I am going to start upper lip treatment with GentleLase and the laser therapist said I should trim the hair as opposed to shaving it. I though it makes no difference. If you trim it there will still be hair on the surface and I prefer shaving it. does this really matter?
These are the subtle differences in lasers. Some require a stubble to be effective and some want a clean close shave like the Alma Soprano XLI. If stubble were present with the Soprano XLI, the patient would say “that’s too hot.” An inexperienced operator would turn down the Fluence until the patient said, “I can tolerate that energy level”. The correct thing to do with the Soprano XLI is to shave everything molecule of hair above the skin off. The prior energy that the patient rejected would now be totally painless and the hair follicle takes the full dose of the necessary energy to cause follicle death. So, ask your physician what should be done (shave or trim) with the laser that he/she is planning to use on you.
I don’t know what the Soprano promoter above is talking about, but to answer your question: You should shave so that the energy is targeted to the follicles and not wasted on the hair above the skin’s surface. We generally recommend shaving 1-2 days prior so there is a bit of stubble and they can see where to treat.
Are you male or female? Is your hair coarse?
sorry for the super late reply. I am female and the upper lip hair is very fine
Sorry to bud into your topic, but the above post about the Soprano caught my interest. I was asked to refrain from shaving my upper lip and side burns for my second treatment. I felt a lot more heat and it was more painful for that reason. The first treatment when I shaved was less painful. This might be due to the fact that the laser might have been targetting the hair grown out. Should we always shave the area to be treated?
Yes