Pain from LHR

marie7990 · May 1, 2004, 12:59am

Is it normal to experience pain from laser hair removal?

Racer X just posted about his extremely painful LHR, and regular numbing cream didn’t work for him, he needed prescription strength.

I had my underarms done with some numbing cream, and the pain was mild at best.

I had my whole back done the other day without any numbing cream whatsoever or pain pills beforehand, and there was absolutely NO pain AT ALL!

The tech kept asking me if I was alright, and I kept saying “This doesn’t hurt! It’s really no big deal!”

What’s the deal here!

redhead · May 1, 2004, 1:36am

There is nothing “normal” about Racer x’s experience. It is obviously unfortunate, but it is far, far from the norm, but remember that often times peoples BAD experiences drive them to look to the internet for answers, so there are plenty of bad experiences being discussed. There are also a lot of “super enthusiastic” posts by people early on, and then there is no long term follow up. Look for posts by people that have been posting for a while about their experiences and ongoing treatments for a better indication of what is normal. When I first found this Forum I saw, for instance, that RJC2001 had been posting a long time, and had had many different treatments on many different areas, and decided to try the Aurora based on his testimony. Remember, practitioner skill is the most important thing in the hair removal game, and following up your posts with detailed acounts of your results over the long haul is the most important contribution you can make to a Forum as a consumer.

[ April 30, 2004, 06:38 PM: Message edited by: redhead ]

marie7990 · May 4, 2004, 9:13pm

Thank you redhead for the response. I am going to try to post my long term follow up with LHR.

Ellen3 · May 23, 2004, 6:47pm

My first underarm and abdomen treatment with Sciton Image long pulse width Nd:YAG 1064 laser. was quick, but a bit painful. I was able to bear the pain without any pain reliever or topical anesthetic, but WHEW! it was not pleasant. My underarms were easier to bear than my abdomen. Maybe after years of shaving, the underarm skin is tougher? I had a lot of dark, coarse hair to treat, though, so there was an almost nonstop “snapping” feeling.

When the tech started working on my abdomen (which had MUCH LESS hair), I had to ask her to turn the laser power down because it was too painful to bear. I almost had her turn it down another notch after the next few hits, but at that point she was at the last spot, so I went ahead and kept it at the 2nd level of power she was using. (Not sure what the numbers were.) I am very ticklish around my stomach area, so I guess my skin there must be pretty sensitive.

The 2nd treatment I had was MUCH easier. I guess because there was A LOT LESS hair and maybe the pain reliever helped. It was a bit painful when the “snapping” occurred, but not nearly as bad as the first time. Maybe also because I knew what to expect the 2nd time. My abdomen was still more sensitive, but I was able to get through it much better.

The first treatment I had on my chin and upper lip was very easy to bear. Chin was slightly painful where the areas of concentrated dark, coarse hair was, but I only winced a few times. Same with the upper lip.

All in all, it was worth it and I expect the following sessions to be easier, quicker, and less painful.

Good luck to all!

[ May 23, 2004, 11:49 AM: Message edited by: Ellen3 ]

mike2003 · May 24, 2004, 12:12am

Hello Marie, yes, it is normal to feel some pain. There are 5 main factors that will influence your degree of discomfort:
[ul][li]Hair coarseness (less energy is absorbed by fine hair hence less pain)</li>[]Hair density (beard will be more painful than back)</li>[]Laser settings (fluence J/cm2 and pulse width ms)</li>[]Your own pain thereshold</li>[]Whether or not you applied an analgesic cream like EMLA or Topicaine[/li]</li>[/ul]