“Electrolysis can’t compete for areas like underarms, bikini etc in either cost or speed.”
Actually, I would like to ‘compete’ … I agree this area is done well by laser, so I’d like to have a go. I do one underarm and (any) laser does the other. Any takers?
LAgirl, please say me what is so difficult at operating for example the GentleLase??!
All you need to do is stick it into the plug, set with 18mm handpiece minimum 16J/mm2 and shoot at the hair - you cannot do anything bad until you are BLIND or RETARDED!!!
The next thing is to ask the patient to come in 8-10 weeks and to take the CASH - I wonder why the CASH part works well in every laser clinic 
I hope you get takers Michael 
I still think it would be hard for you to compete in terms of speed. I had 5 underarm treatments, 2 minute treatment each time. That’s total time of 10 minutes on the table over the course of a 1 year. Cost is around $25-100 per treatment. Let’s say average is $50. That’s 10 mins and $250 total.
Miro, GentleLASE is one of the easiest to operate. However, what I mean is knowing what settings to set on what skin type etc. It’s “easy” to perform LASIK too. You type in what you need into the machine. Knowing what to type in is the important part.
Either way, I think everyone agrees that there are clinics out there that start operating without doing much research. there are also plenty of electrologists who’ve survived 20+ years doing bad treatments on people who keep going because they don’t know any better.
Yes, they dont know the settings because they are not interested in the patients, just in the money - but please say you opinion - noone has to be interested in laser hair removal to know the most important things - make a test patch with lower energy, and go higher and higher…
Its crazy how many things someone has to remember even in elementary school, but “real professionaly” cannot remember ONE sentence!
Yes allso laser surgery shouldnt be that hard to do - but compared to laser epilation, its a science.
And allso the results are somewhere else - I dont know anyone who had bad results - I personaly had PRK in 2005 (or 2006?) and a have to say that it was superb improvement - allso allmost my eye problems after the surgery went away (hopefully will stay so! tap, tap) - but I understand its just a correction, no way a cure. And I wonder why the research in this field is allso not very good…
And the underarms - look at the work done by Josefa
Well, I would be beating the price, that’s for sure. I am trying to get some sort of “thing” going in my town — no takers so far. The nurse (Nancy) that is doing laser for “Dr. P” … well, I did her underarms and the total time was 3 hours. Just saying …
My point is that we should all be willing to be involved with comparative studies; otherwise it’s just our own observation/experience and, of course, the eternal “flapping gums!” (Notice I said “all” and that includes me.)
I would like to add something about the speed.
I have always argued that until all of us and this includes practitioners of laser charged for each hair (removed permanently) , nothing will be fair to consumers. This would provide a space for newcomers electrologists since they would not have the pressure of competition from more experienced practitioners.
There would be no reason to delay the treatment of Electrolysis as it seems that some do. Laser practitioners apply the laser only really valid candidates.
My friend is getting GentleLASE underarm treatments for $99 for all 6 on her underarms. Can you beat that price too? There are lots of specials out there right now.
I’ve had hours of electrolysis over the course of 5 years myself on various areas and treated huge areas like my entire abdomen successfully. Obviously, I have nothing against electrolysis. But given the choice now, would I go with laser for underarms and bikini again vs. electrolysis? You bet. Even if the electrolysis was free, I would still choose laser on those areas. Time is money. Plus, there are no side effects at all. I went in for a 2-minute treatment and all the hair fell out in 2-3 weeks.
LAgirl, you talk about such prices that in many countries arent real - maybe somewhere where is big competition, but not real in Europe - and allso eastern yountries arent cheaper there - vice versa, they are much more expensive.
1 underarm gentlelase or light sheer treatment just on special occasions under 50 dollars, mostly 70-80dollars for 1 treatment…
Then I must have a lot of underlying pigmentation(I’m Middle Eastern and I came up with skin type 3 on that chart thing) because this is the limit for what I can take. There is no way I can go above 30 and not feel like my skin is literally being burned off, and I generally have a very good pain tolerance. [/quote]
You look to be a skin type II based on the photo, but of course if you do have underlying pigmentation then that could be it causing you to be closer to a type III setting wise.
Did they use a cold gel on the skin during treatment? This helps with epidermal cooling in combination with the Lightsheer’s chill tip. [/quote]
Yeah they did use gel but I don’t think there was a ‘chill tip’. I remember they did have that on the Soprano XL’s single pulse mode and maybe that’s why I could easily handle those treatments.
I just don’t see how 35 joules and up is the best settings for me on the lightsheer. I could barely handle 29j with a lot of swelling and redness and I don’t remember anyone saying Laser is supposed to be so extremely painful.
Miro, $50-75 is what I said is typical here too. The $99-150 for 3-6 treatment specials are Groupons and such. Europe has them too nowdays.
Johnson, you shouldn’t judge by the level of pain. You should only judge by the skin’s reaction. If there is no burn and any redness etc subsides within a day or two, you’re good. For pain, there is numbing cream available.
I had laser on my hands 6 times, I think it is the area that has responded the best. This was with lightsheer.
Before laser I would either pluck my hands or shave them. They are still slightly hairy as mens hands should be, but nothing that anyone would give a second look at.
So well worth doing.
Dude this is what I like to hear. I have some questions for you.
How much reduction did you have in total after 6 treatments? and how long has it been since your last treatment?
And what were all the settings like and what skin type are you?
Thanks. Please let me know.
Well no burns and the redness does go away after 2-4 days. After treatment there is a lot of swelling and redness. The technician seems to be pretty skilled, and does not seem to want to crank up the settings. I don’t think I should get higher settings?
She did use compression for sure. And maybe the cooling was used. I will ask her about this. Thanks.
I would say 60-70% reduction overall. But I have next to no hairs on my knuckles
And it has been 9 years since they were last treated.
I had large gaps between my treatments, often as much as 6 months.
I think the way laser works, with each treatment some hairs are killed others are weakened and grow back finer. But in time some which were damaged recover.
I have looked through my pics, I dont have any before hand shots as such.
However, I do have one hand shot showing part of the hand before it was treated. (I started off doing full arms and the bottom bit of hand) You can see the pepper spots on my hand before shedding on this first pic. But look at the untreated areas.
http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/5641/p8240017.jpg
the second shot is taken today.
Looks like you had some good results for the limited treatments you did have on your hands. I’m just glad to hear that you got that from the same machine as the one I’m being treated with. You wouldn’t happen to remember the settings they used on you at the time?
I dont remember at all, but thankfully I keep excellent records!
1st treatment ??J on arms and part of hand nearest wrist. Assume 30J. (See picture)
2nd treatment 30J on full hands and fingers.
3rd treatment 30J
4th treatment 30J
5th treatment 35J
Thats it! Everywhere else I was raising the J each time, but hands are on show so I think I was a bit more conservative.
Ah thanks. Guess I’m not too far off although you do seem to have lighter skin than I do. I’ve been treated with 28J and 29J so far.
If I do get another treatment I might try 30J if they allow it.
The spot size matters too. Are those joules on 12mm or 9mm machine?