Strange experience today at the new clinic.

I have previously had 6 treatments with IPL (Medilux) on my back, but then I decided to go to another laser clinic becuase of a few reasons.
Anyway, today I got my full upper body treated at the new clinic and I feel kind of strange. The thing is that at the first clinic I was gettig treated at they didn’t shave my back hair, they just trimmed it down to like one millimeter and then zapped the hairs. It smelled very heavily from burnt hairs and afterwards my skin would feel warm for about on hour or more.
At this new clinic today instead of trimming the hairs they shaved my full uper body rather thoroughly (is that spelled right?)and then the practitioner devided my body into sections with a pencil and started the treatment. She started with my stomach and although a could feel it stinging with every zapp, it was not at all bad and a never once asked her to stop for a moment or made a sudden movement because of too much pain. And althoug the hair on my stomach and chest was very coarse it didn’t smell from burnt hairs in the room. I told the practitioner several times that I thought that it was very strange that it hurt that little, but she was very confident in her work and I must say that she was VERY thorough and concentrated when she was working on me. She told me that I should be feeling stings and no more and that the settings were good for my skin and hair type and that the hairs will shed. She said that the heat sensation I had at the other clinic maybe ws due to the fact that they didn’t shave the hairs and therefore the hairs become burned and heated the skin surface.
I am a little bit confused. Can someone maybe make me a little wiser?

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From my limited personal experience I am surprised that you were never shaved before–the laser needs to be directed at the root of the hair to seal off the blood supply and if it is just burning surface hairs I can’t believe that it is doing that. Both clinics that I visited have requested that the area be shaved prior to treatment. I am also of iranian descent and have been directed to use only a yag laser-- it is my understanding the intense pulsed light IPL would not have an effect on me.

Hi:

Yes! I have had Lightsheer and I always have to shave first. You need to target the roots, not the hairs on the surface.

Alicia

But I did see results with the first practitioner that only trimmed my hair.

What about the pain? Is there less pain sensation when shaving the hairs instead of just trimming it?

there is pain regardless. you will get better results when the area is shaved. based on what you said before, it didn’t seem like it worked very well. if the area was shaved and higher power was used, maybe you would have gotten better results…although hard to tell now.

You do NOT get better results if you are looking for permanent removal when you shave. The reaon for shaving is an attempt to reduce PAIN.

  1. Lasers do NOT remove hair PERMANENTLY (see <FDA.gov>)
  2. About 6 weeks ago Chris Cuomo (son of Mario Cuomo) had a 1/2 hour segment on ABC about a young woman who DIED as part of her preparation for laser hair treatment on her thighs. Her thighs were shaved and a numbing ointment was put on the thighs. Then she was wrapped in a plastic wrap to enable the medication to penetrate. She went into CARDIAC ARREST and DIED. ALL DRUGS HAVE SIDE EFFECTS…EVEN THE OVER THE COUNTER DRUGS (PARTICULARLY IF YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW TO USE THEM).
  3. RESULTS AE TIED TO THE EXPERTISE OF THE TECHNICIAN, COLOR OF THE HAIR, DEPTH OF THE ROOTS, SETTINGS OF THE LASER…and even then,lasers do not remove hair permanently. That is why they sell you a group of treatments instead of only one at a time.
    Do not sign any contracts for a series of treatments. Use a credit card so you can CONTEST the bill.

Thankyou fot the reply lefty2G.
I know that laser and IPL does not remove hair permanently. But if it reduces hair and makes the hairs thinner for a long time I am happy with that.

Where have you gotten this information about shaving beeing a way of reducing pain?
How come so many people report that they experienced so much pain although they were shaved? But I must say that I think that I can take pain very good compared to others. I mean, a few years ago I had a lot of stress in my life and I used to pull out my beard using my nails and I did this so much so that I had a big bald area on and under my chin. Also for a period of time I used to remove my thick body hair with this small machines that pulls the hairs out from the root - but that wasn’t becuase of stress, I just wanted to bee smooth, hehe. That did hurt like hell, but I could endure it.

Because I did not feel my skin getting heated when beeing treated at this new clinic yesterday, I told the practitioner several times to turn up the fluence, but she said my skin would get damaged - but I mean, my skin wasn’t getting hot at all, it only stinged some in areas with thick hairs.

You do NOT get better results if you are looking for permanent removal when you shave. The reaon for shaving is an attempt to reduce PAIN.

No, the reason is that you want the full laser power that targets the dark pigment to go to the root of the hair and not waste energy for hair above surface. in addition, burning the hair above surface can burn your skin.

  1. Lasers do NOT remove hair PERMANENTLY (see <FDA.gov>)

they’re approved for permanent reduction. the definition of that is wary. there are many people on this forum even who have experienced permanent hair removal. the reason that it is not approved for permanent removal is that laser doesn’t necessarily get ALL hair. but the ones it will get and will damage the follicles, will be permanent. the only reason electrolysis is approved for permanent removal is by the way NOT because it was tested. more because it has been around for so long. not specific data.

  1. About 6 weeks ago Chris Cuomo (son of Mario Cuomo) had a 1/2 hour segment on ABC about a young woman who DIED as part of her preparation for laser hair treatment on her thighs. Her thighs were shaved and a numbing ointment was put on the thighs. Then she was wrapped in a plastic wrap to enable the medication to penetrate. She went into CARDIAC ARREST and DIED. ALL DRUGS HAVE SIDE EFFECTS…EVEN THE OVER THE COUNTER DRUGS (PARTICULARLY IF YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW TO USE THEM).

laser didn’t cause this. the inexperienced techs that are out there do not provide clients with enough information. it can happen with any prescription medication. that’s why it’s important to do your research and find an experienced and knowledgeable tech.

  1. RESULTS AE TIED TO THE EXPERTISE OF THE TECHNICIAN, COLOR OF THE HAIR, DEPTH OF THE ROOTS, SETTINGS OF THE LASER…and even then,lasers do not remove hair permanently. That is why they sell you a group of treatments instead of only one at a time.
    Do not sign any contracts for a series of treatments. Use a credit card so you can CONTEST the bill.

you need several treatments because hair grows in 3 phases and can only be killed in it’s anagen phase. this is not a new idea. that’s why electrolysis takes a long time as well.