Slightly (very) confused....

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

So, I know that they say to have a treatment every 4-8 weeks depending on hair growth/area being treated, etc, but what happens if you have 1 treatment say, every 6 months or every year? Will it not do essentially the same thing? I get the hair growth cycle, I guess… I just am confused?

Here’s the deal, about 5 years ago i had LHR done on my face with a lightsheer diode laser, amazingly at American Laser Clinic. I think that’s the name of it? I had a significant reduction in my facial hair, and it made it a lot easier to shave it and hide my facial hair… then i just didn’t have time, and the days after LHR are so embarrassing and unbearable i almost would rather just deal with the hair (it’s basically a full on goatee, thick, course man like hair, and i have very very pale skin.)
Approximately 3 months ago, maybe 4? I went and had another treatment done with a Comet (not IPL, the one with “rf technology”) which basically did nothing at all. It did improve my skin a bit, however, no hair was shed at all. I didn’t bother going back or calling, i just didn’t want to deal with it.
Two weeks ago I went to a different clinic and was treated with a Elite MPX Laser (i did not ask the setting) however the results so far have been exactly, if not better, than when i was treated with the lightsheer. I have no 5 a clock shadow 3 hours after shaving, and i can touch my face at the end of the day and not feel prickly. Today when i was going through my daily hair removal i saw large thick hairs that seemed to have fallen out? It’s hard to tell how much has actually “shed” because i shave my face every day in a horrible attempt to hide the fact that i have facial hair, however i did notice that the other day when i woke up i could have left the house without shaving and just a little make up and no one would have probably noticed i have facial hair…but i can still feel it so i shaved anyway…

So now, I’ve had 2 treatments tehcnically (i’m so not counting that comet experience). The first treatment 5 years ago should have killed some follicles, and this 2nd treatment should have killed another few. Does this mean I should only need 2-4 more (yes yes, facial hair is hard to treat) or do i need 4-6 (4-8?) treatments in a certain amount of time to take care of the hair?

I will add, I have had my hormones tested and do not have PCOS, nor any other hormonal imbalance. It seems to just be genetic hirsutism, and my doctor said that spiro may help with the follicles and how they respond to DHT.

This confuses me too, if i’m on spiro, does this mean that current active follicles will still continue to grow hair? Or will the spiro possibly prevent this?

I know there is a board for rx, but if i’m doing both, and mostly concerned about the LHR i’m curious. I’m also confused about how effective using spiro while doing LHR will be…

Any help or comments would be GREATLY appreciated! Sorry this was so long…

#2
  1. How much hair are we talking about? Close to a full beard?
  2. Given that you don’t have a hormonal imbalance, spironolactone is unnecessary. Besides, (temporary) hair reduction from this medication can take a few months to materialize, and by then you could already achieve significant clearance using laser/electrolysis.
#3
  1. Yes, close to a full beard, just in the goatee area (just have normal light vellus hairs on my cheeks) and down to the neck. The first laser treatment basically got rid of hair in the ‘sideburn’ area and i only get a few hairs now and then in that area, and i’ve never had significant upper lip hair. But it is very thick, dark, course hair that grows in the area that i had treated.

My doctor put me on the spiro because she said even in the absence of elevated testosterone the follicles seem to just be oversensitive to the normal naturally occurring levels and an anti-androgen would help the hirsutism. Regardless, that doesn’t answer the question that i haven’t been able to ask her, does the spiro prevent the follicles that previously produced hair from sprouting up new hairs (where the laser didn’t affect the hairs but they shed?) while i’m taking the medication?

#4

No. Essentially, it can only help prevent the formation of new terminal hairs, and you generally lose that benefit upon discontinuing the medication. Also, not everyone who takes Spiro observes this effect.

Though I’m not trying to interfere with your physician’s plan, I will say that you should be aware that any medication you take has the potential for adverse effects. While Spiro is generally safe, you’ll need to watch your salt (specifically potassium) intake and have your serum potassium levels checked periodically.

While it’s true that facial hair can be difficult to treat, that you had a positive result from just one or two laser treatments suggests that more laser could really help. Electrolysis would also be a great option as this is a relatively small area. If it were me, personally, I would exhaust these options before going down the medication route. Besides, they’re your only choice if want permanent removal of the hair you have now.

#5

  • It’s hard to judge laser machines like you’re doing in your post because you don’t mention settings. It can be the very best machine like the MPX, but if it’s not used with good settings, it can be useless too.

  • It’s important to get treated on schedule if you want to see results fast. You can technically wait 6 months between treatments if you want, but then you’ll need a lot more than the 6 treatments most people need since your hair will never be synchronized when you come in for treatments. 8-12 week treatment schedule (not 4 weeks) synchronizes growth because the hair will shed after the first treatment, i.e. the hair that grows in afterwards is all in the same phase and then it gets treated again, and then the same thing is repeated