i skipped electrolysis(for now) and decided to go on with laser. i switched lasers though, i went to nd:yag from alexandrite. i know that it is not as effective as alexandrite, but there are some differences that i have noticed since i beginned yag treatment. first of all, my skin does not get burned and i dont have to stay at home for 16 days for my skin to heal. secondly, the hair grows and falls, while i was on alex it was just staying there (pepperspray look as you call it). also, the treatment is extremely painful(underarms pain lasts for an hour). smoke comes out from my skin when i get hit by the laser. the side effects like redness fades within hours! i dont remember the exact settings but they were using 58 joules!??! the practitioner said that the max value is 60 and i will experience what it feels like on my next treatments. The thing I really wanted to ask you is simple. All the people on this board says that they had no more than 30 joules, but i had 58 with no side effects (except for those bumps/redness that fades within hours)!?!? is this normal? and it seems that the alex practitioners were not experienced enough since my legs are full of red dots even after 4 months post treatment, how can i make them go away? (alex made my hair shorter and thinner, i dont think it reduced the density much and i had 5 treatments)
Are you going to have nd:yag on the remaining hair on your legs? I’d be interested to know if yag is likely to cause induced growth when legs are treated. I had yag on my sideburns and experienced induced growth on my chin/jaw/neck but this is apparently quite possible with the face right? I wonder if it less likely with somewhere like legs…where would the induced growth occur? Feet maybe or butt?..that would be disastrous!
hairy87: you cannot compare joules on various machines. that would be like comparing apples and oranges. joules in the 50s is good for settings on most Yags, though without spot size and pulse setting the number doesn’t tell much anyway. do you know which Yag is being used? it also sounds like your skin was too dark for an alex laser, so in your case, Yag is a good one to use. it sounds like you had pigmentation issues from alex treatments because you were too dark for that type of laser. it can take up to a year to go away. you can see a dermatologist who can prescribe a cream to speed up the process.
Sojou, induced growth is only an issue on women’s faces and men’s upper arms and shoulders. Also, please read the FAQs carefully. type of laser you choose needs to depend on your skin type.
I thought as much with induced growth. I have type IV skin apparently (well at least on my face) but it is actually different colours on different body parts, my lower legs are naturally dark olive/tan and my thighs are much paler, I don’t know why, but the hair is very coarse and dark on my lower legs and a mixture of course/fine on my thighs. I did read the FAQs which are very comprehensive + helpful, so even despite my bad yag experience on my face I’m not deterred from possibly having yag on my legs, considering all the factors…electrolysis would take forever on my legs so laser is really the only option for me there.
Sorry for hijacking your thread hairy87 
and thanks for your input lagirl 
It sounds like your thighs are light because they’re not exposed to the sun often. they still have underlying pigment considering your other areas. that means that you need a YAG, and of course someone very experienced to use it on you. Legs get very good results.
it was atlus coolglide
And I will continue the treatment for my legs but after they are completelly healed. By the way, I am a male with hair everywhere, so laser cant induce much. anyways, i will post the results later on.