Hi
I’d like to get your input on multiple points:
- What laser to go for? I’m Type IV most likely. East Indian background but quite fair (light brown). I know Yag is very popular but i was looking over this NYC doctor’s website and he seems to like Epilight a LOT, even for dark skinned folks:
http://www.md-laserderm.com/faq.html
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Any specific recommendations in Toronto? I believe only Baywood Clinic has Yag. Sunnybrook hospital and Yonge-Eglington Laser clinic have LightSheer. Espada has Aurora. I don’t suppose all these are good enough for my skin complexion and powerful enough for back hair removal (coarse on my upper back)
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How many sessions? I understand this is variable and depends on the individual response. But is 6-7 about normal?
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Can one hope for permanency?
http://www.md-laserderm.com/faq.html#perm
- Is Epilight permanent?
Since February 2000 the FDA has allowed the claim of permanent hair reduction for Epilight.
The FDA now requires proof of permanence. Electrolysis was grandfathered. Since it had been claiming permanence before the law required proof of permanence - electrolysis is not required to prove permanence - but it can still state that it is permanent.
I have completed a study of 150 treatment sites in my patients. My patients had no adverse side effects. They had approximately 45% hair reduction. This hair reduction lasted for at least 6 to 13 months after I last treated these patients with Epilight. These results are superior to those reported by lasers such as the ruby laser. In a ruby laser study, that, I believe, was used to obtain FDA agreement to the use of the word permanence - the authors state that the ruby laser produces permanent hair reduction - the patients had more side effects and less of an improvement in their excess hair - as compared to my results. The ruby laser study noted that any hair reduction at 6 months was maintained for the two year period, which they believed indicated permanent reduction. Since my patients (treated by me personally), obtained hair reductions lasting over 6 to 13 months-my results appear to indicate that Epilight hair reduction is permanent.
I personally have patients who have over 7 years of hair removal using pulsed light Epilight treatment. I do not know of any physician reporting longer term hair removal using Epilight. My patients are Happy! I am Happy! I am still following them to see if the hairs ever do regrow. Each patient is different! There is no guarantee that all Epilight pulsed light hair removal treatments will last for 24 months or more.
Please remember that merely waxing hairs can result in decreased hair growth for several months. When evaluating any physician’s claim to successful hair removal, make sure that they show you photographs of THEIR longterm results using that technology. In my office, I PERSONALLY evaluate and treat each patient. We examine the hairs in each area and photograph each area – to ACCURATELY and objectively evaluate each patient’s response. I started doing this measurement when I first began using Epilight under an investigational study on July 5, 1996, before Epilight was licensed by the FDA. In July 1997 I was one of the first three Epilight investigators in the study that was submitted to the FDA and resulted in Epilight licensure.
Approximately 15 other physicians started using Epilight about 9 months after I did. I PERSONALLY treat each patient in my office for any medical problem – whether with Epilight, Photoderm, or standard dermatological problems.
This experience enables me to use newer and more customizable settings than standard Epilight users can utilize. My ablity to personally deliver the highest level of care; way beyond the beginner presets that many non physicians or beginner physicians use on Epilight, should translate into giving you the BEST and longest term results possible – with the fewest side effects, at the most economical rate.
I’ll probably have more questions, but these’ll do for now. Thanks!