Treatment after 3 Yag

Hi,

Almost 3 weeks ago I had my third laser session on my stomach and chest. After the second treatment I had more regrowth than my first, the tech said that is most often the case. Now after the third, I would have to say this time the shedding has been increasingly positive, it seems more has shed this time around. It is hard to judge at this point how many more treatments I will need. Although, I was looking for chest reduction and I want more of a reduction and removal on the stomach. This may have been my last treatment on chest. I am hoping for the right amount of regrowth and I am crossing my fingers I will be happy with the result, up until now I have been rather cautious about my satisfaction with results. I am hoping to see more of a reduction this time around.

I guess I will know by my next session in 7 to 9 weeks time. Wish me luck!

Malie, good to hear you’re heading in the right direction. Do you mind if I ask a couple questions? What’s your skin type? Hair color? Do you know what kind of machine they are using and what were the settings? This kind of thing is good to know here. I’d be interested to know what power your first two treatments were, and your third? Sounds like they up’d the power on the third.

Mantaray

Hi,

I am using a coolglide xeo, my skin type is somewhere between 3 and 4. My hair is dark and fairly thick. As for the power I cannot say, however my tech says she ups it every time, for some reason I was rather sensitive to the treatment this time and she said she only up’d it slightly. I think it was because I used a different numbing cream. I find the treatments rather painful compared to electrolysis. I have been getting electro done on my back and shoulders, as the hair is not as thick but it is still rather dark in pigment there…I am afraid to try a different tech and laser as I don’t want to stimulate growth in that area…However, I have had a bit of a break from my electro and my skin is healing rather slowly…I have marks from where I had pinpot scabs…I am considering stopping electro all together and…maybe just hope and put my faith in the coolglide xeo and tech…to remove that hair… the hair on my back is sporadic and it is is not dense at all…it can only be seen at a relatively close distance. It is hard to make a decision on this…It is so hard to find a dedicated electrolysis specialist…they all operate out of beauty salons… hardly what I am after!!

Thanks for posting your follow up Malie. See, hitting the ab area is tricky. The reason is that these hairs are finer than leg hairs, bikini area hairs, or even men’s facial hairs. The Yags, the Alexandrites, flashlamps, and, plain diodes have to rely on putting enough energy into these fine hairs to not only knock out the hair, but the supporting bulb, bulge, and and capilary system feeding into the whole hair growth mechanism supporting that one hair. With thicker hair, they can pull this off, because the dark ahirs are big and fat, absorb much energy from the laser, and dissipate it to the follicals surrounding support system, thus doing it’s best to permanently kill the hair.

But, the thing is though, abdominal hairs are by nature thinner and wispier. They just can’t absorb that much energy to kill off the hair’s support system that is non-pigmented. So what you get, is hairlessness for a bit, if that, then regrowth could very well kick in. Of course, sometimes the hair does get knocked off permanently, but this is only going to be at a higher power that the tech feels comfortable giving you. And they do shy away from treating at those higher powers.

That’s why companies that put big efforts into their R&D, instead of perfecting the wooden wheel, have moved away from relying on just laser light killing of the hair, and hopefully, it’s supporting hair bulb. That’s where RF comes in. RF is nothing new to medicine. It’s now used in many cutting edge applications. It’s advanced. It’s used in somnoplasty and relieving the effects of spinal disk bulging. Syneron lasers use this, they cost a lot more, they’ve been through a whole lot of research and developement, they combine two powerful hair removing effects. The hair is attacked through the Diode laser, but in combination, the hair’s supporting bulb and bulge system is attacked through Radio Frequency. This gives total hair death of the target follical. See, there’s a difference between getting hair clearing, and getting permanent hair death. And more tools have to be used if their is to be better success. Laser/RF treatments are the next generation. First of the Synerons was the Aurora that topped out at 25J-RF, then the Comet at 50J-RF, now there’s the Galaxy that delivers 100J_RF.

