HI, thanks for the reply.
My skin type is probably III or IV, and I think my results with the Harmony have been good. I’ve done 5 treatments on my back, shoulders,upper arms and abdomen. So far my middle and lower back have had very good results, I am almost hair free. ON the abdomen the results are also very good, and I’m almost hair free also. On the shoulders and upper arms the results have not been very good. I still have a lot of hair, in fact it seems like it’s not even working. I was wondering why that happens. I mean, why have I had very good results on some areas and no results on some other areas.
The practitioner uses a cooling system and a cooling gel. I feel almost no pain. Before the Harmony I had about 8 treatments with the Lightsheer and it hurt much much more. And the results that I had with the Lightsheer were also really bad. Instead of reducing the hair it actually stimulated more hair growth, so that’s why I changed to the Harmony and I feel it’s much better.
thanks
I’m glad to hear about the good results from the Harmony. My practitioner had a demo of it and those that have tried it are reporting good results. I found it to be painful, but that’s not a big issue. I’m willing to take the pain if I can get rid of the hair! The fact that it was painful could be due to the fact that a cooling system was not used.
You may have been undertreated with the Lightsheer. Or the tech may not have used compression, which makes a huge difference. The cooling system works better, the pain is reduced, and the treatments are more effective when compression is used. This also permits the use of higher fluences. Using a long pulse width (100-400ms) also allows the use of higher fluences.
I’m beginning to think maybe IPL isn’t so bad after all. Some people are reporting better results with the newer machines. Maybe there is a synergy present when multiple wavelengths are used. Plus, the larger spot size allows for deeper penetration into the follicle.
Why do laser and IPL results vary with the area being treated? I think some of it has to do with depth of the hair follicle and skin color. I had good results on my shoulders with laser, but not as good results on the arms. I have some hair left on my shoulders, but it is very fine and I only shave once a week. I may finish that area up with electrolysis. My arms are very dark, and the remaining hair is finer after several laser treatments. I have had some success with Nd:YAG lasers there. The hair follicles are deeper on the arms and the skin is darker. The Harmony rep agreed that if the hair follicles are very deep, the Nd:YAG may be the best solution. So if your arms and shoulders don’t respond to the Harmony, it may be best to try a Nd:YAG laser.
BTW, the Harmony system does have a Nd:YAG handpiece available. The spot size is small though at about 6mm. They don’t promote it for hair removal, but it can and has been used for hair removal. Ask your tech about it.
I’m doing a demo with the Quadra Q4 IPL tomorrow and will report back on my results. I get treatment at reduced prices and am learning a lot about the different machines.
RJC2001