My experience lasering female stomach & buttocks

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

Hi all,

I wanted to share my experience of getting laser on my stomach and buttocks, since I’m a girl.

My laser place ran a special in October: Buy 5 treatments, get 5 treatments free. Their price is $1,000 for a series of 5 treatments on stomach, and $1,000 for a series of 5 treatments on buttocks. Since they were priced the same, I bought a package for $1,000: 5 treatments on buttocks, 5 treatments on stomach (so $500 for each set of 5 treatments - I thought that wasn’t bad!)

Anyway I’ve had 2 treatments done on each area… I get them done at the same time.

I have FINE hair on my stomach, and honestly wasn’t expecting to see much of a result due to the hair being so fine but I figured this was my “free” package so why not. So far after only 2 treatments I have seen great results! There is no hair on my stomach after several weeks now and I doubt I’ll even need 3 more treatments on the area. I am proof that laser CAN work on fine hair!

My laser technician told me that she did another woman’s back who just had a few fine hairs here and there and after only 1 treatment, she hasn’t needed any more treatments and it’s been 4 months for her. She said some areas just respond better to laser than other areas.

Now for my buttocks, where the hair is thicker and more dense (similar to the hair on the back of my thighs - the hair pattern just continues upwards) I have NOT seen that great of results. I am disappointed and mentioned this to my technician today (was in for tx on another area) and she said she could increase the settings for tx #'s 4 and 5 if we don’t see good clearance after tx #3. Right now it almost looks as if I haven’t had anything done. It is frustrating because this hair IS coarser and thick/dense (similar to my legs) and I’ve had great results on my legs! Plus I know it can work on fine hair and my stomach is baby smooth.

I don’t know what settings she used for either stomach or buttocks… I never ask.

Anyway just wanted to share my experience. I think I’m going to hold off on any future stomach treatments for now and focus on buttocks… and see if possible if they can substitute stomach tx’s if buttocks don’t get cleared after 5 tx.

#2

As has been said many times before here, with L.A.S.E.R. you pay your money and you take your chances. Sometimes the gamble pays off, and sometimes it ends in a loss. It seems that you have managed to breaks even.

The game is not over yet, though, you still have 3 more rolls of the dice before you can evaluate the full result.

#3

I think you’re celebrating way too early. I can guarantee you that you will see most of your hair on your stomach back. You only started in October and it’s January and you’ve had 2 treatments. That means that there is no possible way that you have waited long enough to judge whether it’s working at all. At this point, all you can judge is whether the hair has been burned off by the laser, which is normal. But I really doubt you have had any permanent effect on it. You need to wait 3-4 months after your last treatment to judge anything. It sounds like you’re giving this feedback maybe 3-4 weeks after your last treatment? That’s not indicative of your results.

I wouldn’t even tell you to celebrate just yet if you had coarse dense hair as 2 treatments is not enough to get rid of more than 50% of it or so.

I would not have high expectations for either area if the hair is as fine as you describe.

Btw, you don’t mention what laser is being used.

#4

LAGirl,

The laser is a Cynosure Apogee Elite.

I’m just sharing my experience so far. It’s now close to the end of January and I still have almost no hair on my stomach. I got lasered towards the end of October and then again on Dec 19. I’m not saying I’m totally cleared and am cautiously hopeful. However I can only speak of my experience and right now my stomach has almost no hair on it, I have a sporadic dark hair here and there and that’s it for right now.

If fine hair is zapped and disappears, how long does it take for fine hair to grow back? I’ve only had coarse hair zapped so far (legs, underarms, bikini) so doing stomach is the first time I’ve really treated a “fine hair” area.

I’m going back in early Feb for another treatment on both stomach and buttocks. There’s hardly anything to laser on the stomach so I’m debating even wasting a treatment on an area with hardly any hair, but I think I’m going to do it anyway and then probably hold off on the remaining 2 treatment until I really see alot of hair growth, if and when that happens. I know I will probably be told to wait until I see hair growth, which I have always done in the past on all my other areas, but I just want to keep the schedule the same for both stomach and buttocks and keep them evenly spaced out.

I’m going to have her increase the intensity on the buttocks, since I don’t feel I’m really seeing any shedding at all there. I really would like to see an improvement in that area. Will try to keep this thread updated.

#5

If there is nothing to treat, wait longer. You’re having treatments pretty close together anyhow. You really should give it a minimum of 8 weeks, but closer to 12 weeks would give you a better idea of the reduction you’re seeing.

