starting treatments, type IV or V skin

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

I have type IV or type V skin and Asian Indian heritage. I’m starting laser hair reduction treatments in a few days. I’m getting the bikini area and the whole leg done. I might get the underarms done in the future. I have thick hair and I’m sooooo tired of the ingrowns and infected follicles from shaving and waxing.

The place I’m going to has a dual-laser Apogee Elite system with a 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser and a 755 nm Alexandrite laser. You can choose one or the other or switch between both. I will be using the Nd:YAG for most of my skin.

My lower leg hair and the hair around the bikini area are definitely laser treatable. They’re very coarse and dark even in comparison to the skin color. But on my upper legs the hair gets somewhat finer. It’s much finer in texture near the hip. But from looking at the hair in the pores you can tell it’s still pretty dark.

I’ve read a lot about LHR but I still have some questions. Have people found that reduction on the upper legs is less effective? I’d settle for a decent amount of reduction as opposed to total disappearance on the upper legs but I’d be happier with more of it gone.

On a similar topic. I thought about having the general butt region and lowerback done too. But I only have finer hair their. It’s not coarse like lower leg hair. It’s still dark and definitely visible. I’d never be able to wear a revealing bikini bottom that doesn’t cover the entire buttocks. But it seems like that finer kind of hair doesn’t respond as well to laser. Can someone tell me more?

Also. The lower half of my legs is tanned due to sun exposure. It’s not extremely dark. It’s more like the difference between dark brown sugar and light brown sugar. The hair in the pores is still obvious even after I shave. I thought about waiting for it to fade, but I know my own skin and that could take 6-12 mths of total sun avoidance to achieve. Do you think this is likely to be an issue? My legs are going to be seeing the sun a lot less now the weather has cooled down.

I don’t know what kind of settings would be reasonable for my type IV or V skin type so if someone can indicate a ballpark figure for them on a Nd:YAG-type laser that would be really nice. The place I’m going has a good rep and the ladies who founded it are type IV themselves. But I want to know that what the practitioner is choosing is reasonable.

What kind of post-procedure pain level can I expect? They asked me to come in an hour early so we can layer on some anesthetic cream. My pain tolerance is ok. But I want to know that I’ll be able to drive two hours home soon afterwards. If I have any redness or irritation afterwards when should I start to be worried?

All of ur suggestions are welcome and thanks!!!

#2

  • With your skin type, a Yag should be used everywhere likely, not on “most” of the areas

  • Only treat coarse dense hair. Don’t touch areas with finer hair. Laser effectiveness depends mostly on the type of hair, not the location. And the hair on your upper legs doesn’t sound coarse enough for laser to affect. If you want, you can have them do a test spot on the upper leg in an area there where the hair is dense. See if you experience shedding. But definitely do not have them touch any areas with finer hair, especially if it’s relatively sparse. That includes what you describe on the very upper thighs and the buttocks. You need electrolysis for that type of hair. Laser can actually induce it and make it more coarse and dense.

  • A Yag laser should be fine on somewhat tanned skin. But of course, start using sunblock daily on any exposed areas you’re treating. It’s in your best interests to be as light as possible so that they can use higher settings.

  • We can’t really recommend settings over the Internet especially given your varying skin type. What you should do is have them do some test spots. Then post the settings they used on the forum and we can advise if they’re high enough to produce permanent damage to the hair. Only they can test and see how high you can go. We need to know joules, spot size, and pulse width used. Higher joules, higher spot size and lower pulse are more effective.

  • LHR pain only lasts WHILE the laser is being applied. It doesn’t last, meaning you won’t be in any pain after the treatment (unless they burn you) even if it hurt during (which it should if it’s effective). Areas with most dense coarse hair hurt most. We generally recommend to go for one treatment without the numbing cream and see how they feel. I never found the need to use it. Bikini area is done in 10 mins, so it’s not a big deal either way. Legs take longer to treat, so pain will depend on how coarse and dense your hair is there. It helps not to use a cream for your first time also to be able to judge whether you’re getting burned.

  • You will probably have redness for a few hours after the treatment. It’s normal. You should see raised red follicles, which is a sign of an effective treatment. Bring some cold pure aloe vera gel. It feels nice afterwards and soothes the skin. You’ll be fine driving back.

#3

Thanks for ur response lagirl.

I looked at my legs carefully before going and decided that about 95% of the hair was coarse enough except the ones on the very upper part near the hips. I decided to avoid the buttocks for now. Electrolysis on my bum would take ages. The hairs is fine but there are many of them.

I forgot to ask what settings the tech was using. They have a Cynosure Apogee Elite and I think she was using the maximum spot size but I don’t know the joules or anything so I should call and ask for reference. But you are right lagirl, we used only the Nd:YAG long wavelength laser.

