I would love some feedback on this matter urgently if possible as I have my first laser session this afternoon in a few hours time. I am getting my upper body lasered (neck, chest, back, arms, shoulders) and have a question regarding the arms. I would like to have all areas (apart from the arms) 100% hair free, or close to it. The only reason I am have treatments on my arms as well is because they are quite hairy and I only want a reduction so the hair isn’t as dark or dense. I don’t want it hair free. The clinic suggested I only have 4 treatments on my arms and this should give a nice natural look. My question is, have they advised me correctly? The last thing I want is for my arms to be all patchy and un-natural looking. Will only having a few sessions on my arms archieve the result I am looking for?
Patchy and un-natural results would be the least of your worries. I hope you are well informed regarding stimulated hair growth in upper arms. If the hair is dark and course then you should be fine. If all goes well there are too many factors to say that you will have the exact result you are looking for. On the other hand if it does become patchy you can always get the natural feathered look later with electrolysis.
I would not advise getting so many areas done at once. Start with one and see if you get results first
Have you done your research on the type of laser they use and the type that’s best for you? Please read the FAQs here. All clinics and machines are not made the same. And you didn’t mention any of that info, which makes me worried.
-You can’t get 100% reduction with laser. 4 treatments are definitely not goign to get you anywhere close, even if they’re good treatments which remains to be seen. You need to adjust your expectations. Laser works best on dark coarse dense hair, so there is a good chance to have a good reduction on that type of hair. However, upper arms are hard to treat - make sure to only treat that area if you have dense coarse hair there.
Patchiness is an issue when not overlapping properly and/or using low settings. Once again, experience is important as is testing things out first before committing to such a large package of treatments.
Sorry I should have provided more info. I have done my research, mainly thanks to this great forum. I also had 3 independant consultations at different clinics. The laser to be used is the GentleLase Alexandrite with 18mm spot size. I don’t know the setting though, will find out this afternoon. I did have a test patch done and it was fine.
My skin type is type III and I have dark course hair in most of the areas. I was only planning to have 3-4 treatments on my arms only. As mentioned, I don’t want 100% hair removal from my arms. I only want the hair to be less dense, lighter in colour and not as course. I guess a 40-50% reduction would be satisfactory. This is why I only plan to have 3-4 treatments. I don’t want to be hair free on my arms.
For the remaining areas I do want to be hair-free, or as close to it as possible. I will probably have 6-8 treatments in these areas.
From the above information, do you think my expecttations for my arms are reasonable. My only concern was having ugly patches of hair on my arm. I want it to look natural if you know what I mean. Can this be achieved with 3-4 treatments?
Yes this is a concern I have and I have discussed this with the clinic. I am only doing 3/4 of my arms which have dark course hair. The upper arm is fine hair and I won’t be doing this.
Thanks lagirl, I feel much better now as your response had me worried to!
I discovered the forum about a year ago and have been wanting to try laser for a couple of years, just haven’t had the courage to try it. I understand that I may not achieve the results I want but the only way to find out is to give it a go.
I will be asking about the power settings but will aim for 16-18j and hopefully I can handle the pain. I won’t be going below 14j as that would be a waste of time and money.
Well I just had my first treatment and all went well I think. The technician used 14j on my arms, neck and chest, and 16j on my back. It was quite painful on the chest, stomach and neck area as the hair is very dark and course in these areas. Not sure if its worth going to 16j for the next treatment in 8 weeks time. There was little pain on the arms but she decided to use 14j as my arms are slightly darker in colour than the other areas.
lagirl, do you think I can still get good results if I stick to 14j? The technician said that good results can be achieved on even lower settings, as the setting isn’t the only factor which determines results.
Once I have shed in 3-4 weeks, if there are any patches or areas she has missed then they will do touch ups free of charge.
In my opinion, one should get treated at the highest setting they can handle to guarantee that the follicles are disabled permanently and not just partially damaged. In my personal experience, I find 16J and up works best. It’s up to you. For my money, I want the best results possible.
Check out my (pretty old now) page on arm hair reduction:
There’re a few pictures there that might give you an idea. I had the same goal in mind, but unfortunately the application of laser isn’t perfectly accurate. Sometimes spots will be missed, other sessions you might have more overlaps. In the end, this leads to patches and individual “stand out” areas that will be darker or denser than others. So I recommend going back for spot treatments if you notice this pattern. In the end I opted to get rid of it all. Good riddance.
