My LHR history (male) / Need help

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#21

GentleLASE has a stable very low pulse duration of 3ms. On Apogee, pulse ranges from 5ms to 100ms or so. So without knowing the pulse, it’s still hard to say whether those are high settings. They’re probably average. If it’s close to 5ms, the setting was in fact pretty high. If it’s closer to 100ms, it wasn’t. On 15mm, GentleLASE max is 30J, but once again that’s with 3ms. If pulse is higher, the overall power is lower.

It sounds like you don’t trust laser to do a good job of evening out the reduction at this point. What you can do is use a Yag laser which targets mostly the very coarse hair. So that may achieve what you’re looking for. Otherwise, with electrolysis, you can pick and choose specific hairs you want removed.

#22

Do you have before pictures? If so, I think you would see that it’s not as patchy as you think. Even taking into consideration the longer facial stubble and the wavy uncombed arm hair, it still looks normal to me. Men (and women) who have never had any type of removal done have the same unevenness to their hair. Around the wrists, watches, gloves and sleeves tend to abrade the hair away.

#23

You still have a lot of hair. After viewing your pictures, it looks like you still need a lot of laser treatments. Electrolysis can bring you to a happy ending, but it would take hundreds and hundreds of hours for your arms, neck, face alone and lots of money and time. Even with the fastest most deadilest electrologist on earth, you would be putting in a lot of hours up front. I would concentrate on my face and neck if I were you, as shaving must be the most difficult part of your day. Since your stated you don’t want laser on your face, if you choose to look into electrolysis, I strongly urge you to find the best in regard to skill and equipment factors. This would be vital for your success in a time frame you could live with. It still will not be easy, but there is no easy way down for a situation like yours, but the goods news is, there is a way down.

#24

No, I don’t have before pictures as detailed as these ones, so no comparison can be done.

I know it will sound emotionally shadowed, but before, I know my hair wasn’t a bit patchy as it is now. Yes, memories can be disrupted, and we can make up new memories, however this time it is not, they are genuine. Before LHR I was so concerned with my hair (I am still concerned by the way), so I observed other people’s hair patterns, I know how they are, and I still clearly do remember my hair pattern. So, I can tell you bad practitioners gave me a patchy embarrassment.

#25

Thanks Dee,

I am a pretty patient person. I’ve put considerable effort into reducing my hair till now, I can do more. But, the thing pisses me off is that in some occasions I opt to stay clear of social activities because I am constantly going through treatments, and during the treatments the hair and the skin really looks odd.

I can say overall, I’ve succeeded to reduce the amount of hair for way more than %50. This is close to my expectations before all these started. So, I am not so much bothered with the amount of hair now I have. I may just do a couple of more passes for inner and back facing sides of my arms, and continue with my shoulders and back. What I am not happy with is, it does not look like natural growth now. A couple of people, after seeing my arms, mentioned what I did my with hair; if I randomly clipped it wıth scissors or attempted to shave it. So, in conclusion, I am fine with the amount, but in the same time desperately looking for ways to arrange it.

#26

I understand. There are many here that will be glad to offer you what ever support and advice you ask for. Permanent hair removal is tough and it is only for the tough-minded to pursue. I’m glad to hear you have patience.

#27

Just reading through your posts vklepil, why are you afraid to do laser on your face?
i am considering i thought from peoples opinion in here it should be okay as long as overlapping is done well. if there was patchy regrowth couldnt you just keep lasering missed patches, with touch ups?

#28

I assume you want to get rid of your facial hair completely. I just want a uniform reduction. However each time I go for LHR, patchiness gets worse, then I go for touch-ups, but touch-ups have its downsides too. I don’t want to stuck with a condition non-recoverable. Just think of pretty bald patch in the middle of your mustache reminding a person with ringworm.

#29

Getting a complete removal on a male face is not possible if you’re a healthy male and not on hormonal drugs (like TG folks). You can get a good reduction, but a very good reduction will take many treatments (over 10-15) on this area because there is so much hair and it’s so dense.

Treating various missed patches is what adds to the patchy effect. That’s why it’s important to have someone who knows what they’re doing perform this and overlap from the beginning.

#30

The patchy result is a REAL concern and is NOT just from “sloppy” technique. I have had multiple treatments from a real laser applied with overlap by a major laser facility. I have had treatments at the maximum power settings and still have some regions of my beard that will not shed. Thus, I have some patches of course dark hair on my face that will not respond to many treatments and “touch ups” for which these hairs are specifically targeted.

