Slightly disappointed (with questions)

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

So, today is exactly 3 weeks since I had my first underarms done with GentleMax laser (I am type I/II with dark, coarse hair in that area).

Unfortunately, not all hair shed (although a lot of hair did shed). This is not due her missing spots. Hair is left all over the area(s) and also they did not grow (that much) - they are pretty short. I usually can see the difference between hair hair that is being missed and hair that just did not shed. I saw it with my bikini (at another place), where the missed areas had longer and wavier hair and not missed area had short hair that just did not shed after 3 weeks. The treatment I had on my bikini was IPL (I know, I know - never again :mad:), but on underarms I had gentleMax, so I had pretty high expectations.

I have 3 questions:

  1. Is this normal not to shed completely with good laser? Or is it result of inappropriate settings? The treatment was definitely painful even with icing the area. I pretended that I did not feel the pain, because I did not want her to lower the settings.

  2. If the settings are inappropriate, how can I ask her to change the settings and what should they be? The reason I am asking, is because I noticed that people on this board sometimes have problems to convince the facility to adjust the settings.

  3. When should be my next appointment? With the bikini line at 8 weeks mark I felt that I was almost at the point of needing a new treatment, which I had at 10 week mark and it was a good interval for that area. Should I expect the same interval with underarms? The reason why I am asking is because I need to pre-schedule if I want convenient time slot - she is always pretty booked.

I feel comfortable with this lady, she has a good laser (and here in MN, a lot of places do not have good laser) and she’s been doing it for a long time.

As always, thank you in advance for your help.

#2

I am no professional but I have underwent quite a few laser treatments now so I will try my best to answer your questions speaking from my experiences!

  1. For me personally, after my first treatment of an area not every hair fell out but the majority did, I found that on my 2nd treatment more or less every hair fell out, a few left in each area which were firmly stuck in place but not growing at all.

  2. I really dont know how to give you a safe answer for this as pigmentation is a possibility, when I asked the tech to change the settings while treating me I just told her I was happy for her to put the settings slightly higher, so she did.

  3. I have had 2 underarm treatments now and I had mine roughly 8 weeks apart, I have heard people reccomend them closer together and I have heard people reccomend them further apart, I think it depends on the person as person A will see more regrowth in 8 weeks than person B will.

Hope ive helped!

#3

  • First, it’d be great if you can keep all your posts in on thread so we can easily follow the full story and refer back :slight_smile:

  • Do you know what settings were used? Was the alex or the Yag portion used? It’s hard to speculate on settings here without knowing what exactly they used.

  • All hair should shed if it’s coarse enough and touched with the right settings to affect it.

  • Yes, bikini and underarms have similar waiting periods. 8-12 weeks.

#4

  • I will keep all my posts in this one from now on. The other one is irrelevant - it had to do with IPL groupon I purchased for “Laser” Hair Removal. I got a refund today from Groupon - needless to say never again I will consider doing IPL hair removal even if it is cheaper than full price - money wasted is money wasted.

  • To update: I had one hair removal session with GentleLase for my lower legs; one hair removal session with GentleMax for underarms and 2 useless IPL sessions for bikini.

  • I also had 3 10-20 minute sessions of electrolysis for hair on my happy trail, chest bone and some odd hair here and there - really happy with those results.

  • Regarding my underarm treatment: I assume she used Alex portion. I will be shocked if she used Yag (unless she is completely clueless I just cannot think of the reason for her to use Yag) and I will ask her about settings next time I see her. I will also mention that not all hair shed and suggest that we might need to go to higher settings.