I just signed up for a 6 treatment package for my full back. In the FAQ section here they say 8 to 12 weeks between treatments, a friend of mine went to a different laser practitioner who told him that 6 weeks was fine and he’s had very good results. Any other opinions on this?
How many treatments did he have over what period of time?
I had to ask him and he said it was 6 treatments each one pretty close to 6 weeks apart, he thought a couple of them may have been 7 weeks apart. I know he had his last treatment in early April, so I guess it would be approximately 30 weeks before that, when his first treatment would’ve been.
Nothing bad happens from waiting longer. I usually just schedule my appointments when there’s enough hair totreat instead of worrying about the exact week number.
Treatments closer together mean that you will need more overall because you are only treating less hairs than you potentially could be if you wait longer. You won’t get better or faster results either.
I did the same as Brenton. I usually didn’t keep shaving my areas so that I could observe the hair growth. After shedding and the hair free period, I found that hair would initially start appearing slowly, then over a few weeks a lot would emerge, then start tapering off… with no significant change as the days went by. This is when I’d book my next session. Timing was therefore never less than 8 weeks (that was on the underarms only). For an area like the legs, it was between 10-16 weeks.
All right, that sounds like what I would go with, just to see how long it takes to grow enough new stuff to get treated!
No, You should wait until the next steady stage is reached and try to trigger the hairs into anagen phase (only then they are dark enough to be able absorbe enough light).
That is actually a lot longer than the recommendations of the laser people, typically 2-3 months, but it minimizes YOUR cost (inluding travel expenses and time loss).
There is no benefit to treating too early. You will just have (and pay for) more treatments overall because you’re treating before all the hair is present each time. It’s in your best interest to wait as long as possible.
Thanks for all the advice, I’m going for my initial consultation today and I was just looking at their website, where they say treatments spaced “4 to 6 weeks apart” are what they recommend, very interesting! Also figuring into this is that I got the package through a Groupon deal, so one of my questions is if they require me to use all 6 treatments before any certain date. I can still cancel the deal and get my money back through tomorrow, so if things don’t sound right, I will do so, but through this deal it works out to about $70 per treatment for my entire back, so I’d say its a pretty good deal compared to other prices I’ve seen and heard about. Also, the clinic is close to home and work, so its no hardship traveling there or anything like that, even if I had to go for say 8 sessions and pay an extra $150 for the two extra sessions, but get the whole process over and done with sooner, it might be worth it!
One more question here: They use a Candela Gentle Max laser setup, which I think is the Alexandrite/Yag combination laser-correct? I’d definitely say that I’m a skin type III (European white guy who tans pretty easily and doesn’t burn too easily) and the hair I’m treating is black hair, so from what I’ve read it sounds like the Gentle Max laser is a good choice-correct? Anything you think I should request as far as the settings go for the laser?
I will update this later after I go for the consultation.
I almost forgot to update! I went in for my consultation and they’ll let me schedule the 6 treatments whenever I want, there’s no “end date” for the package I got. I ended up paying for treatments for my full back, shoulders and upper arms and full chest and abs, so its about a $1200 investment, which is a lot less than they were charging even a few years ago! I go in for the first treatment in another week and a half, so when I’m there I’ll probably schedule treatment #2 for 8 weeks or so away and see how that works out.