pics uploaded.....Advice please.

okayyy…i finally uploaded a few pics of my chest and abs. Ive had 1 laser treatment on them using the aurora, whereas i realize peopel would suggest a lightsheer for me, which i will insist on the next time i go for my appointment. Now, What settings should be used on the lightsheer on my type of skin? (type-4). And what compression? SHoul di expect god results or would i have to end up with electrolysis? Also, the red spots on me are temporary, right?? Thats all for now i guess…Thanks all <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j279/khizz/IMG_0666.jpg

Here are 2 photos of my chest.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j279/khizz/IMG_0664.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j279/khizz/IMG_0662.jpg

I have not had good results with the laser, but my hair isn’t that thick and dark…I think elecrolysis may work better and cheaper. I’m trying it next time, the laser just isn’t cutting it. I have speant thousands of dollars and am still hairy…at least you are a man! Good luck.

they need to test your skin. I would start at around 20-25 joules with LightSheer and see how high your skin can handle. Hair seems pretty dark and coarse, so it should do ok. With type IV skin, you can’t go very high though, so they do need to be careful. The red spots seen like inflammations over slight ingrowns. They should resolve themselves, I would exfoliate and use tend skin.

Those pictures are after one treatment? The results are less than I would expect. Your chest looks like mine did right before my first Apogee treatment. Your skin looks more like borderline III-IV. As long as you haven’t been in the sun for about 3 months you can be treated with the Lightsheer. Your hair is coarse enough that I think you can be successfully treated with a Nd:YAG laser too.

I never had Nd:YAG on my chest but had great success with the Lightsheer. Compression is when the technician presses down on the handpiece while the laser pulse is being triggered. When I had my first Lightsheer treatments I already had some previous treatments with the Apogee, so I had about 50% less hair than you do in those pictures. So they will probably start you out at less fluence than I had. They may start at 30J. I started at 40J with the Lightsheer and went up to 50J @ 100ms. If you don’t feel anything at 30J that is probably too low. I did not use any anesthetic creams BTW.

RJC2001

Hi all,
Thanks for all your posts. Yes, my skin is a lil between type3 and 4. I believe they used a 24j setting on my first treatment and it didnt hurt. I believe they used compression too if thats what they call it when they press hard against ur skin while treating.
Yes, someone did mention before that i should get good results with YAG, but this place where i go to dont carry that machine. I hope i get good results with the ligthsheer. As you can see that my chest and abs hair is thick, i was thinkin about gettin electrolysis too, but wanted to get some hair out of the way through laser first. Lets see how it goes.
Hey RJC, do you really think its not a good result after first treatment? SHall i ask them to raise the settings next time and maybe use more compression? ARe you a type-4 too?? DId u end up with electrolysis as well?
Lagirl, yes they did use a test patch on me before the treatment, and then started off with i believe a 24J setting. Maybe they should have gone higher…ANyways, will keep u’all posted about my next treatment.
Thanks again everyone.

24 joules is on the low side. RJC2001 is also type III-IV and used settings of 30 and 40 joules and up at 100ms. So yes, I would ask for higher settings. With my GentleLASE treatments, I experience almost 100% shedding after each treatment of the very dark coarse hair.

Hi all,
Thanks for all your posts. Yes, my skin is a lil between type3 and 4. I believe they used a 24j setting on my first treatment and it didnt hurt. I believe they used compression too if thats what they call it when they press hard against ur skin while treating.
Yes, someone did mention before that i should get good results with YAG, but this place where i go to dont carry that machine. I hope i get good results with the ligthsheer. As you can see that my chest and abs hair is thick, i was thinkin about gettin electrolysis too, but wanted to get some hair out of the way through laser first. Lets see how it goes.
Hey RJC, do you really think its not a good result after first treatment? SHall i ask them to raise the settings next time and maybe use more compression? ARe you a type-4 too?? DId u end up with electrolysis as well?
Lagirl, yes they did use a test patch on me before the treatment, and then started off with i believe a 24J setting. Maybe they should have gone higher…ANyways, will keep u’all posted about my next treatment.
Thanks again everyone.

How much hair would you estimate that you lost after the first treatment? How much grew back after 2 months? Those are key questions you need to answer.

