My Laser Hair Removal Journal

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#21

EMLA works, if that is the numbing cream being used, IF it is applied properly. It needs to go on thick, like cake frosting (1/4") and it needs to be left on for 1 - 1 1/2 hours, occluded with plastic wrap. A little passive warmth from laying your hand on the site will help absorbption to deeper layers if your hair is coarse and deep.

Everyone, just remember if you read an advertisement or an article about laser hair reduction being comfortable or painless as opposed to electrolysis being very painful, be highly suspicious. My laser failures have all described laser as excruciating pain, unlike the sensation of electrolysis. Electrolysis, when performed by a skilled electrologist with the newer professional epilators hardly comes close to excruciating, if it is performed correctly with high quality tools. Just had to do some contrasting here.

#22

I don’t know what it looked like before, but by that picture it looks like laser is working as the hairs are random and sparse.

You probably didn’t notice the shedding because you thought most of the hair was just the hair being shaved off, not coming out completely from the skin.

Yes, for this area, you’re definitely not a wimp for wanting to use a numbing cream. Dense coarse hair hurts most to remove. So do it. It will help with the pain.

#23

Session 2 - March 4

Today was my second session and I decided to choose another person in the spa to do it. I was not in so much pain as before. During my first session the technique that was used was she put the laser on the area and the laser glided on my skin continuously and you feel the pulses as it glided and it hurt like hell. This time she only did that in the chin and neck, for the upper lip she would put the laser on an area and pulse it then lift it and move it to the next adjacent area and pulse. It still hurt but it wasnt as bad. I dont know though which is a better technique.

Maybe it doesnt hurt as much because I did not have as much hair as i had in my first session.

One of my major concerns is areas that are missed and the spa has a policy of retouching if it is within 2 weeks of treatment. I will see her again this saturday and I want to know how can you tell if an area is missed? I want to be able to go there and know what im talking about instead of them telling me this and that just to get themselves out of retouching it. How would you know an area that is missed. What are the signs?

#24

The up-and-down technique is better. Gliding leads to missed areas often and doesn’t target all the follicles sometimes.

It could have hurt less because you have less dense and finer hair now, and/or because the settings were lower. Do you know what they were compared to your first treatment?

If you can avoid shaving, you’ll be able to tell what was missed easier as within 2 weeks treated hairs will fall out. If you shave, this process may take longer as hairs get stuck in the follicles this way. Either way, it doesn’t hurt to go over the areas where there is still hair left in two weeks. However, you should be able to tell what never fell out.

#25

If I were you I wouldn’t worry about the gliding method unless if they don’t do it properly.

I had couple treatments with the Coolglide and they were gliding. After treatments all the follicles were raised like orange type skin and I had a heat sensation on the area that lasted for a day. The technician glided not too fast (hair would be missed) but either not too slow (you could get burned) with an excellent overlap (that’s the key not to get patches or missed areas). She had a white pen and drew squares so all areas were lasered. Beside technique, high settings are important as well. In my situation, the dark coarse hairs sheds only at 55 joules 10 pulse spot size 10 (partial shedding)60 10mm pulse spot size 10 mm(about 90%shedding) and 90 joules 10 pulse spot size 7mm (shedding on the spot and all hairs were just popping out; the feeling after was like waxing no stubbles in the following days).

If they provide free touch ups (policy in writing); they might work diligently for you not to get missed areas. Again I am optimistic but you could be right about missed areas. Good luck.

#26

So what exactly is the up down method? Is it what I described?

My settings were the same for the upperlip 40 Joules 20 pulse and 10mm. I was swelling for a few day in my first session so she wanted to keep the settings the same. The chin and neck area had increased settings at 45 Joules.

My settings havent even reached 55 Joules, I may suggest that in my next session in 6-8 weeks.

#27

The up & down method is when the tech. presses the cool laser beam on the skin and lifts it up after the laser shots the energy and puts it to the next spot to be lasered and gives another shots. Gliding is just the cool tip of the laser stays on the skin and brushes the skin from down to up or up to down, without being lifted.
The up down method was used on me on sensitive spots were hairs were very coarse and dense since it’s less painful but takes longer.
Also I had a shedding problem (no shedding) with pulse of 15 or 20. Maybe you want to check if you could lower it down if your skin type allows it (your technician would know).
I used pain killers (for the full legs and painfull area such as bikini) and ice on the area treated before they laser also helps to tolerate pain. For underarms I used nothing.
Personnally I never used the Emla; I was told it’s not that effective and it’s messy during treatment. It’s all about your level of confort about what you should use: topical such as Emla or pain killers, but icing the area is a must (if they have the time).

