Missed Hair Patches During Teatment

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

My question is about the missed patches of hair. From my experience in the past when an IPL missed a spot that area would be still white and the hairs stil standing, so today when I had my first treatment with the Light Sheer Diode Laser which seems to have a tiny point in comparison to the IPL I felt as if this would miss so many spots with such a small head.

Just as I feared I ended up with many tiny reas of unburnt hairs sticking up, and I had random mosquito byte type red marks throught the areas treated. Is the standing hairs a good indication to missed spots or is the laser different to the IPL in showing missed spots. How soon should I get missed spots treated, particualrly when im eager to wear t-shirts again due to the hot summer we’re experiencing at the moment.

Also my operator always prefers to shave down areas with a razor to appear smooth. Shouldnt I have some hair length like 1 mm so the pulse can travel down the hair shaft to the folicle?

#2
  • sheding takes up to 3.5 or even 4 weeks.
    What ever remains after that point was probably missed or did not react to laser beam ( light hairs)

-no u dont need to have a hairs on ur surface when treating with true laser. What u are saying aplys for ipl only.
It is easier to treat if ur doc. can see where the hairs are. U will end up having less missed patches, so having a stuble is ok.
HOwever u dont want too much energy to be vasted on hairs that are on the surface. U are trying to destroy the root.

-i was treated with gentle lase. and i can tell u this… I had areas where i could feel a stuble right after the tretament. On those areas hairs continue to grow ( no shedding)…
If they werent missed ,stuble would have been burned off. this is my experience.
Some hairs continue to grow (i coudl see them few days after treatment)like they werent affected but than they finnaly shed…

U should wait another 3 weeks b4 u judge how succesfull ur treatment was and than u can concentrate on what to do next.

kind regards

#3

The random mosquito bite marks are a skin reaction to the heat of the laser, which occurs straight after being treated and is more prevelant when higher settings are used. This should go down within a couple of hours of being treated, it doesn’t happen to everyone and sometimes only happens on certain areas.
Personally I find that I don’t get any on my back when being treated by the GentleLASE at 18 Joules/18mm, yet on my chest it’s everywhere and I look like a human beanbag.

Lolicr is right in his observation of the hair appearing to grow slightly after treatment, thats the hair that has been lasered slowly dislodging itself to then eventually shed. This however, usually stops after 3 or so days and then the hair only moves out fractionally as it begin to shed. Between 2 - 3 weeks you will be able to tell whether the hair has been treated or not, because the ones that happen will be significantly longer than the rest.

Regards,
Benji

#4

As mentioned, please wait 3-4 weeks. Whatever doesn’t shed and just grows as usual at THAT point was missed. You can’t always tell this right after treatment. If the clinic offers it, at 4 weeks is when you should get a touchup.

It’s best if the area is shaved smooth so that laser energy is not wasted on the hair above the skin. Laser penetrates through the skin to reach the root, so whatever is above the skin’s surface is just distracting it. However, most clinics prefer a bit of stubble (1-2 days) so that they can see where to treat and don’t miss areas.

#5

Hi everyone and Merry X-MAS

Three weeks ago, I did my chest and abdomen (Soprano at 25J. I’m type IV). I could see that the technician was in big hurry as another patient was already waiting when she started my treatment. At the moment (i.e. 3 weeks later), only about 50% of the hair has shed. The hairless spots have a consistent pattern all over the chest and abdomen. They are characterized by well-defined circles (of the size of a dime, approximately). To me, that is a clear indication that the hairy spots are missed/skipped areas. Do you guys agree? (question 1)

As I understand, the laser beam (or at least the skin area affected by one “laser shot”) has roughly the shape and dimension of a dime, right? (question 2)

I’m quite upset as no answer has been received in 3 days. Next week I’m calling them to hear what they have to say but I can expect the same BS I heard before from the technician: “That happens because of the hair cycles”. The other argument which will definitely be used (it was used before) is that the whole area became red immediately after treatment (which is true, I observed). However (there goes my next question), isn’t it right to say that the redness extends beyond the area affected by the “laser shot” and therefore ‘red’ does not mean ‘hit by laser’? (question 3)

I will be pushing for a free touch-up (actually a retreatment, considering the size of the unaffected area) but will end-up agreeing to pay some extra fee (if they insist). However, I will be very upset if I have to pay again for something that should have been accomplished the first time. Is there anything that “legally” forces the clinic to do a proper treatment (e.g. accomplish 90% shedding)? Any thoughts on that? (question 4)

Sorry for the long text but I guess writing this message helped to release a bit of the frustration I have about that clinic right now.

Cheers
Marcus

#6

Unfortunately, the contract you probably signed likely gives them a lot of room for error.

However, I would go in in person and show them the result rather than trying to explain how bad it is over the phone. I think it’s more telling. Also, tell them you took photos (and you should).

This is definitely the result of missing spots and not overlapping.

#7

Welcome to the club. I had to fight forever and put up with weeks of being ignored before I finally got my half-assed touch ups (and they missed half the spots during the touch up as well). They had missed close to half the hair (I assumed 25%, but after shedding was complete it was maybe 40% missed) By the time they let me get touched up, the hair was in a new phase of growth I think, and so the hair they missed never did get treated at all.

I have a package, and I’m sure the next 6 treatments will be just as shoddy. My credit card company said they’ll refund my money if I open a dispute and get a statement from another Laser place confirming that the treatment was not properly done.

You have something like 60 days to file this claim, and I suggest you do it. You don’t want a touch up from a place that screws up that majorly and then ignores you. Just find a better place.

#8

Kinda odd that they use the old Soprano and not the newer Soprano XL. Not to mention the fact that i think 25J is pretty low, did you feel anything during treatment?

#9

I mentioned Soprano but it could be the Soprano XL. I just saw Soprano emblem writen on the side of the machine.
Yes, it was quite painful. Anyway, which settings would you recommend for skin type IV on diode (Soprano, more specifically).