I have received several explainations, but the bottom line is that some dark hair on white male faces can fail to ever be reduced by laser. Thus, electrolysis is the only solution to produce even distribution of hair patterns for such a situation. And even then, it takes time!

LOL, I know $70/hour can buy almost anything, but I have yet to get that kind of service! :smiley:

#31

Tex, I will validate what was told to you. Yes,some dark hair on men’s faces will not be targeted by laser. That is because there is a strong hormonal drive in males esp. in their 20’s and 30’s. Even with the best technology,equipment and practitioner,it is what it is. And even if you wanted to go for further laser treatments the result would be the same. As a practicing electrologist
for over 28 years and laser experience for 10,fine tuning with electrolysis is your best bet. A qualified electrologist should be able to treat enough hairs in 1 hour to make a significant difference.

#32

I think that’s the part that most people can’t comprehend about electrolysis. When people read or hear electrolysis is all about treating one hair at a time, they erroneously conclude that is way too slow. Fact is, if one was told that a modernly equipped electrolgist can average 400-600 hairs per hour on one’s face, that takes on a whole different meaning. Just tonight, I treated a young woman’s facial areas and neck and 1,276 insertions were completed in 135 minutes. She walked out cleared of all coarse and medium hairs and will see me again in five or six weeks for another full clearance. Many electrologists repeat this scene everywhere, everyday. I don’t think that is slow by any means. Fine tuning with electrolysis after laser goes even better than starting from scratch. Thanks Janet for your input.

#33

I don’t know about that hundreds of hours for a face thing. I am getting most male beards done in 100 to 150 hours - and that includes the neck hairs that frequently go into the chest.

#34

May I give you a compliment, James? You have the ability and equipment to offer male beard removal in 100-150 hours, most electrologists can’t do what you do in that time frame. Did you see vklepil’s pictures? He’s not even wanting total removal, so you could probably do better than 100 - 150 hours.

#35

100-150 hours is still quite a bit of hours. That’s 15-20 full 8-10 hr days of treatment. Given that laser takes 8-15 treatment hours total on this area, i.e. 45 min-1 hour per treatment, I can see how people are apprehensive. It’s a huge difference. I’m talking about just time spent on the table, not anything else here of course.

#36

its very good to read this discussion and i think its making me think more carefully about my decision. I think i will not go for laser on my face due to many reasons mentioned above, but i will go for laser on the beard area around my neck, and do electrolysis on my face.

#37

Dee, Thank you for your acknowledgement. I think 100-150 hours to treat a man’s beard is reasonable and accurate for permanent hair removal.

Although Laser hair removal and electrolysis are about unwanted hair, they are really two separate entities. Let’s not lose sight of that. I am an electrologist and use both modalities.It is not about one being preferred over the other. There are numerous factors involed=the clients needs,immediate and long term,their expectations etc… It is up to the pratitioner to decipher the information and determine what is in the clients best interest.

Because my profession has been very good to me,my mantra is, and I am sure every electrologist on this site remains “first do no harm”
-ethically or otherwise.

Janet
PS, I have used both the Alexandrite and the Diode. My preference is the diode because of its longer wavelength. Perhaps(and I am saying this without full awareness of the clients medical history)the patchinees that he speaks of is directly related to that issue.

#38

That’s interesting. You’re probably the only person who’s ever visited the forums who prefers a diode over GentleLASE. Unless you prefer it because it can treat more skin types, can you explain why? From your other post to which I responded it didn’t seem like you knew the differences in settings, especially when comparing between the two machines. So I wonder if you weren’t properly trained on the GentleLASE. GentleLASE consistently gets the best reviews from practitioners who visit this forum and from consumers. Of course, that’s when using it at proper settings. You also mention that you treat all patients at 4 weeks intervals, which makes me wonder if they ever achieve a consistent stable permanent reduction and/or full shedding after every treatment. Can you clarify?

#39

PS, I have used both the Alexandrite and the Diode. My preference is the diode because of its longer wavelength. Perhaps(and I am saying this without full awareness of the clients medical history)the patchinees that he speaks of is directly related to that issue.

I am not quite sure about what you mean? Patchiness is due to Alexandrite or LHR in general?

Patchiness was related to improper overlapping by many on this forum. So, to discuss about overlapping on LHR, I’ve started a new thread at

Your comments are welcome.

#40

I think she was trying to say that the hairs on the face were deeper, so the diode was more effective on them. Given the other things mentioned, I’m not 100% results are achieved as claimed there though.