There is no such thing as “keeping with the schedule” with laser. Your hair growth should dictate that schedule, i.e. you go in when there is enough growth to require it. Don’t go by an arbitrary set schedule.

#6

Hi,

So here’s my latest update.

I did start seeing some hair regrowth on my stomach. It was weird, I was seeing it pretty much only above my belly button. Below my belly button was still fairly clear. Is this some type of hormonal thing? I know the so-called happy trail is from your belly button down and I think is hormonal?

LA Girl you are right my treatments are closer than normal. With other body parts, I usually wait until I see hair regrowth before going back in.

However since I have had 2 treatments on my butt so far and did Not see any shedding, I was comfortable going back in at 7+ weeks. Trust me there was still alot of hair to laser since none had shed.

Anyway I went back in yesterday for 3rd tx on stomach and buttocks.

This time the technician did my stomach in 10 minutes. When she said she was done, I commented (nicely) that I was surprised at how quick she did my stomach. She said, well for you… your stomach is small, so it’s quicker for me to do it. Ok… however I can tell there are hairs that were not zapped and will not shed.

Now on to my butt (so embarrasing)… I told her to “crank it up” as I hadn’t seen any shedding in that area with the past 2 treatments. She said she had the laser “as high as it could go”. Then at the end of my treatment, she changed her wording to “as high as I feel comfortable going.” She said that the skin in the crease is darker and if she goes any higher it could cause blistering. Well I don’t really care about the hair on the “inner” part… I want the hair on my cheeks gone.

She seems to be using the same setting for my entire butt, where I think she should be using 2 settings, one for “inner” one for “outer”. She said the setting was 30/15. I have no idea what that means… is that high? Does that sound like a a reasonable setting for buttocks?

I am becoming increasingly disappointed. I can already tell that I am not going to see shedding from this 3rd treatment. The hair is still stuck in there.

I’m thinking of going to another laser place? ! She did my butt in under 20 min. So I was in and out of there in less than 30 minutes for stomach and butt, I could swear that my first 2 treatments were longer than 30 minutes! I feel like she did a hack job for some reason when in the past she’s always been so thorough and detailed.

#7

Do you know what settings they use? You should be seeing shedding though. I wouldn’t be too too concerned about the speed though I really love the Apogee Elite and find it very fast. Do they do any pre-treatment before or does she just go to town? Like at my place, she has tons of stamps that are all in a grid pattern exactly the size of the laser head so she puts stamps all over the area, then covers it with ultrasound gel so she can quickly fire in each square on the stamp. It kind of disrupts the stamp colour so she can tell 100% which squares have been hit so she can go quickly. Last time I did my face my appointment was at 2pm and I was out at 2:30 and have no patchiness or anything. I’ve experienced what you mean before though when I was at another clinic, they seemed so through the one time then my second treatment they did for free and it seemed like she just flew through it and didn’t care. If you’re unhappy though go to somewhere else. The Apogee is definitely a great laser.

Question, do you find that it hurts during your treatments or rather do you at least feel it?

#8

If they’re using the alexandrite part of Apogee Elite, those settings could mean 30J and 15mm spot size or 30J and 15ms pulse width (since spot size is not adjustable on this machine). In order to treat finer hair, it could help to decrease the pulse width as low as possible, i.e. around 5ms on this machine.

Either way, as I mentioned earlier, laser DOES NOT work on the majority of the hair you’re describing. So you should NOT expect great results or even good results. Only the most coarse hair will likely be permanently gone and then you will need to switch to electrolysis. I know it’s not what you want to hear, but I’m trying to give you realistic expectations for the type of hair you’re treating.

It’s normal for the hair below the belly button to be impacted more with laser because the hair there is typically more coarse.

You shouldn’t jump to conclusions on what will shed at this point. It’s really hard to impossible to tell even if you think you can. BUT you should definitely go for a touchup at 3 weeks after this treatment to retreat whatever doesn’t shed (if more than 10% was missed).

Are there other techs at this clinic? You should feel free to talk to the manager and choose the most experienced one to treat you next time.

#9

I have started looking into electrolysis for my stomach now. I can’t fathom doing it on my butt.

I see people on the electrolysis board going in for upper lip week after week after week… for 18 months…? That’s just not feasible on a large treatment area.

I’m going to use the remaining 2 treatments on these areas since I’ve already prepaid for them and then switch to electolysis on at least my stomach.

I’m also going to try another laser place for one more treatment on my upper legs. I’ve had 5 treatments on that area and could use another.

I’m at the point now where I’m done giving tons of money to my current laser place.

Thanks for everyone’s help so far.