#28

Different lasers cool the skin differently. GentleLASE and GentleYAG spray cryogen. LightSheer and CoolGlide are contact cooling…the hand piece cools the skin. LightSheer is used either way, but the gliding technique on the LS should only been done by someone very experienced as there is a tendency to miss spots.

Looking back over this thread, I see you are being treated with the CoolGlide.

The CoolGlide laser must glide. It’s ok every once and a while to pick it up and put it back down, as long as it’s allowed to cool the skin before firing. The hand piece gliding along the skin is cooling the skin before each pulse.

#29

Since you’re treating a male face with dense growth, settings should be only raised very slowly and carefully. There is a lot of room for too much irritation. It’s not same as treating underarms, legs, bikini etc.

#30

I updated my pics to show the second session and the touchup afterwards. I did a touchup yesterday and she did the whole thing again since a lot of areas were missed. I knew it was too good to be true when I went for my second session where there was not too much pain and swelling the next day. I guess pain is key to success :slight_smile:

#31

For laser that is true as I have come to understand from our consumer experts and laser experts. For computerized electrolysis performed with expert skill, pain is not the key to success.

#32

Each company markets their laser because they believe they can make a profit and have advantages over other lasers. Next… they have to communicate their story to the potential users. When an electrologist buys a laser it is because he/she was “sold a bill of goods” and believes they are buying the best possible device. All the companies are selling SOME lasers, therefore, it can be assumed EACH story impressed the buyer OR this laser was the best VALUE for the price. Laser sales reps can weave a tale that can get UNDERTRAINED or UNTRAINED buyers to believe almost anything just as it confuses the public. The buyer is extremely gullible and very weak in the science of lasers. Not only the color of the hair and skin have to be considered, but the color of the light is important. When the procedure is being done the operator wears RED SAFETY glasses because the color red blocks out the laser beam that can blind the operator or the patient. Lasers work on the basis of the color of the beam, the intensity of the beam and the wave length of the beam because this determines what color it is best for. This MEANS ALL LASER OPERATORS NEED MORE THAN ONE LASER THE DO THE BEST JOB BECAUSE THERE ARE TIMES WHEN A LONG WAVE MACHINE IS BEST AND OTHERS WHEN A SHORT WAVE LENGTH MACHINE IS BEST. THE WAVE LENGTH IS WHAT DETERMINES THE COLOR OF THE BEAM OF LIGHT. THIS MEANS AN EXPENDITURE OF OVER $100,000.00 BEFORE A PATIENT IS TREATED. Buying two lasers is so expensive that the price of treatment has to go up and that chases away most patients who are young and do not have the resources. The stories relayed by patients varies so much that you can see how confusing the whole story is.

Women reading this site have a lot of info, however, much of it is contradictory, therefore, they end up talking ABOUT THE COMPANY THAT MAKES THE LASER, OR THE WAVE LENGTH. IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE ONE WHO IS USING THE LASER, THE COLOR OF THE LASER LIGHT, THE COLOR OF YOUR HAIR AND SKIN. THE REST IS MOSTLY A MARKETING SCHEME. ONE MACHINE CAN NOT DO THE WORK OF TWO MACHINES DIFFERENT MACHINES.

#33

Men read this site, too.

Most know all that you said. Those that use laser for hair reduction, don’t outright purchase the laser, they lease it. Reputable laser clinics/places of business do have a couple laser’s (alexandrite and yag) so they can serve people with no color and people with color. One laser purchase or lease can do it all as there are combo lasers in one unit that have an alexandrite side and a yag side.

Laser hair reduction has been a godsend to many people, but true, there have been some not so good outcomes concerning results for money spent. Same with electrolysis, but bad outcome is the result of poor equipment, poor timing and/or dreadful lack of skill. There are restrictions that laser can’t overcome, unlike electrolysis where any color or structure of hair can be affected on any color of skin.

Laser is here to stay. It is another modality for treating unwanted hair, with restrictions. Electrolysis is here to stay and it is the ultimate modality, the gold standard for treating all unwanted hair, with no restrictions.

If you read the laser faq’s in the laser forum, Harvey, that will educate you a the practicalities of what laser offers.