marketing or truth about possible hair growth

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

Hi, i went to see a few centres having gentlelase machines. Many of them agreed to do my back, neck, chest, shoulders, upper arms, upper legs and bottom area for around $1000.
But one centre said that they prefered not to do my shoulders nor the middle part of my back because of a possible future hair growth due to treating some blond hair that a had on those areas. They said it would be ideal for them to see how my chest hair reacted after 2-3 sessions. And according to this they would decide whether to treat or not my shoulders.
after learning this i asked the last centre i visited and they told me that my shoulders could be treated without any problem and that what i was told was not true! other 3 centres i had visited earlier didnt mention anything about this issue either.

now the question that i’m asking is whether this is a marketing trick to gain my trust or something.
by the way they didnt want me to sign up to multiple sessions or anything. but then why not getting more money off me by doing my shoulders too?
this company has 3 branches and been practicing LHR for 5 years.

im kinda confused to be honest. i read on this forum that hair growth happaned to some people of usually darker skin when treating fine hair. i dont have a dark skin but indeed got some blond hair within hair. my hair arent totally dark either.

by the way, is there any difference between mini gentlelase and gentlelase plus machines? if yes, which is better in killing the hair?

thank you very much for your help.

shoulder;

middle back;

note: if cant see either of the pics here are the direct links 1 2

#2

The place that urged caution was just trying to do their best to give you good information, and avoid stimulated growth of EVEN MORE unwanted hair growth. I have seen full blonde haired people with normal pale skin get LASER induced hair growth, or coarsening of the blonde hairs. Sometimes the hairs even change color, darkening in the process.

Is it a marketing ploy? Well, if you call honesty that could cost them loss of your business to others who are quicker to take your money, and slower to give you information; I guess that is the type of marketing they are doing. :wink:

#3

Agree with James. You got this a bit backwards. The one clinic who’s offering to be cautious is actually showing that they care about your results and potential bad side effects more than they do about getting as much money as possible from you.

Induced growth is not only a concern on darker skin. It’s a concern on hair that’s too fine or light for laser, especially on men’s upper arms and shoulders.

Your best bet is to only treat areas with dark coarse hair.

#4

thank you very much. i just wanted to get your advice on this anyway. i guess i’ll be going to that centre then. its true that its no point of risking cos there is no going back once my hair grow darker or something.
as for my shoulders/upper arms/middle back i guess i’ll opt for electrolysis then.
by the way lagirl, that centre wouldnt disclose the setting they would use on me. i’ll just have to trust their experince then. there is one doctor at the centre and 2 beauty therapist performing LHR for about 5 years.
i hope it will all go well.
cheers

#5

They wouldn’t disclose the settings? Theat sounds a bit odd. Did they say why?

Regards,
Benji

#6

You can also just look on the machine. You’ll see the joules at least. You can potentially ask the nurse about spot size. All you need to know for this machine are those two settings.

And yes, did they say why? You have the right to know.

#7

I had good results on my chest and stomach from laser. I’m glad I got it done there. Bad results and even induced growth on my shoulders and upper back from laser though. I have fair skin and dark hair. I would do what that first place told you, try it on your chest first, but either way I would still choose electrolysis on the shoulder area. Chances are it won’t cost you more in the long run anyway.

#8

Welcome back Chuck. How are your results with electrolysis so far? It looks like you’re halfway there.

#9

hi, i dont know why they didnt disclose the settings. they just said that their manager didnt want thats it.

by the way, i just found out that there are plenty of gentlelase machines from candela. for ex; 1999, 2002, 2004, mini gentlelase etc…
some got 18mm spot size, some dont. but any other difference a part from the spot size?

#10

just been on the phone with candela, apparently there are 3 different versions of gentlelase;
-gentlelase; good but max 15mm sport size
-gentlelase plus; good with max 18mm spot size
-mini gentlelase; same as the plus version but just faster to perform

thanks again

#11

i finally got LHR done on my upper back, full chest, bottocks, neck and upper legs.
one word: IT HURTS! oh my god. it hurts so much. ok fortunately the pain lasts one a fraction of a second but never expected the process to be so painful. ticker hair/more density parts hurts like hell.
isnt the gentlelase range supposed to be pain free with their special cooling system. i pity the people using older laser machines then.

but im still glad and will go again in order to look better
they havent touched my shoulders yet since there are some blond hair. i’ll either get laser done there after a few sessions or electrolysis. lets see.

by the way the settings used were; 18mm sport size/ 14 jules
price: $740 by cash

i again would like to thank everyone helping me on this forum :slight_smile:

#12

LHR is painful and it’s generally a sign that the treatment is successful. When I first had a treatment I can remember swearing constantly because it hurt so much, but you eventually get used to the pain.

