10.5…

And also how many weeks do you recommend between treatments ?

thanks !!

#2

Using 5 tubes of EMLA is beyond excessive and is potentially dangerous.

Opioid analgesics like Vicodin aren’t necessary. Certainly not in addition to EMLA. Watch out for the acetaminophen (paracetamol) content. Unless there is only 500mg per tablet, you should never take more than one. Max acetaminophen per dose is 1000mg and 4000mg per 24h period. Sadly, THOUSANDS of people overdose on both tylenol and Vicodin and end up with liver failure every year.

Using that much EMLA and Vicodin together was really a bad idea.

Re time frame for sessions: please read the FAQ, everything is explained there.

#3

The hair is MUCH less dense than prior to lightsheer treatment 6 years ago, so I consider those sessions a success.

As I mentioned I am not using emla or meds now.

I am only willing to use the Duet at this point. The hair is not that bad, and electrolysis is too time consuming. And I am not willing to put up with the time or discomfort of a laser with a smaller spot size either.

I will see if she will raise it closer to 12J next session. No offense but from your previous posts I see you are very negative on the Duet, but I also see other reviews that are positive. I am going to do 3 more treatments before I draw a conclusion.

#4

Yes, sorry, I see now that you didn’t use EMLA or Vicodin for the last treatment. Still a good idea to re-iterate the safety precaution for any reader toying that idea. :wink:

I assume you aren’t referring to me vis-a-vis previous posts on the Duet as I haven’t said much about it.

Duet is a new machine, so efficacy from it is still to be determined. More input from folks would be really helpful. Conventional LightSheer is a good diode, so hopefully the Duet will be just as good if not better.

Please keep in mind that ANY laser currently on the market is only effective for coarse/dark hair. You mentioned your hair is now finer, which raises a red flag. Post a picture and we can tell you if the hair is coarse/dark enough for laser. If it’s too fine, electrolysis is your only option, as previously mentioned.

#5

It varies, the hair on the lower back is now all very light and you can not even see it really. So the previous laser eliminated all the hair down there. The mid and upper back and shoulders have dark hairs. They are quite dark so I think the laser will be effective. Fortunately the density is much lower than before I was treated (probably one reason it does not hurt much now) so electrolysis could be used as a last resort, but I would probably just shave instead since it does not take long.

I would also be inclined to think that people who had a negative experience with laser are more inclined to post, since they need advice. There are many who are happy with the results and never look for assistance online.

One last thing. The nurse mentioned that Lumenis sent them a new version of the Duet probe last month which she used for my treatment. I did not ask her what the revisions/improvements were though.

I will post a 6 month update in the fall thanks.

#6

Good to hear your lower back has had no regrowth. If you haven’t posted your success story in the success thread, please do so (it would help a lot of people).

Remember, hair needs to be dark AND coarse for laser. Your upper back and shoulder hair is dark, but if it’s not coarse then laser won’t be effective. This area gets poorer results for that reason. With laser, you also run the risk of getting MORE hair in this region.

Since the density of hair is low, electrolysis won’t be nearly as bad as you think. After laser treatments, I cleared the upper quadrant of my back/shoulders with electrolysis in a couple hours. If you get flash thermolysis, the treatment per follicle is pretty quick with little discomfort. It’s also permanent. Definitely something to keep in mind.

#7

Can you post some photos here? You can use photobucket.com. It’s hard to tell you whether any of the remaining hair is coarse enough for laser at this point without that. If it’s not, no settings will work.

#8

Good news, its only been 2 weeks but I have almost 100% shedding. Hairs grew back after treatment but then fell out in the past week. Obviously I will have to see how many grow back before my appointment in late June but so far so good.

No point in posting pictures of a bare back :slight_smile:

#9

They didn’t “grow back”. They came up to shed. :slight_smile:

What you will see next is NEW hair in the next phase of growth grow in, NOT old hair “growing back”.

#10

Man 45, type III and a quarter.

Most everything I know about laser comes from people who will answer you here so they are way more knowledgeable than I am.

I’m just a pro client who feel like saying : “been ther done that”.

I had my back and shoulder done with the same success you had with the lightsheer ET (small piece).

I just finished the rest of the upper body (genitals to the face including also underarm and total arm). Those we’re done with the lightsheer ET for the first 2 or 3 sessions and completed with the DUET (wide piece).

