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Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

Hello i am adding some photos in hopes to get some constructive advice towards which method of hair removal i should choose. i dont know if laser or electrolysis would work best for me or perhaps even both. i have to get rid of this hair, i cannot live a happy life until i do, so please help me im tired of looking like a freak, i used to be a very attractive guy, until this hair showed up. im fine with my chest hair, i actual like it, however as the pictures will show, my problem areas are the back, shoulders, and beardline both front and back of the neck. please someone with expertise point me into the right direction for happiness. i hope i upload these correctly.

the pictures will show areas both shaved and unshaved. shaving is no longer an option beacuse you will see in the pictures that it only creates horrible razor burn and ingrown hair, which means i cant hide the fact that im hairy. plus either way its downright uncomfortable. i no longer take my shirt off and i live at the beach, ive become a hermit. please help

http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x457/jtoliver43/hair.jpg

http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x457/jtoliver43/hair2.jpg
http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x457/jtoliver43/hair3.jpg
http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x457/jtoliver43/hair4.jpg
http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x457/jtoliver43/hair5.jpg
http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x457/jtoliver43/hair6.jpg
http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x457/jtoliver43/hair7.jpg

#2

Servus,

I would say you have less hair that I do/did. I personally dont think you should go for laser - it is more gamble on mans shoulders/upper arms/neck…

If you find superb electrologist, in 1 hour you could get removed 1000-1500 hairs - half of them should never grow again. So you would need 3-4 clearances to be hairfree.

I did 20 hours of electrolysis and my upper arms/neck/shoulders/half of back did get the 1st clearance. Next clearances should take half of the previous one.

Something to read for you: http://www.hairtell.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/79590/Diary_of_a_European_guy.html#Post79590

Miro

#3

I think you should go for electrolysis. (And get treated by someone very skilled).

But my opiniun is infected by all the bad laser and IPL treatments I have had, with close to zero results.

Best wishes with your journey.

#4

I have similar upper arms unfortunately When you shave to soon in between sessions, do you end up cutting the bumps and bleeding? It is a problem I have had to deal with too; if you ever did end up shaving your chest, I suspect you would have lots of ingrowns there. Judging by your skin and hair, are you of Mediterranean ancestry by any chance?

Until you can start electrolysis to remove the hair permanently, you can try one of the products intended to treat ingrowns, such as Tend Skin, Bump Patrol etc and see if that helps with the bumps (therefore allowing you to shave more often.)

#5

From the photo A to the photo B, there are 10 months apart, from a serious complex to a great happiness, from a skeptic to a large lover of Electrolysis. Try to get a patch test with a good professional of Laser and and another of Electrolysis and checks the results before embarking on this adventure. Your case is not as bad as you think. Your problem has a solution. If only everything in life were that easy. sigh

PHOTO A

PHOTO B

PHOTO A

PHOTO B

#6

From the looks of the photos, you have a pretty typical amount of hair for a guy. Nothing abnormal.

Most of that hair will be good for laser. You won’t get 100% removed, but you’ll get a good reduction.

Chest and stomach hair will get good results. I would leave the shoulders and upper arms for electrolysis as the hair there is not very dense of dark and laser may induce more growth.

You are pretty light, so find someone with a good alexandrite laser like GentleLASE or Apogee. You’d need aggressive settings.

The hair is not super dark, so I’d expect a 70-80% reduction. Remaining hairs will be finer and sparse. You can decide then if you want to finish with electrolysis for 100% removal.

The photos Jossie shows are great. Laser would get those results as well on that type of hair and with less time on the table though. That hair is very coarse and dark and dense.

#7

As LAgirl mentioned, your hair is coarse but not overly dark, so I wouldn’t expect 100% with laser (but certainly a significant reduction).

As for going out on the beach, remember that your skin has to be as pale as possible for the entire course of the laser treatments. That means no sun from ~3 months before your first treatment until a month or two after your final treatment.

Translation: If you won’t be able to avoid sun exposure in the areas you want treated for 1-2 years (assuming you get 6-8 treatments), then LHR is not for you.

#8

I dont think that I could give the same results - the reduction on the photos is much more than your 70-80%. And with laser there is allways a BIG MAYBE, SHOULD.

Why then in the beginning of treatment you would have to sign a form where you understand that you couldnt get any results at all if it is such a superb technology that works on all dark and coarse haired?!

