Hi Andrea
This is probably the case as shaving can’t be responsible. As I say it is only very slight so maybe age and stress are factoring here.
Stuart
Hi Stuart,
I haven’t checked this thread for a long time. Unfortunately, sunlight has been known to actually increase hair growth. I’m still shaving my legs using either the new Braun Activator foil shaver or the Gillette M3 Power blade. The M3 shaves very close and there is virtually no irritation, even on the upper legs. If it becomes available in your area you may want to try it.
I tried the Aurora IPL/RF system on my upper legs and did get some hair reduction from it. However, I was treated at the maximum fluence there and any further treamtents with it may not produce any better results. A test spot on my lower legs left a prominent scab that showed that they are too dark for the Aurora. This year I am going to try a Nd:YAG 1064 nm laser on my full legs which should work better on the darker skin. I have had very good results with the 1064 laser on my beard so that looks promising. And there was virtually no post-treatment redness with it.
To answer your question, I have not noticed any hair reduction in the areas where shaving is my only hair removal method. I have had my upper body treated very aggressively with laser and electrolysis. My back hair is 90% gone and my chest hair is about 99% gone. The Aurora was beneficial on my arms, but the Lightsheer and electrolysis have done the best job overall. My arms are very dark and I will have them treated with the 1064 laser also, along with my armpits. There is not enough chest, ab and back hair to use the laser any more. I am using electrolysis to get white and/or fine hairs that the lasers did not get. Plus, electrolysis can be used in the summer too as the results are not affected by a suntan.
Some men, as they get older, lose the hair on their lower legs, especially if they wear high socks. It is said to be related to circulation. I rarely wear socks so that won’t happen for me.
I was at the airport last week and I happened to notice there were several college age men there with shaved legs. Some were wearing Austrailian Swim Team jackets. They must have been returning from a big swim meet. What surprised me was that none of them had shaved their heads. The high school swimmers shave their heads too. I would think there would be a significant drag reduction from shaving one’s head.
If you want to show off your muscles and make them look bigger, the hair needs to go.
RJC2001
Hi RJC
Good to talk too you again, I have been away a long time! The Gillete M3 is available here and I have one. It is very effective and I also get no irritation from it. Normally I can get about 3 days when using this razor before stubble becomes apparent.
I normally alternate between my Phillips (yes I still have my old favorite <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />) and the M3 every second week. I have had a lot of stress in the last year and have lost 3 close family members so that may be the cause of reduced hair growth as Andrea suggested. I also don’t normally wear long socks, just the ankle type for my bike riding so this probably is not the cause.
Anyway I am grateful for the decrease if only slight. I have still not got fully into the lazer treatment, but it stays cheap here in SA so I am going to look into this more seriously for my legs. I have made up my mind that leg hair looks quite gross particularly on me as it is very long. Consequently I am going to make a very aggressive effort to get rid of all of it now one way or the next.
Regards
Stuart
Hi Stuart,Good to hear from you. Sorry to hear about the loss of family members. That’s always rough.The M3 is a major advance IMHO. It only shaves a little bit closer than a Mach3 Turbo, but there are fewer cuts and less irritation with the M3. And the Turbo was very good in it’s own right. It does take awhile to get used to that buzzing though. The battery seems to last forever. They recommend changing the battery every 6 months.The Norelco (Phillips) Spectra 8894XL got a very good review by Cargo Magazine recently, as did the Activator. The Activator’s self cleaning module works great and saves time.With all the advances in blades and electric shavers, long-term methods are still the best. While I had success with the Aurora, I think I need higher fluences for maximum results. Syneron has introduced the Comet, which uses diode laser instead of IPL, along with the RF. It will be interesting to see how this works. It has maximum fluences of 40J for both RF and laser, which is quite a bit more than the Aurora. Check out the Syneron devices on their site at www.syneron.com. Some of these machines are available overseas but not in the US.For now I’ll stick with the Nd:YAG 1064 and electrolysis when necessary. I have had great results with both and that is what my practitioner is currently using.Later,RJC2001
Hi RJC
Thanks for the tips. I am going to try electrolysis now before laser as I have heard that sunlight does not agree well after laser treatment. I spend a lot of time outdoors and I don’t want to do permanent damage.