From my point of view the duet did as good a job as the ET. Most of these parts have had 6 or 7 shots (so 3 with ET and 3 or 4 with Duet)and i am happy about the general results.

While I was doing this I also put in a couple of shots on the back and shoulders (done with a great succes but still some hairs from a couple of years ago) with the DUET. While the machine proved it’s effective on me on other body parts, I DID NOT GET ANYTHING BETTER ON UPPER BACK AND SHOULDER. The remaining hair were probably not coarse enough.

On the other parts the arms, especially upper arms it did not respond well (might even have induced here).

I read a lot here that laser stop being effective at some points on man for the upper backs, shoulders and upper arms (diminushing results, or even inducing provide a bad risk/reward situation), and I feel like saying I know why they say that, it’s because, for me, it’s been true.

On the genitals and the face its even thougher, but it’s a different problem, the ND:yag for the last 3 sessions on beard seems to hit what the diod couldn’t (too deep?)

Since I needed electrolysis for the white hair (beard and genitals, I tried it and its not that bad. I am now getting it for the remaining hair all over.

Good luck for the rest of the back, but to me I was at the electolysis point in my life.

Just see electrolysis as going to the gym, you don’t really get results now but a couple of months down the road, you will !

#11

Thanks for your post, QC hair. Add your treatment outcomes to the designated thread for success stories, as your information would be helpful and valuable to many.

Nd:YAG operates at a comparatively longer wavelength (1064nm) with respect to diode and alexandrite (810, 755nm), and therefore penetrates deeper. That’s why it’s helpful for deep beard hairs.

Pubic hair is usually coarse and dense. Provided it’s dark, it responds well to laser.

We also have an electrolysis forum. Please update there as well.

#12

Just a quick update.

It has been 5 weeks since my first treatment with the duet. I see a very large improvement, at least 50% less hair, maybe even great reduction. It is probably too early though to make any firm conclusion. I will head back in 2 weeks for a second treatment. I paid for 4 in total, so it will take a while before we get the final result.

Also, maybe it is just me but I notice more hair on my shoulders now (disgusting !) So I will be getting them treated also, with the smaller spot size light sheer.

I’ll post again early next month.

#13

Reduction by the 5ht week could be just temporary. Up to 5th week I allways exyperienced no regrowth (hairfree) - regrowth began on the 6/7th week and you can begin to think that there possibly will be some “permanent” reduction after at least 12 weeks or better 16 after the last treatment, not sooner…

#14

thanks for the info Miro, I will see how it looks at the end of the month.

Ihatebodyhair: the shoulder hair is dark and course, but not dense (same as the back).

I am going to treat it and see how it goes. I have had very good luck with LHR in the past, but that was 5 - 7 years ago.

#15

Im curious if there is allso such a sudden regrowth after electro after some time - if it has the same working pattern - 7 weeks after full clearance with electro I have just some hair here and some there (5%regrowth)…
Hopefully it stays like that, but Im asking to much (dreaming) I think…

#16

What do you mean by 50% “reduction”? At 5 weeks, it’s hard to tell anything. 90-100% should shed at 3 weeks, so that would be 100% “reduction”. After that, new hair from the new phase starts growing in, so you’re not seeing the same hair and it’s not really a “reduction” of that previous hair.

#17

Thanks for the clarification LAGIRL. With another week gone by now, I see lots of new hair coming in. As you mentioned though it is a new cycle and not an indication of how successful the initial treatment was…

#18

Ok had my second treatment today, we raised the fluence to 12.0, still very little pain with the duet.

Also tried one section without the vacuum set on double pulse, wow that one hurt quite a bit. She said it may work better on lighter hair, but I will stick with the regular protocol (with vacumm) for the next treatment.

Bought more treatments with a promotion so I will now have a total of 6 done on the back, plus a few on the chest.

She said we can raise the power once again next visit, since the pain is so low and my skin is not dark.

#19

I’d try to push for highest settings your skin can handle as soon as possible. She can test spots to figure out what that is.

How far apart are your treatments currently?

#20

I am not sure how high the DUET will go above 12 ?

One of the problems is my skin gets very red, even though I do not experience pain, so it takes quite a bit of encouragement to get them to move the setting higher.

I have them spaced by 8 weeks.