Pigment changes due to laser - how does it look? Is it obvious?

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

I wonder about the phenomenon of laser induced hyperpigmentation. How does this look? Is it very obvius so that you know when you see it?
I am brown and when I look at my skin the pigmentation isn’t realy even anywhere on my body. Not only when comparing body parts, but also in one area. It’s like different tints of brown in a mixture (if you look carefully).
There are darker spots and lighter spots. I have realy never seen the skin on my legs like this because I’ve always had so much hair, so I don’t know exactly if this is my skins normal condition or if it is IPL and laser that has made it like this.

Would I know if it was hyperpigmentation from laser or can you get like “mild” pigment changes?

And if you get it, do you usually get it everywhere that you’ve had treatment or just in some areas?

The pigment changes from inflammated hair follicles and brun marks that I got are of course obvious.

#2

i dont know what happened to me (pretty sure its a burn of some sort, which is funny because i didnt even really shed this time) but i have patches on both cheeks and both sides of my chin that are red. it is very obvious, even through make-up, and it’s been over a month since the treatment. i don’t know exactly what the problem was (i’m assuming it was not a long enough time between treatments [7 weeks]) but i’m very very depressed and discouraged because i had such amazing results after my first treatment. i am afraid to ever get it again because my face has not gone back to normal. and it triggered more hairgrowth. i’m starting to think maybe it’s not the best option for facial hair.

#3

Jill, have you showed these signs to your tech? there are creams for various side effects that will help heal/reduce the effects etc. Not sure what they are from what you describe, but you shoudl definitely show your tech and possibly a dermatologist.

#4

Hi:

I had laser on my arms and noticed some areas where the
skin was much lighter in spots after the treatments had healed up. I am hoping it will even out more once they
get a bit of sun in the summer.

It seems that the laser really did not help as much as I had hoped, but now my body hair is becoming thinner because of hormonal changes.

Alicia

#5

Hi Alicia.
It seems like laser has more side effects than IPL.
Are the lighter spots on your arms evenly distributed on the skin or sporadic and are they very obvoius in a way that one can see that they aren’t part of the skins normal texture?

Have you talked to a dermatologist or the clinic you had treatment at about the hypopigmentation?

#6

Hi:

The spots are just sporadic lighter colored areas. They aren’t really a problem for me and I hope that they will even out in time with tanning, etc…

I haven’t seen a dermatologist, but will probably mention it to my laser technician. She used rather high settings with Lightsheer.

I am getting electrolysis for my face and that was after initially starting with laser. The difference on my facial hair from when I started is amazing. I really could not
function in society with my facial hair the way it was at the start.

Alicia

#7

I see, so the spots aren’t that bad. Maybe they were there before too but you didn’t notice them because of the hair (just a theory).
How long ago did you undergo the lightsheer treatment?

I’m glad to hear that your electrolysis is going well, I wish you all the best. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />
How long have you been undergoing electrolysis? Did you have a lot of facial hair?

#8

Hi:

Actually the spots were not there before.I expect them to be less noticeable in time. What has made the hair really thin out since is lack of testosterone.

Let me see? For the face I had a lot of facial hair. Pretty disgusting amount really. First I had 9 laser sessions. Since then I have had 107 hours of electrolysis.
We did mostly thermolysis, but now we do a mix of thermolysis and blend depending on the hair.

I have perhaps less than 5 percent of what I had originally. I even find that disgusting.

Alicia

#9

I see, so you had almost like a mans beard?
But five percent is not much, God willing you will get rid of that too soon.

How long ago was the laser treatment that caused hypopigmentation?

#10

Hi:

Yes I had a man’s beard, but no longer. In some areas of my face I would estimate the removal rate at >99% to 100%.

The laser on my arms was done 5-6 months ago. Since then I have noticed a more significant body hair reduction due to hormonal changes. In my case the laser on my arms was a waste of time considering what the hormone change is accomplishing.

Alicia