If you stay with the YAG, any real effective treatment on the stomach is going to be painful, and increasingly painful. And really, using a numbing cream is their way to make up for their older technology. Because they’re blasting you, relying on pure laser effects. If you go with a Comet or Galaxy you’re not going to need the numbing cream, because your not going to be so close to the burning threshold. They use a moderate Joules on the Laser, and use it in conjuction with Radio Frequency Joules. Not so much pain, good for your skin type, more complete attacking of the follical to give more permanent results.

See how this last YAG treatment works out, but if you feel a need for further sessions, think about getting an appointment with a Syneron using clinic. Ask back here if you have any questions.

Good Luck,
Mantaray

So, how old is say a coolglide xeo compared to a galaxy or comet?

Are you saying the nd:yag coolglide will not treat my back succesfully due to the finer nature of the hair?

Have you had success with these machines? If so, what kind of reduction was it and where did you have treated?

So, how old is say a coolglide xeo compared to a galaxy or comet?

Cutera isn’t real open with their information and I don’t really keep track of their products. They don’t openly list specs. Or at least I don’t know, or have seen them list them. If anyone does know the specs of Cutera Lasers please list them. It’s not the unit that’s dated, it’s the approach, the methodology, the R&D involved. The Coolglide Xeo is your basic meat and potatoes Nd:YAG. That technology was great, what? Five, seven years ago? I’m guessing. And it may very well work for you. But, the Syneron Comet came out last year. It’s based on a more reasoned out and researched technology. Technology that’s applied in more involved proceedures in the medical field. There was a waiting list for it upon release. It’s an expensive laser, not every clinic can afford one. The Galaxy is brand, spankin’ new. It furthers the logic of permanent destruction of the whole hair support system.

Are you saying the nd:yag coolglide will not treat my back succesfully due to the finer nature of the hair?

Yes. Finer hair doesn’t absorb as much energy from the laser. The energy relayed by the finer hair sometimes can’t give the dermal hair bulge the dose it needs to be fully destroyed like a big thick coarse bikini could. It may if they crank it up, but that’s the technician’s decision, and they may be hesitant to do that. You may be hesitant for them to do that.

Have you had success with these machines? If so, what kind of reduction was it and where did you have treated?

Yes. I have in fact. I’ve had five treatments legs, feet, abs, and some bikini thrown in for free by the tech with the Syneron Comet. The last at 30J-Laser/50J-RF cleaned house. I’m just entering the shed phase of my last treatment. I’m completely happy. Reduction should be great, about 9 of every ten hairs tugged on glides out on the thighs, and the abs usuallly lag, about eight of ten seem to be coming out good. But I shave through treatments, so it always takes me a little longer to see true shedding effects.

Interesting information. My shedding has been increasingly good this time around. My ab area is practically bare as is my chest, I had not experienced that in the last two…well not to this extent anyway. So, it should be interesting to see how it goes…I really am hoping that I get the desired results and if I do I maybe willing to give it a shot on the back area. However, I am going to need to see more of a reduction to be convinced to do that.

Just thought I’d throw in my $.02…

Well, I’ve had one Comet treatment a little over a month ago. I treated the hair on my hand, which is rather fine, like ab hair. Here is a pic, you can see what my hands looked like before the treatment.

[image]http://www.geocities.com/gdubber2002/IMG_0445.jpg[/image]

I wish my camera wasn’t broken, so I could show you what they look like now. The results have been amazing! I shaved my arms when I got my hands lasered, and have been able to see the progress as compared with the rest of my arm hair. My hands look almost completly bare compared to my arm. I would say I have had 70-80% clearance after one treatment at 30J/50RF.

Now I know it is still a little early, and I could have more growth down the road, but from what I can see, it looks like most of what is going to grow in has already started to sprout.

The little bit of ab hair I have is something I am persuing for LHR. After seeing the results of my hands after only one treatment, I am definately getting my ab treated.

After doing my research on this site, I took Mantaray’s and RCJ2001’s advice and went with the Comet, and it is paying off.

So if I were you, and wanted to get finer hairs on the back treated, I would try and find a practice with a Comet around your area. It’s worth it IMHO.

gdubber2002

I think I’ll do a bit of a search for a comet. I’ll let you know how I go. I’ll also keep you posted on how my abs and chest are coming along!