The cryogen cooling system doesn’t get rid of pain all together it simply reduces it, I certainly have found the GentleLASE the most comfortable laser, if there is such a thing as a comfortable laser.

Regards,
Benji

#13

The reason behind the cryogen cooling is to protect the skin. If it helps at all with the pain, that’s a bonus.

#14

Laser hurts. Cooling helps somewhat, but it should still hurt. Anyone advertising it as painless is either lying or using very low settings.

Let us know how shedding goes in 3 weeks.

Also, hopefully they can raise the settings to at least 16J next time.

You may want to use a numbing cream for the most painful areas. Icing before and after also helps a lot.

#15

And some use anesthetics to be able to call the process painless.

#16

i had read on many websites that the lhr hurt a little bit but didnt know it hurt that much!
the dermatologist asked me before starting “are you strong enough to stand the pain?” i kinda laughed and replied “what? it doesnt hurt. does it?” she then said with a villain voice “ha ha you will see!”
luckily for me she was a really nice person and made me laugh with her jokes during the whole process. a come-back-to-us-again selling strategy maybe? still making me laugh helped me a lot!

by the way, the thing that i dont understand is the following;
why would the center call me for a touch-up session in exactly 2 weeks if the shedding completes in about 3 weeks? how would they know which hairs have to be treated again?

also, lagirl you are saying they should increase the jules to 16 at my next session. will increasing the laser strength help me to get rid of my hair quicker?

cheers

#17

  • At 2 weeks, most of the hair will have shed. And you will already be able to tell what was missed because it would be long and growing as usual. If you can wait till 2.5 weeks, that’s good too.

  • Higher settings mean you have a better chance of killing the hair the first time around.

#18

I agree hairmair, I recently had my full arms done, a little over a week ago - Man did it hurt - Some areas were almost unbearable… I’m not too sure about numbing creams, I’d rather not go into toxic shock…

14j is not enough… Definately go for 16j…

Why are you doing so much at once? Are you sure this is going to work for you?

I’m only doing my arms for now, if I get good results then i’ll move onto my chest/back…

Right now I look like Austen Powers…

Shedding is going well for me - lots of hair falling out and pepper spots, some hair is longer then others, and can’t really tell if there are missed spots…

I’m thinking of it this way - 5-6 hours of EXTREME pain per body part in order to get my life back over the next 2-3 years…

#19

ok i’ll ask for 16jules next time. dont know why the centre didnt use 16j on me straight away?

yeah i dont wanna use any numbing cream either. going in a little bit drunk might help maybe?

haireverywhere, i am doing all those those area at once cos i need to get rid of my hair. i mean it just needs to work!
when did u get your done by the way?

#20

If you can handle it, try 18… I believe you will have a better shot a perm hair reduction…

I thought about drinking before too, I’d have to call a cab to get home ;o) - I’m just going to suck up the pain all while thinking that I won’t look like a freak anymore…

I wish I could put some pictures up here, can’t find the cable from my camara… Anywho, if you saw me, you’d feel much better about yourself, your back isn’t bad…

Sometimes, I don’t think I’m human… Luckly I have a wife who doesn’t mind… Still - I need to git rid of the hair so I can begin living life again…

I’m about 12 days out from my 1st treatment, full arms…

Shedding hairs aren’t bothering me as much, I lufa (not sure if thats how you spell it) and put Aloe on a couple times a day.

My guess is that I’ll need 4 treatments to get 50%+ reduction.

The hardest part about all this will be staying out of the sun for the next 4 months or so…

I may start my chest sooner than later, some of the hairs are starting to go gray and I know LHR won’t be able to target those… The problem I’m going to have with my chest abs, I’m very ticklish and jumpy to the touch in that area…