I have had most of my shoulder and chest hair removed with laser treatments and I am finishing up with electrolysis. I have had 0 laser treatments on my abs for 2 years and the slight amount of regrowth that occurred has remained steady since the 2 month mark after my last treatment.
I am very fortunate that my practitioner does both laser hair removal and electrolysis. Laser got most of my chest hair but not all of it. The laser made some hairs much finer so they were less vulnerable to the laser. I also had some light colored hairs that the lasers would not treat successfully. On the sides of my chest the laser was not as effective, and I believe that is because the follicles are deeper in that area and beyond the reach of diode and alexandrite lasers. When I first had laser treatments, the Nd:YAG lasers were not available in my area. They may have worked better there but I don’t know.
Because of these reasons I finished with electrolysis and am very happy with the results.
I have never had scarring. I was treated with electrolysis this summer and was able to go out in the sun within a day or two with no problems. My skin is dark and I cannot have laser treatments in the summer, so there is another advantage of electrolysis, it is a year round treatment method. A certain amount of scabbing is normal, especially on the chest area because shirts are rubbing against it all the time. I am a sun worshipper and spend a lot of time out in my boat, so on the weekends I would just go shirtless and that would cut down on the irritation. The scabs heal in a few weeks and it is no big deal at all.
No, laser has not complicated electrolysis treatment for me at all. Electrolysis works on hairs of any color, coarse or fine. Having a skilled practitioner is of utmost importance.
Maybe you were undertreated with the laser,it’s hard for me to speculate. Or maybe you are one of those non-responders. My practitioner has a lot of patients who have tried laser hair removal from other places who have not had much success. She says in most cases it is because they were undertreated or they were not suitable candidates for laser.
Another member here, Balius, reported on his experience with laser and electrolysis and his experience was very similar to mine.
I would say to go for it, you won’t regret it.
RJC2001