#10

Hi edo,

They don’t do any kind of pre-treatment. No stamping or gel. One technician did use gel on me in the past and I didn’t care for it.

As for pain, well the perennial area was painful, but the outer butt cheeks did not hurt at ALL… and I told her that. I felt nothing. So I know no hair was killed.

The hair is fine though in some areas, but coarser in others (like where my thighs turn in to my butt, it’s still coarse there) and I’m not even sure that hair is going to shed.

#11

I have the same “hair problem” as you. I had about 10-12 ipl/laser treatments done on my full legs and brazillian (which included butt crack). The hair in those areas was mostly black, coarse and dense - above the knee was lighter in color but still coarse (that area responded the least and I think maybe made the hair even coarser…) My last treatment was over a year ago. The hair was reduced by about 10-40%, depending on which area. It’s been over a year since my last treatment and I just shave now - its much easier for me to shave now I dodn’t really get bumps or razor burn which was a major problem before laser - but the next day after shaving I have very coarse stubble and it’s so embarrassing when I’m about to get intimate with a guy or whatever and I know he will feel stubble on my outer thighs and fur on my buttocks lol…
So I am contemplating going back for more laser on the same area and am also debating doing my buttocks but I am afraid because the hair there is finer, shorter and light brown – I’m worried laser will just make that hair worse - is that true?

#12

Hi Mary,

From what I understand and have read on these boards, laser only makes the hair worse on certain skin types… mostly darker-skinned individuals… one lady said she was of Indian-descent and felt she was a candidate for increased hair growth after LHR.

I am white, probably a level I/II on the whiteness scale so I haven’t been too worried about possibly inducing further hair growth.

What is your skin type?

For me I just couldn’t live with the “fur” back there and have been shaving it for several years… I’m willing to take the risk to get rid of it. And the hair growth on the cheeks leading in to the perianal area is coarse so I should at least see some reduction there and I don’t think I am.

I’m going to try a new laser place for another treatment on my upper legs. Like you they didn’t respond quite as well as my lower legs did because the hair was a little finer.

#13

Marie - Electrolysis is a good solution. A good electrologist using a modern epilator and thermolysis removes 5-10 hairs per minute. It’s not unfeasible to do your buttocks. Any hair removal process takes around 12 months because of hair cycles. It has nothing to do with the method. You have to kill hair in every cycle. Start with your stomach and see how things go. Then, you’ll probably want to add other areas. If you ready my story at the link below, I also started with 3 laser treatments on my stomach before switching to electrolysis. I felt that it helped a bit since it removed the most coarse hair already prior to starting electrolysis. I had the same situation where the hair below the belly button was removed first.

Mary - Your results are not typical for easy-to-treat areas like bikini and lower legs. Those areas should easily get 90%+ removal with good laser treatments. It sounds like you didn’t get the best ones, given that you had IPL treatments instead of laser and likely at less than optimal settings. If there is still coarse dense hair remaining, then you should look into a couple more GOOD treatments at high settings with a proper laser because it’s definitely possible to get to 90%+ reduction on this type of hair. Upper legs typically don’t get as great of results because the hair there is finer.

#14

I had my LHR done at American Laser Centers - I know they used Aurora which is IPL for 80% of my treatment and then they used their AmeriLase, which I believe was a laser machine and I think I responded better to that - every time I went, I had a different tech - I regret going to them but I got a package deal so I just stuck with it.
Anyway, I have white skin – skin type 1-2. I still have a mixture of coarse, black, brown and light hair on my entire legs, bikini and butt crack. Some areas are denser than others…

I would really appreciate any help I can get on what type of machine to look for, maybe a suggestion for a place to go to - I live in NYC so there are a lot to choose from…

I have been getting electrolysis on my side burns, upper lip and lower arms for 1-2 years. The hair in those areas is fine and light but very dense. Upper lip and side burns had a reduction but still lots of growth. My lower arms, I stopped doing a few months ago and I feel like it all grew back.

So much money wasted… I don’t know what to do anymore =/

#15

Lagirl’s post from June 2009:

[color:#990000]"We have a contributor from NYC on this forum - Chris, the owner of Romeo & Juliette in midtown. I’ve been to his place and definitely recommend him (as many do on these forums). Of course, you should always check out a couple places and ask a lot of questions to make sure you go to the best place you feel most comfortable at.

If you’re not tanned, you may be light enough for an alex too. I know Chris’s clinic has both alex and Yags, so they can choose an appropriate one for you.

