I recieved my first laser treatment on August 6. I was only treated at 12J at 18mm cause it was summer and I was dark. I still experienced shedding for the most part but now most of the hair if I pull on it is tough in place. I noticed that some hair grows faster than others. I am very worried about the fact I was treated at a low setting that it didnt do any dammage to my hair. What if it makes my hair grow back even worse? My next treatment isnt until October 10. I am so tired of living with this. I am in college and 20 years old and missing out on the fun times because I am so self concious.
I am a male with very dark and coarse hair and type 3 skin.
I’m assuming you’re using GentleLASE. You should wait until the tan fades to get your next treatment and in general avoid the sun and use sunblock on this area throughout your treatments. They probably used 12 joules because you were tanned, to avoid burning you. That is why you can’t come in tanned. 14j on 18mm are good settings. Come in not tanned next time and have them use at least this setting.
The hair that’s not growing is most likely affected. The hair that’s still growing after 3 weeks was probably missed. You can ask for a touchup is a lot of areas were missed.
the problem with the touchup deal is that im at college and away from home where I had the treatment done. I had it on my torso and back. I can tell on my front side that there is some improvement and even at 12J some parts of my chest hurt like hell when the treatment was being done (my hair is that coarse). I still have some hairs that can be pulled out by finger with no resistance, but I have noticed some new hair growing in that is strong.
And lagirl, yes it was a GentleLASE. So you are saying that the hair that is not growing as normal was affected? Could it be possible for the hair to fall out and the follicle itself not even be affected, or if it fell out is it pretty much certain that it was affected in the right way?
i think you’re worried about nothing. with very coarse hair, 12j is fine. they will increase settings when the hair gets more sparse after a treatment or two. and yes, the only hair that wasn’t affected is the hair that is growing as usual at this very point and not falling out. for the hairs stuck in the follicles and not growing, you can scrub gently with a loofa in the shower and exfoliate to help them out.
im pretty sure I am done with the shedding phase. I can tell for a fact that there is a lot of hair on my back and shoulders that is growing now. Maybe my shedding phase is over and I have the new growth coming in? is that possible a month after treatment?
Yes, it’s possible, especially when lower settings are used and hairs are just disturbed rather than killed. Using higher settings should help make sure to kill the hair.
ok. its been 5 1/2 weeks now and and ive got a lot of regrowth on my chest and stomach as well as my back. My chest and stomach seems to be better treated however. Since I was treated at only 18mm/ 12J, would it be wise to just go ahead and have another treatment at 18J if they will let me? Others on this board have posted about their treatments and nobody seems to start so low. My tan is faded now and I feel like maybe I didnt get a very good treatment because of the low settings.
So, should I schedule an appointment to go ahead and go back in and request higher settings?
we can’t advise you about what is safe for YOUR skin since we can’t see you and judge. but generally, on GentleLASE, if you’re treating with 18mm spot size, you want to try to stay at 14j and up for it to be effective.
I called and tried to get an earlier appointment but the earliest I can get is October 10. This is driving me insane. I have noticed that the hair on my back seems to be a little finer, but if it was an effective treatment then I should still be hair free at this point but I already have regrowth. I still have a lot of hair on my back from what I can see, but I cant really remember too well what it looked like before the treatment. However, on my front I can see some improvement. Up near my neckline on my back it seems to be worse, but it wasnt treated before. When I go to my next treatment I am going to request to have at least 16 or 18J.