Question…would the Syneron Aurora Elos be better than the yag to treat my back? I have done a big search already…all the laser places in my country and from my research the comet is yet to reach my area.

Yags work well on light skin and dark coarse hair. you won’t have issues if that’s what you have. at that point, it’s the tech’s experience and skill that will make a difference.

I don’t know much about the Aurora, but I do know that it is IPL/RF, whereas the Comet is Diode Laser/RF. The Comet can also go up in higher fluences than the Aurora, making it more efficient.

You can go to Syneron’s website and fill out a contact form, they will email you a list of practices in and around your area with the Comet.

You also might want to check out the Galaxy. I don’t know much about that either, but it looks like the next best thing from Syneron.

Good luck malie, and keep us posted!

gdubber2002

I will be sticking to my yag for the chest and stomach… well I’ll make that call in 5 or so weeks once I see regrowth. As for the back, I’m not sure what I will do. My skin is still in the healing process after my electro treatment… I may settle for a yag on that area even if the hairs are finer, it seems to claim it can treat finer hairs and I think that if it was used at high settings maybe it could give me the desired results.

Ill keep you posted

I think I’ll do a bit of a search for a comet. I’ll let you know how I go. I’ll also keep you posted on how my abs and chest are coming along!

Question…would the Syneron Aurora Elos be better than the yag to treat my back? I have done a big search already…all the laser places in my country and from my research the comet is yet to reach my area.

No, the Aurora would not be better than the YAG for you. Since you have already had 3 YAG treatments, the remaining hair is likely finer than what you started with. I don’t think the Aurora has enough fluence that you will benefit from it. If this was your first treatment, then you may get some benefit from it.

The Comet is the premier hair removal machine from Syneron. As far as hair removal goes, it has twice the fluence of the other Syneron machines. The high RF and laser fluences that you see on the Galaxy are for the wrinkle removal and vascular handpieces not the hair removal handpiece. The DS (hair removal) hand piece has fluence levels comparable to the Aurora. And the optical energy for the DS handpiece is IPL not diode.

Check out the Galaxy Specs and compare the 2 different sections.

That being said, if you could talk the doctor/practitioner into trying the Galaxy WR handpiece for hair removal, it may very well do a good job. But the spot size is smaller, and the light may not penetrate as deep into the follicle.

I would like to try the Comet, but nobody in my area has one. And a lot of the practitioners that now use the Aurora I would not trust to do a good job. My practitioner did use the Aurora but she is in her own practice now and does not have one. She did not think it was all that great at hair removal. She believes that the Apogee, the Lightsheer, and Sciton are the best lasers she has used so far. She is going to look at the Cutera products in December, which means I will be doing more demos.

RJC2001

Well, it is nearing 5 weeks since my last treatment. I am amazed so far at the lack of regrowth. I would have to say at about this time, I started seeing a fair bit of regrowth after my second treatment. So far I believe I have not nearly seen the same amount of regrowth. It is scary! The only hair that is currently present are once which seem to have been a bit resistant to the laser. Other than that I will say it again, it is scary!! It has even worked on the finer hairs around the outside of my abs, and what has regrown is rather even. I will have to say this is currently swaying my mind to try laser on the back where the hair is finer and not as dense. However, I am still dwelling on that decision.

The next 2 weeks will be cruicial in how succesful it has been or if I will continue treatments. My plan was never to be this bare…however if it stays like this…which I doubt it will I will not complain. Hair or no hair, im still the same.

I’ll keep you posted in the coming weeks, when I am expecting to see regrowth.

i also have fine vellus hair on the back and i dont know what to do either…and on the abdomen but more coarse hair around the belly button and below probably bc i USED to pluck them, bad idea…let me know if find a sufficent way to remove your fine hairs, my hairs are dark but fine on the back…i wish you all luck with hair issues

If the fluence is turned way up that may help with the fine hairs. The best success I had on fine dark hair (other than with electrolysis) was with the Lightsheer at 50J and 100ms.

RJC2001