If I had results like that after one treatment, I would be disappointed. IMHO you have too much hair to start out with electrolysis. You should get as much hair as possible with the laser first. From my experience, 24 Joules with the Lightsheer is very low. I felt nothing at all at 28 Joules with the Lightsheer, and I got no results. A substitute tech that performed the treatment. My next treatment was free when I mentioned the lack of results. My last Lightsheer treatment on the chest was at 50J and 100 ms with compression being used. It worked very well and even got some finer hairs. The remaining hair was too fine, and some of it too light, to treat with the laser, so I tried the Aurora next. It got some of the hair, but I maxed out on the fluence and was facing diminished returns. So I finished with electrolysis. The last 10% of my chest hair was removed with electrolysis. I still get a few stragglers and I get them treated as needed. I am finishing up on having my armpits cleared also, which I would highly recommend.

I am borderline type 3-4. If I stay out of the sun for about three months, my tan will fade enough to be a type III and I can be treated with a diode or even an alex laser.
My very first laser treatments were with the Apogee alexandrite laser. Because I had been out of the sun for so long, I was able to tolerate the treatments but we could not go over 40 Joules. I have to say the Apogee did remove a lot of hair, 50% on the first treatment! You could smell it burning and some hair would shed immediately. But after 3-4 treatments the remaining hair was too fine and I could not use a higher fluence with the Apogee. The Lightsheer was the perfect answer for me.

My advice is start with laser and finish with electrolysis.

RJC2001

Thank you very much “lagirl” and “rjc”. BOth ur feedback has always been very helpful to me.
Back to my situation. Its been almost a month after my first treatment and i dont see much shedding. SOme hair is comin out faster while some slowly but there r very few patches which show no hair. Umm…would i still see the pore if the hair folicle inside that pore falls permanently?
oOohh,they used 24J on the aurora machine on me for my first treatment. Ill be askin them to use the lightsheer on me next time. Hey RJC, does ur skin look like mine? SInce i think that it does, what settings should i ask for using the lightsheer (sorry if i asked this question before). YEahh, i realised i got lots of hair for electrolysis, thats why ill go with your , and Lagirl’s advice to get LHR done and then switch to electrolysis.
Thanks in advance for answering my questions <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Yes, your skin does look like mine. I had more hair on my upper chest and it was maybe a little bit thicker. Did any of your hair get finer after the Aurora treatments? You should be able to tolerate 30J on the Lightsheer to start. Based on my experience, 30J is not all that strongn for a diode laser. I would expect the technician to start you at 28-30J based on how coarse your hair is. Also, she should ask you how it feels. If it is tolerable, she may turn it up a little bit more. You should definitely feel it. The Lightsheer will not be effective if the treatment is not aggressive enough. I never used numbing agents. My practitioner does not use them and says they should not be necessary. You should feel some pain but it should not be intolerable.

If you were treated at 24J on the Aurora, you are just about maxed out, unless there were further software updates available for it. I doubt that though. Was the 24J the optical or RF fluence setting. Or were they both set at 24? In long-pulse mode, the Aurora can go higher, 28-30J. In regular (short) pulse mode, the max is 25J for both RF and Optical.

To answer your other question, you may or may not see the pores if the hair follicle is destroyed. You will probably get some tombstones, where the hair is singed and it temporarily stuck in the follicle. They will fall out eventually, but it may take a few weeks. Your hair is relatively thick so some of them may shed immediately. Shaving with a blade will help the shedding process, but don’t use a blade right after the laser treatments. I would wait 2-3 days before blade shaving. You can use an electric shaver sooner though.

Hope this helps. Keep us posted on your results.

RJC2001

Hi RJC…I still cant make out whether my hair got any finer or not. I see very very few spots with no hair, whereas on other places, some hairs r growin slow while some are growin faster. Ill try to upload fresh pics tomorrow for you to see.
umm…ill definitely be askin them to use the lightsheer on me next time and will ask for a min of 30 J. SHould i also mention compression? DId u have excellent results with lightsheer and with what settings? Ive also never used a numbing cream. There was very little pain during my 1st treatment and im sure it will lower down as hair gets thinner. I wish i could take a pic of my back and shoulders as i have had about 8 treatments using the lightsheer. I dunno the settings used but the results have been good although i still have very few dark long hairs and numerous thin ones. Would the thin ones grow after some time (like say, a year or two) or would they remain thin?
ALso, the red bumps on my chest and abs after my treatment have disappeared completely without using anything.
WHy did u mention that shaving woudl help with the shedding process?? I never shaved my chest before i started the treatment. If i dont shave , would the hair shed by themselves or i would still have to help them some way?
I guess thats all. WIll upload updated pics.
Thanks alot.

To answer your other question, you may or may not see the pores if the hair follicle is destroyed. You will probably get some tombstones, where the hair is singed and it temporarily stuck in the follicle. They will fall out eventually, but it may take a few weeks. Your hair is relatively thick so some of them may shed immediately. Shaving with a blade will help the shedding process