I dislike that you present this technology as 100% working - many clinics with LightSheer lasers have openly admitted in media, that the hair in most cases will grow back - and that patients should have real expectations.
I can give you the link, but you wouldnt understand the language…

Miro

#9

Miro, who are these clinics you’re talking about? LHR is not magic. If the right machine is used on the right type of hair at good settings, results are achieved in all cases. If you’re not getting results, you’ll know almost right away and should stop treatments because something is not being done correctly.

This is an unbiased forum where we try to provide information on getting the best results possible. If you’re stating that there are clinics out there who don’t know what they’re doing, that’s a fact. But I’ll have to disagree with statements that LHR may not work when all correct factors are present.

Results depend on HOW the machine is being used. You can use the best scissors and get a bad haircut if your hair stylist doesn’t know what they’re doing.

I understand that you didn’t get good results, but you also didn’t take advantage of our help here by posting photos BEFORE going in for treatments, like this person is doing. If you had posted, we wouldn’t have recommended for you to have laser on most of the areas you got treated in the first place. We can’t turn back time, but you can’t be mad at the entire laser industry. I consider myself personally responsible when I don’t do enough to make sure I get the best results possible.

#10

But scissors cut no matter what skill the person using it has… :wink:

Im not mad about the laser, I have read so many posts the last 4 years that laser didnt help or had just limited results - means thinned the hair out.

For example this is one clinic ( you wont uderstand the language…): http://zdravie.pluska.sk/zdravie/zdravie/chlpata-za-tisic-eur.html

The head line: Hairy for thousand euro.

The doctor of the clinic said: It is true that laser epilation is told to be permanent, but that is in medical terminology arranged term.
In reality it isnt permanent - the hair in the epilated centre is still there, but it is smaller, less coarse and have less pigment. You will never get rid of the hair, because you wont kill the roots with laser.

And dont think they want to promote electrolysis - they tell that electrolysis is for sure permanent, but it is really a challenge to do it propertly and without tissue damage… And they dont do it in their clinic. They say that in most people will the hair come back after some time, so the people should know what to expect - and it is one of the best clinics in the country…

And I think if you have the roots DEEPER than the laser light can penetrate, you CANNOT KIL it.

Why than for example Bryce did not have any results? He has coarse black hair and white skin. The best laser GentleLase and the hightest settings 20J/mm2 with 18mm handpiece… If you say 100%, allso Bryce should get nice reduction :wink:

I begin to think you have some money from promoting laser treatments - dont be mad at me, but you sound like that all the time…

M

#11

How many posts have you read where people treated the right type of hair with a good laser at good settings and didn’t get results? Few. Those are the only posts that you can truly judge. Bryce may have needed a Yag for the deeper hairs. He decided to switch to electrolysis after only a couple treatments and not test other options out. That’s an individual’s choice.

I get money from what? In what way? If you know of a way, please send it my way. It’s been 6+ years and I haven’t gotten a cent for the hours and days I’ve spent helping people here. So I’d love for you to enlighten me.

#12

I see hair that is not very dense in most places but it is coarse. Most of the photos we get from young men on here are the other way around - dense but not coarse.

Providing you do your research thoroughly, find a good clinic, with a good laser which is appropriate for your skin type, technicians that know what they are doing and use good settings, you should be able to get a decent reduction from about 3 laser treatments. Then, you can finish up with electrolysis.

As a female, I have done this for my underarms, bikini line, full legs and 3-quarter arms. In fact just today I was showing a colleague my arms, to show that Laser can only go so far in a permanent reduction (it’s been almost a year since my last treatment) and that I will have to switch to electrolysis for the remaining. She on the other hand, thought the results were fantastic and didn’t see why I needed to remove what was left.

Now, even though your shoulder hairs are coarse, this is an area that is prone to laser induced growth. You have two options, you can either NOT treat this area and go straight for electrolysis. OR you can accept that you will have to have electrolysis eventually anyway, treat it with laser to try remove the coarse hairs and if you get induced growth, treat it with electrolysis. However, the latter is risky as you don’t know how much induced growth you may get, it may be worse than it is right now.

So, perhaps don’t do the shoulders, upper arms and upper back, but the rest seems fine.

#13

the hair i have is very coarse and dark, however its not dense. so should i start with electro or laser?

#14

I would start with Laser in the areas that are appropriate. So you can miss out the areas where you might induce, if you wish. Then once you have a decent reduction, you can switch to electrolysis.

#15

To repeat my recommendation from before: Chest and stomach hair will get good results. I would leave the shoulders and upper arms for electrolysis as the hair there is not very dense of dark and laser may induce more growth.