Hi everyone!
Well I’m new to the forum. Just learned how to post a topic lol. I’m considering electrolysis for the sides of my face and upper lip because getting laser in these areas scares me! [Plus the hair is fine/dark pigmented] It frustrates me! I’m a female/20 yrs old.
I went in for my first laser treatment last thursday. I didnt experience any pain it was only just a few rubber-band snapping type of thing and the smell of burnt hair [lol] I’m getting my abdomen/chest/and lower back treated with a Candela GentleLase. The hair is not super coarse but visible I hope the laser zaps it and helps me achieve at least 90% reduction.
Can anyone advice me please? I’m a newbie and I’ve been doing so much research Im glad i found this website.
Welcome aboard. You have chosen one of the best lasers, but if the hair isn’t very coarse, you may not get 90% reduction. Making an attempt never hurts, I guess.
Do you kow how to submit pictures? We like pictures here.
Dee
Its not very coarse I’d say it looks something like this persons abdominal hair
http://www.hairfreelaserinstitute.com/images/before-after/stomach-b.jpg
How much reduction do you think I would be getting? Maybe finishing it off with electrolysis would help right?
I’ll try to submit pictures of the hair on the sides of my face…id really like to start electrolysis on that.
I don’t know how much of a reduction you will get with laser - trouble is, no one can answer that honestly. You will just have to walk the walk and see where it goes. Yes, you can follow up with electrolysis or you can just start and finish with electrolysis. An experienced electrologist would tackle the coarse hairs first and the area will visually look better right off, but you surely won’t be finished in 9-12 months if you don’t put in the time up front with an aggressive program. If you go for 30 minutes a week for 52 weeks, you won’t end up finishing in a year. That’s just not enough time up front if your abdomen looks like the picture you submitted. Better to do hours per week at a time or do a marathon session(s) in the beginning. Do whatever you can to get the hair off fast and then you can go in every three or four weeks to catch any new growth that comes to the surface. Do whatever it takes for your unique hair situation. You will be very happy if you find someone good to do your electrolysis.
Same advice goes for your facial hair.
Dee
I’m going to start electrolysis sesions this Monday for my facial hair. Since I allready started my Laser treatmens about more than a week ago, do you think I should stop the treatments and start with electrolysis if I can get more hours for it? Or do u recommend I test the waters with laser?
I really want to get rid of this hair and I am willing to take the challenge.
Did you pay for a laser package already or is it pay as you go?
I would not do laser on your face.
No. Its pays as you go. And I wouldnt do laser on my face. Its very fine hair but dark. Doing laser there scares me!
Okay, good. For your abdomen,lower back and chest,if the hair is not coarse and dark, then you will probably not get a great reduction. I saw someone else’s picture of abdominal hair that resembles your abdominal hair. I just can’t say if it will work on that kind of hair. Try laser on one area, see how much sheds? I would hate for you to spend a lot of money and get no results or minimal results, but know that whatever results you get, there is good old friend electrolysis waiting in the wings to complete the task for permanent hair removal. You will need some or a lot of electrolysis after laser, most likely, depending on your satisfaction level when laser has targeted all the hairs it can “see”. So, I can’t tell you if you will be successful or not. I have seen fabulous results with laser and I have seen negative results exacerabating a hair problem. I just can’t offer certainty statements for you in regard to your laser outcome.
The lady doing the laser on me told me she has 24yrs of experience in electrolysis and about 10 doing laser. She recommended that I do about 3 laser treatments to see how much reduction I can get and then do electrolysis with whatever might be left because she says that laser is faster on bigger areas. Although I’d really like to give the 3 treatments a try I’m freaking out because I’ve been reading that it can trigger coarser hair to appear.
I’ll be going to another person closer to me for the electrolysis on my face. Its a free consultation with a free 15 minute test area. So I’ll be asking questions about that…Im trying my hardest to educate myself because i really want to do this. Thank you so much for responding back. I really appreciate it.
Another question though is if i might be able to see if the laser is working on me after one treatment?
the lady told me that she will use an agressive treatment on me and she sounds like she knows what she is doing its just that i do agree with you i dont want to spend all this money and see no results.
It sounds like she is experienced, which gets a thumbs up. If you see a good amount of shedding in the first three weeks and some redness around the hair follicle after the treatment, then those are good signs. It must hurt as well to be effective. You will not know after only one treatment is done as to whether this will work for you, but there are signs that give you some clues that this may turn out good. HAIR GROWS IN CYCLES (our daily chant here on hairtell). This is the mantra of both electrolysis and laser and you really need to give both of these modalities the time they deserve to be fair with your evaluations. Both laser and electrolysis need to be done for at least 1-1.5 years to correspond to those pesky hair growth cycles. If you can pay as you go with laser, as you will with electrolysis, then that takes some of the risk away.
Coarse hair has been triggered to grow in some vulnerable areas for both men and women when they have been lased, but as I said before, many people have been happy with their laser results. I know first hand about this because I see people up front everyday and they have received results, but many of them want total removal so that’s why they choose to go further with electrolysis. One of my daughters has been very happy so far for underarm and bikini line treatmnents after seven months worth, but she hasn’t yet completed the program. A good laser, with a good practitioner can reduce hair. How much for what area is always a question mark???
Do you know where I can read about the hair growth cycle here on hair tell? Its still confusing to understand the catagen, anagen, and telogen cycles. How will I be able to tell my growth cycle? This was explained at the laser session but I still cant get it in my head so I can keep up with it.
Well, I’m very frustrated right now. I just typed a thorough response to your questions and was almost ready to send it, when the dog I am taking care of today jumped on my laptop and deleted the post. I don’t know how to recover it, so I’ll come back later when I muster up some patience to start all over again, unless someone else wants to respond??? Sorry, this sounds like the dog ate my homework excuse, but this dog is half kangaroo, I do believe and unluckily pushed the wrong key(s).
I understand and I hope I’m not causing that frustration for you. 
Thanks for your help.