Make sure you’re only treating dense coarse hair. You’ll always have some fine hairs remain after you finish treatments which the laser can’t affect. At that point, you need to switch to electrolysis."
[/color]
How many electrolysis treatments did you have over 1-2 years? Modality used? Thermolysis? Blend? How long were your sessions?

PicoFlash or Microflash thermolysis is for people like you with a lot of fine hair. I’m taking that you literally still have a lot of dense hair. The approach to your caliber of hair has to be done just right when doing electrolysis. Longer treatments, closer together in the first 6-9 months, coupled with a thermolysis mode that is speedy, yields the best results. You may not always find someone who can do this, but at least you know now that this is a good strategy.

Money is wasted when the strategy is wrong. Electrolysis works. I do not know any of your specifics or how much information your electrologist gave you. You need a speedy electrologist that has armed herself/himself with the computerized epilators today that allows the electrologist to set herself up for speedy treatments. Quality magnification is a must. For people like you, it is wise to go longer than an hour to clear as much hair as possible. If your arms had been cleared at least 6-8 different times over a period of a year, you would be saying, “that is the best money I ever spent!” The Gior’s on Long Island move fast and you would be wise to get a consult with Arlene Batz in Queens. Laser cannot see fine hair, so you need to connect with an electrologist that can handle large areas. Study and search. They are out there. It’s all you have to solve your hair problem.

Dee

#16

You should look for an alexandrite laser. The most popular ones are GentleLASE and Apogee. There are tons of clinics in NYC using both.

I don’t know who you’ve been seeing for electrolysis, but I would also recommend Arlene in Queens. It’s worth the commute as she has the best machine (Apilus). You can schedule longer appts and get your clearance fast. The most important thing in getting good results from electrolysis (besides a good electrologist) is staying on schedule. The way to do that is to start by going in often to get to your first clearance on the areas you want all hair removed, and then come in AS SOON AS you see new growth to kill the hair while it’s weak. If you do this, you’ll be done within 9-12 months post-clearance.

#17

I should also mention that I had bloodwork done in '07 showing that I have elevated Free Testosterone and have been on Spironolactone for 2 years and have gone off it 4 months ago – which is when I started to see the hair reappear (along with acne, sweat, oily skin/hair) – so now I am thinking it’s because of the hormones in my body… I don’t know what to do now because my husband and I want to have a baby so I can’t be on Spiro… I don’t want all the hair to come back… or get worse =(

Regarding the electrologist I went to, she has pretty old equipment and she uses a method where she zaps the hairs in the region first and then plucks them afterwards.

#18

You used an outdated electrolysis method. I would recommend trying Arlene or someone else with an Apilus using flash or thermolysis to see the huge difference. If you go for regular treatments, you’d be done in about 12 months.

#19

marycotter,

The most natural way to get rid of your hair PERMANENTLY is to find a modern electrologist who has decent speed and who can clear you asap of all bothersome hair. For your part, you must be ready to invest money and show up for appointments on a regular schedule corresponding to hair growth cycles. Your investment will pay off in 9-12 months. Thereafter, you may need shorter appointments spaced farther apart. Spironolactone would not be necessary and people would have not to worry about side effects if their only plan was to go forward with good electrolysis care administered by a well-trained electrologist. If the electrologist has invested in the best epilators on the market today, all the better. The ones who choose to only do a slower method of electrolysis will still get you there. There are trade offs and you have to decide if you are willing to go forward with methods that still work, but may be frustratingly slower and perhaps more ouchy with more skin temporary side effects. Shop around and compare as you would for any product of service and dump the spironolactone if you are planning to conceive.

Dee

#20

But I thought that if you have hormonal issues (elevated free testosterone/DHEA like in my case for example), electrolysis and/or laser won’t really work for long term because the underlying cause is hormonal so the hormones will keep stimulating the follicles… ???
That is why I got on Spiro in the first place. I would love to continue electrolysis with a more modern electrologist but since I can’t take Spiro now (cuz we want a baby), does it make sense? Or should I wait until after the baby, go back on Spiro and then start electrolysis??? I have read that if the hair growth is due to hormonal issues, you first need to get your hormones under control (by continually taking medication) and only then will electrolysis be permanent for people in those cases… once the medication is stopped, I read that in some cases the hair comes back which I think is what happened with me unfortunetly… but I could be wrong?

I have read the recommended books on here The Hormonally Vulnerable Woman and The Diet Cure so I am somewhat educated on this topic but it’s so complicated and so hard to find understanding doctors, that I am at a loss… This site is pretty much my beest resource - thank god for that!