?permanence

Hey there. I’ve had three treatments on my shoulders and back with an Alexandrite laser (Apogee) with only a slight reduction in the thickness of the hair. I’m a type II with dark hair, so almost ideal. About two months after the last treatment, I experience pimples on my shoulders which contained… almost baby hairs regrowing. Has anyone else experienced this?

I’m planning on trying the LightSheer with advanced laser clinics (seems to be a better deal). According to the medical research out there, there’s not that much difference between the two lasers, but I thought I’d give it a try.

I tried electrolysis about 5 years ago, but got terrible ingrown hairs and some small scars. They might have not know what they were doing, but it was a large clinic in an upscale part of Chicago, and I am a MD so I did my research on them.

I figure that I’m still young (30’s) so the hair is probably still going to keep growing on my shoulders, but hopefully with repeated treatments I can get some significant reduction. Any thoughts anyone?

Also, great site!! Very helpful, informative, and organized with good references to the medical literature! Thanks.

Hi serge-- sorry to hear about your problems with side effects after laser and electrolysis. If your hair is curly, you are quite likely to see more ingrowns than most. If you haven’t tried it, I suggest using a product like Tend Skin or some other beta hydroxy acid to help exfoliate and allow ingrowns to emerge from the skin more easily.

Practitioner skill is the most important thing. Advanced Laser Clinics has gotten several good reports here, so if you try them, do let us know. Thanks for the kind words about the sites, and keep us posted!