Summer is here again so the tan on my legs is looking good. I took some photos using my digital camera over the weekend, but the quality is no good. I am in the process of getting the new Sony DVD video-camera and I should have it soon and will upload some photos.
Regards
Stuart
Hi All
I have had some success with preliminary electrolosis on my knees which I have always found to be irritating, particularlarly with long trousers.
I did promise some photos, but ironically while I have my new digital video camrea (a Sony DCR-DVD201E no less!) I can’t find disc’s for it here and still have to wait 2 weeks for them from overseas.
Some technology gets ahead of itself sometimes I think. Anyway, as soon as I can, I will forward photos of what has happened recently. I think I am making progress now and fortunatly I have not had any more spills of my bike onto tarmac (that is the worst).
Trail riding is my favorite, and I can honestly say that smooth legs are a plus when pulling a 2 inch thorn out of your lower leg and disinfecting it quickly with rubbing alcohol!
Stuart
Hi all,
I’m new… my name’s Adam and I’m a 21-year-old college student with body hair issues. I basically just want less body hair… not necessarily to be hair-free, but I just have a lot of long hair (at least it’s blonde) and it’s starting to sort of stand on end in places, and I just feel very self-conscious when I show arms, legs, hands, feet, etc. because of my hair. I take a hair vitamin mixture thing in a (probably unsuccessful) attempt to combat hair loss (on my head… see, hair issues all over) and that probably is contributing to the increased body hair. I was just wondering what if anything I should do about the body hair thing. No one ever says anything, but it makes me self-conscious… I’ve long been afraid of shaving, because I feel like I’d become dependent on it and never be able to stop, and I wouldn’t want to look stubbly or unnatural. Would you recommend trimming for arms, underarms and legs? Would that look natural, just with shorter hair? I feel like it’d look like stubble. I’ve also considered getting semiregular professional waxings or something, but that just seems scary, and I’d feel silly having someone wax me (though I’d totally do it if I found a place where I felt comfortable). I tried nads for men on myself and it’s much more difficult and painful than it claims to be… not a good experience. I was also thinking of trying waxing with Kalo inhibitor or something since that seemed sort of reputable, but apparently it’s not, despite all Nisim’s claims. I just want to not feel super hairy all the time and not have to worry about how it looks or feels. Easier said than done, I’ve learned. I think my best options are trimming and waxing, would you guys agree? Is Kalo with waxing even worth a shot? Would people at a salon be good to ask about this? Would the regrowth after waxing look natural and feel OK? I know this is a lot of questions (sorry!), but I’m just looking for guidance, as this can be a hard thing to discuss even in our modern, liberal times. If I asked my parents about all this, I feel like they’d laugh at me… and they’re really nice parents, too. Anyway, enough rambling… any advice on these matters would be much appreciated. (p.s. I know I’m probably blowing the body hair thing out of proportion, but you know… I just want to have a regimen and not worry about it all the time…)
Hi AdamK
Don’t worry about all the questions - this is normal for all of us (I think) on this forum. 21 is an age when body hair tends to explode and it can be a bit embarresing. trimming your body hair will not appear unnatural or stubbly unless you go too short too fast. Try trimming modestly at first. For legs I would recommend a smooth shave straight off. This will help if you choose to remove more body hair as you will feel more confident as you progress. The apperearence is not effiminate or strange, but rather more muscular and athletic - I think you will enjoy the response from most women once you try this. Good luck!
Stuart
Hi Andrea
I have noticed something that may be of interest in terms of hair regrowth. I have a salt chlorinated pool at my house, and after summer swimming (just ending here) my leg hair seems to be finer and lighter, requiring less shaving. You may already have addressed this issue, but it seems interesting that body hair becoumes noticably lighter after exposure to salt and sun.
I have had one laser treatment on the knee area, but the lower legs are what I am refering to. If anyone else has noticed this good to know.
Regards
Stuart
Hi Stuart,
Both the sun and the chlorine in your pool can bleach hair. The good news is that makes the hair less visible, the bad news is that the hair is also less visible to the laser. I have noticed this on my arms, and to a lesser extent on my legs. I still have plenty of dark hair though.