I got there and the tech RN introduced herself and explained what we would do. She applied some lidocaine cream to all the areas although not too thick since we were covering a large area. Then she wrapped everything in plastic wrap and left me while the cream did it’s job. About an hour later she came back and removed the cream. She used an oil pencil to sketch a grid all over me. Then we started the treatment. She zapped each space on the grid before moving onto the next one.

The pain of treating the bikini area even with the lidocaine cream was incredible. Like being jabbed with sharp needles over and over. It was far beyond what I expected. I needed breaks inbetween spots on the grid. But the tech was very patient and brought some cold packs too.

On the legs it was alot easier. There was still pain even with the cream especially on the lower legs. But it was much more tolerable than the bikini area. I didn’t need any breaks on the legs. Afterwards the tech applied aloe vera gel which definately did help.

I think the settings used on the bikini area might have been slightly high since my redness there persisted beyond 24 hours and I am still sensitive there. Not burns just general irritation. The discomfort persisted after the treatment was over. That was also sort of true even on the legs. But the irritation is less than I have had from shaving so I will deal. I have heard from others that they had more irritation when being treated with the Cynosure Apogee Elite and that doing a close shave before going next time will help. This time I didn’t shave the same day of treatment.

I did see lots of raised red follicles. The tech said she thought based on her experience that I would see some results in the bikini area very quickly. She said the lower legs would probably respond more slowly and the upper legs too.

Today I shaved my legs very lightly. The skin is still a little irritated so I didn’t want to apply any pressure with the razor yet. It doesn’t look irritated anymore it just feels a little irritated. I did not go “down there” with the razor at all yet. The tech told me that they usually advise their clients to stick to lukewarm showers for a couple days too.

I have to say I had no idea that the bikini area would be so painful during treatment but it makes sense since my density of hair follicles there is very very high and the hair is very very coarse. But wow that pain was something else. Without the numbing cream I would have given up. I found the legs pretty easy to deal with. I have had legs waxing done in the past and I thought this was comparable to that. Pain but nothing I couldn’t handle. With the numbing cream it was a little easier than waxing.

When should I expect to see shedding? I’ve heard 1 week to 4 weeks but that’s a big range. I assume since it’s only been a couple days that I wont see it yet. I think I’ll need to keep shaving until the shedding right?

#4

You are correct, the more dense the hair, the more painful the treatments will be. It is normal to have symptoms similar to a mild sunburn for up to 48 hours. Pure Aloe helps with irritation. Raised follicles is a good indication.

As the hairs come out over the next few weeks it will appear they are growing, but they are just shedding. It is best to resist shaving as much as possible. Especially in areas that you are prone to have ingrown hairs. 1 to 4 weeks is the time hair starts to shed and the time all hairs are gone. Most of the hair will shed by the end of week 3.

It seems like your practitioner is very knowledgeable, your in good hands.

#5

Raised red follicles for a couple of days is normal and very good. If redness lasts a week, there may be a slight burn. It sounds like it may not be the case here.

I would advise you not to shave if you can avoid it. You definitely shouldn’t shave while the skin is still irritated. But even afterwards, I would wait 2-3 weeks before shaving because it can slow down the shedding process (i.e. not letting hairs work themselves out of the skin to fall out). I would just apply cold clear aloe vera for a few days and let things heal. Shedding starts around week 1-1.5 and lasts through week 2.5-3.

In terms of settings, I don’t think the spot size on this machine is adjustable, so it’s either 12 or 15mm. They’re likely only adjusting joules and pulse. It would be great to know what they’re using on you.

#6

Hi Fuzzybunny,

I’m glad your treatment is going so well. I have similar skin/hair combo and I’m looking to work on my bikini line, so I was wondering if you might be able to give me the details of the practitioner you use, and how much they charge?

So far, I’ve found the SK:N clinic at Holborn to be the most competitively priced, but the Harley Medical Group seem the most competent, so at the moment they would be my first choice, though your clinic sounds very promising - if it’s anywhere near me!

Best of luck with your treatment, and I’m glad everything looks to be going well for you so far :slight_smile:

Mink x

#7

Is fuzzybunny in London too? She doesn’t mention it.

#8

Not sure, but having read over her post, she does use U.S. spelling for ‘color’ so she may well be on the wrong side of the pond for me, alas!

In any case, I’ve gone for consults with no fewer than five clinics here in London. Should I write up a journal for people looking to treat in London? I have fairly extensive information about each…

#9

It would be great if you run an Advanced Search for London here on the forum. There is already one thread by another member outlining his experiences with several clinics in London. It would be great if you post in that thread, so that it’s complete :slight_smile: