Nannolight?

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

Hi all. I’m a 27 year old man with pale skin and dark hair who’s had eight full-body treatments with an Alexandrite machine (I forget which, it’s been so long) followed by 24 (!) with Light Sheer. Just about everywhere is hairless at this point, except for my upper back, chest, and some of my lower arms, all of which have patchy hair, at maybe 20% of its original density. There’s plenty in the bikini area left too, actually, but this I can live with. Legs and buttocks are probably 98% clear and have been this way for years. The back is the part I hate the most, which wasn’t that hairy to begin with… I almost suspect it’s more hairy now.

My esthetician uses Nannolight, an IPL machine I’ve never tried before. We did half my back last week. Maybe something will come of it.

Any tips on how to proceed? There’s too much for electrolysis, that’s for sure.

#2

Is the remaining hair coarse or fine? I suspect it’s too fine to be affected by laser. Laser is not meant to remove 100% of the hair. You will always be left with some fine hair because laser can’t target it. It sounds like you’re at that point now. If you want more hair gone and it’s not coarse, electrolysis is the only permanent method that can get rid of it.

Don’t waste your money on that IPL or any IPL. It’s not going to do anything different.

And yes, laser can stimulate fine hair to become more coarse if you use it on fine hair, especially on certain areas like a man’s back or woman’s face. Sounds like you may have had this happen.

#3

Hey lagirl, thanks for answering so quickly! I didn’t realize anyone had.

Yeah, I tend to feel that way about IPL, at least from what I’ve read. As for the remaining hair… I wouldn’t call it coarse, as in, curly, but it’s certainly dark. Here is a quick pic of my forearm to give you an idea:

That’s definitely the hairiest part anywhere. It’s weird, because it’s only on a segment of both arms, in exactly the same place. I’m confident the technician didn’t miss that (rather large) spot… even if, say, one treatment went bad, she had 23 to make up for it! The rest of my arms are 95% clear. The back/chest remnants are similar, but (much) less dense and maybe less long. Bikini is probably as dense though.

Any hints? I’ve resigned myself to maybe waxing forever. I guess that isn’t so bad, though I’m usually left red for like two weeks (especially bikini) and by then regrowth is well on its way…

By the way, we’re coming up on six weeks since the Nannolight treatment on half my back. Nothing’s returned yet, but that’s maybe deceptive. I typically don’t see any regrowth from the Light Sheer treatments til maybe 12 weeks have passed. I sometimes wonder if I’d go hairless that long if I just shaved.

Thanks a ton for any input!

#4

Little update… I tried waxing three weeks ago, that bought me maybe 8 hair-free days, at which point redness/acne started all over my chest. Bikini ingrowns followed… not a fun time. The process itself isn’t exactly a blast either.

At least this “proves” that Light Sheer, if nothing else, buys me the 8 weeks between treatments, even for problem areas. I’ll probably go back to it once I stop crying over the $20K it’s already taken from me.

#5

Is there any reason you have not done electrolysis?

#6

Twenty thousdand dollars spent on laser! And they say electrolysis is expensive. At least with electrolysis, you would have come to realize that it does work and would have been getting on with your life by now. Why do people keep spending and hoping that they will eventually get results with laser. Heck, many electrolysis clients are giving you the fifth degree under a bright light after 3 months saying that this is not working and they demand to know why. Laser clients seem to forgive and keep spending for years with so much trust.

You have got to determine if you are a good candidate for laser and if you have chosen the correct laser with a reputable clinic that will ethically make the call that the gig is up when you no longer are getting desired results. Then you need to start your search for a skilled electrologist who has decent speed, accuracy and equipment.
There is no other way to do this as of January, 2009.

So, as James asked, is there a reason you haven’t tried electrolysis yet?

#7

I guess what kept me going so long with laser is how some areas, such as lower back, and my butt in its entirety, have 100% clearance, and these were easily the hairiest areas to begin with. Less perfect areas, like chest, while not perfect, definitely have 80% of it gone, and it hasn’t come back for years. Whenever I see someone and ask for electrolysis, I’m always told there is too much hair left to go that route.

#8

One thing you might also consider is your relatively young age. Some of those areas which are still hairy might have gotten more hairy if it were not for the treatments. You will sprout hair in new areas for the next few years.

I also think you oughta try electrolysis. You will be surprised how many hairs can be removed in an hour or two. Obviously, LHR would be much faster but LHR would also be more expensive.

#9

For an electrologist to say that, I can only say that they have probably limited themself by the equipment and the modality setup they have chosen or they just want those 15 minute upper lip appointments. It’s unfathomable for some practitioners to work in 2,3,4,5,6 hour blocks on one client. It’s common place for others to do this with ease. Longer blocks of time keeps the client hopeful, especially when they leave the office minus 4,000 hairs in a 5 hour span.

A skilled microflash and picoflash thermolysis electrologist never turns anyone away that is NOT a good candidate for laser hair reduction. We can handle large areas of hair if laser can’t. I do not hesitate to refer a client for laser hair reduction when it will most likely whack out most of the hair. Then, we commence with the final push with electrolysis to deliver the fianl blow to clean up the hair that is left that laser can’t “see”.

A reduction of 80% or 100% is certainly very good, but it took $20,000.00 to get this for your chest and buttocks? Am I understanding this corectly? That’s a lot of mooooolah!

Dee

#10

Hmm, am I exaggerating with the $20K figure? I don’t think I am… I started in 2000 or so with Alexandrite, 8 treatments worth. I forget what pricing was like but definitely several hundred dollars each time. Let’s say $500 a go so that’s $4000. Next came full body treatments with Light Sheer. The first 4 cost $1500 each. Treatments 5 and 6 were $1200 each. 7 through 20 or so were $900. At one point I had her reducing it by $50 each time, and we hit $100 recently, though after several treatments at $100 she told me she couldn’t afford to have me in there for 6 hours for only $100… which is why I’ve started looking at other options, such as Nannolight, or whatever. Does that come up to $20K? Someone add, because doing it depresses me, heh. I didn’t even consider tax which is 15% or so here (though she started to include that toward the end).

The esthetician using Nannolight is someone I’ve been seeing for facials and pedicures for nearly 10 years. We did electrolysis briefly, pre-laser, actually, years ago, on my back, before I tackled it with laser (I know that’s the wrong order in which to do it but, oh well).

Dee, could you tell me more about this microflash and picoflash stuff? I’ll explore the site as well. The only thing I remember from my past electrolysis treatments is her occasionally using something she called “blend”, I think, where the needle would stay in for a few painful seconds longer. I can’t see my esthetician being against sessions that go on for hours, just on principle.

BRR, I do realize the hair might have grown since I started treatments… depressing, but a possibility.