There is a newer device out called the Comet, and it is supposed to work on light colored hair. The Aurora works on lighter colored hair but the fluences were not high enough for me to continue treatments. And the Aurora optical energy is IPL not laser. The Comet uses a diode laser and RF, and it is capable of higher fluence levels than the Aurora.
RJC2001
Hi RJC
I will ask the technition about the Comet when I go next. I have booked for the upper leg area next. Shaving the lower legs is still quick and quite easy. I have noticed the bleaching effect before from salt & chlorine, but now the hair actually seems finer. Maybe it’s just age as Andrea has said before.
I had a small patch done by electrolysis on the back of the knee as a test for sensitivity and as yet nothing has grown back there - 3 weeks. I had to let a bit of hair regrow for electrolysis, which I assume is normal, and I must say it really felt weird. Getting rid of leg and body hair becomes quite addictive after a few years and I had a hard time sleeping - strange as that may sound.
Regards
Stuart
Hi RJC
I will ask the technition about the Comet when I go next. I have booked for the upper leg area next. Shaving the lower legs is still quick and quite easy. I have noticed the bleaching effect before from salt & chlorine, but now the hair actually seems finer. Maybe it’s just age as Andrea has said before.
I had a small patch done by electrolysis on the back of the knee as a test for sensitivity and as yet nothing has grown back there - 3 weeks. I had to let a bit of hair regrow for electrolysis, which I assume is normal, and I must say it really felt weird. Getting rid of leg and body hair becomes quite addictive after a few years and I had a hard time sleeping - strange as that may sound.
Regards
Stuart
How true! Once you go hairless, there’s no going back! My chest and armpits are almost totally hair free. Now the warm weather is coming and I am reaping the benefits of being hair free. I forgot to put deodorant on the other day and I had no underarm odor at all!
If you let hair grow back for a few days, it does tend to itch. Since the lasers eliminated 90% of my chest hair, it didn’t feel so bad when I had to let it grow out for electrolysis.
I had the second Lyra-i treatment on my legs this past week. Higher fluences were used this time and wow, I could sure feel it! The hams were extremely painful. One thing I learned is that my quads and hams had a lot more hair than my calves did. On the lower half of my calves I hardly felt anything. My practitioner said that is because there is hardly any hair there. Once she got halfway up my calves I could really start to feel it! The front inside part just below the knee and behind the knee were really painful. I do not use any numbing creams before the treatments. There was no post treatment redness or blistering though. My practitioner knows just how high of a fluence to use for the best results without causing skin damage. I think we got a lot of hair this time! She said I will really enjoy having less hair there this summer.
RJC2001
[quote]Hi RJC
I will ask the technition about the Comet when I go next. I have booked for the upper leg area next. Shaving the lower legs is still quick and quite easy. I have noticed the bleaching effect before from salt & chlorine, but now the hair actually seems finer. Maybe it’s just age as Andrea has said before.
I had a small patch done by electrolysis on the back of the knee as a test for sensitivity and as yet nothing has grown back there - 3 weeks. I had to let a bit of hair regrow for electrolysis, which I assume is normal, and I must say it really felt weird. Getting rid of leg and body hair becomes quite addictive after a few years and I had a hard time sleeping - strange as that may sound.
Regards
Stuart
How true! Once you go hairless, there’s no going back! My chest and armpits are almost totally hair free. Now the warm weather is coming and I am reaping the benefits of being hair free. I forgot to put deodorant on the other day and I had no underarm odor at all!
If you let hair grow back for a few days, it does tend to itch. Since the lasers eliminated 90% of my chest hair, it didn’t feel so bad when I had to let it grow out for electrolysis.
I had the second Lyra-i treatment on my legs this past week. Higher fluences were used this time and wow, I could sure feel it! The hams were extremely painful. One thing I learned is that my quads and hams had a lot more hair than my calves did. On the lower half of my calves I hardly felt anything. My practitioner said that is because there is hardly any hair there. Once she got halfway up my calves I could really start to feel it! The front inside part just below the knee and behind the knee were really painful. I do not use any numbing creams before the treatments. There was no post treatment redness or blistering though. My practitioner knows just how high of a fluence to use for the best results without causing skin damage. I think we got a lot of hair this time! She said I will really enjoy having less hair there this summer.
RJC2001 [/quote]
It is known that the lower calves and shin area on the leg have less nerve endings than higher up. We all tend to feel less pain on the lower legs in terms of skin (I don’t mean bumping your shins against a table). There also tends to be less hair on the lower legs in men than on the thighs, but this hair is normally the longest, so more visible. This is probably true of women as well.
As a boy, like most of my friends, my lower leg hair developed first. Ironically this is now the quickest to remove by shaving and the most painless by other methods.
The inside part of the knee is the start of the thigh muscle that is associated with it, which may explane why it hurts so much when treated. Nerves tend to work together in this way. I have yet to have my upper leg treatment, because time and circumstances did not allow it. I will post once this is done.
Regards
Stuart
Hey Stuart!
I also recently started shaving my legs (I was curious about it, and now I just love the feel of smooth legs). The only thing I hate about it is the fact that I have to shave everyday, or else I can feel the stubble. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />
Since I’m too broke to get a wax, I might just sugar them. I know you can make this stuff at home, but can you buy it at a store or something? I’ve heard that it’s hard to get the right consistency when making it at home.
Also, what did your family say when they noticed you shave your legs? I’m really not sure how my mom would react, but I think that she has noticed my hairless legs a few times at least. So far, she hasn’t said anything about them though. 
Hi Akram
I have never had much success with waxing myself and I have always had bad ingrowns when I tried it. Maybe this is the product I was using or my technique, I’m not sure.
Apart from other treatments like lazor etc, I still stick to a daily shave with my Phillips (Norelco)electric razor. The Coolskin model is very fast and no more than 5 minutes are needed once you get a bit of practice.
The family issue is always an interesting one. Actually my late father and my mother never noticed anything for some time. Eventually my mother saw my smooth legs but there were no negative comments as I am an active cyclist and I think they both assumed it was part of my sport. This is true, but I have also grown to like the look and feel of smooth legs which suit me much better than the coase dark hairy look before.
My father never approved when I trimmed my legs, but once I shaved smooth he said I looked neater and better. After those few comments only one of my cousins noticed at a barbecue where we were all in shorts and all he asked was how my cycling was going.
Nothing to it, it’s all in the mind really, just be comfortable with your look. My state of mind is that I simply don’t have hair on my legs and that works well. My women friends all approve of the look and like the touch and feel when I get a rubdown after a cycle race. I think girls will mark the difference in your appearence as well and approve of a man who is prepared to try something new!
Regards
Stuart
Hi Akram
Something I forgot to mention previously if you have any doubts about hair removal.
Historically we have always had a record of hair removal. This dates back to over 2000 years. Some of the works by Wilbur Smith et al will show historical records of ritual hair removal before any important ceremononys. In Africa this was traditional in Egypt and related northern countries. This trend later spread South and was practical and normal for men as I have mentioned in other threads.
This remains true to today and not only offers comfort and good grooming, but real practical reasons to do so medically. Mans path has always tended to less hair since clothes and bedding were accepted. Don’t be shy to shave your legs, it’s been done for thousands of years!
Regards
Stuart
Hi Stuart and everyone else!
I finally “tracked down” this thread and read most of the entries. Some interesting observations and ideas here. One idea that has me intrigued is that socks could lead to a reduction in hairs. Come to think of it, I have very few hairs from the so-called “sockline” on my ankle downwards. Maybe, the pressure and the socks’ elastic band “chokes off” the hairs and prevents them from growing??? Some of my friends also have very little leg hair in that area too when I recall them wearing sandals in the summer.
Remember those nerdy “tube” socks that basically went up to your knees from junior high school? Maybe, we should all start wearing these socks during the winter months and see if it really leads to a reduction in hairs–lol!!! Seriously, I’d love to hear if anyone has noticed fewer hairs on their calves due to wearing high socks.
smoothlover
Hi Smoothlover
Socks never seemed to make a difference as far as I can see. If anything exposure of the skin to sunlight seems to reduce leg hair, particularly with the ocean or salt water invovled. This is maybe more promising? Long tube socks sound very uncomfortable!
Regards
Stuart
Stuart, I don’t really have any doubts about hair removal. I just want it to last longer, hence the reason why I’m going to try sugaring soon. By the way, thanks for the little history lesson. 
Hi Akram
Good luck. Please let me know if there is any assistance I can offer.
Kind Regards
Stuart