I dunno all my face shed after 1 treatment just not my upper lip and chin. It took the second session 4 weeks later to get that area to mostly shed. Switching to the Yag made it all shed in 1 session. I still think your clinic just doesn’t know what they’re doing. Have you done laser anywhere else on your body or just face?
edokid …when i first went to this place i had them do the bottom 1 inch of my neck… after the 1st treatment i would say 85% of the hairs got cleared. 2nd treatment got the remaining hairs and now it looks virtually perfect except for a few hairs here and there but no patches.
this is what i expected to happen on the rest of the face…
yes i have gotten laser all over my body and there is no patchiness…grows back in pretty even…on chest i have done it several times and i dont think there has been any reduction, looks the same as always…also had a brazilian and the pubes have grown back now, not as dense as before but pretty even, no strange patches.
ok here are the settings…
the machine is the Cynosure (alexandrite)
joules 25 (1st time) , 27 (2nd time)
spot size 12mm
Pulse width 20 (1st time), 25 (2nd time)
hope this helps…just got off the phone with them and they basically told me its due to telagen/anagen as for why it didnt all shed after 1st treatment. they told me come back in 2 weeks, we can look at it, and if necessary treat the areas that still havent shed
Doggonit! I can’t find the post where somebody said something like: “YOU Americans are always suing, blah blah …“
Funny thing is Americans do not sue! Certainly not as much as our reputation. And absolutely not as much as we should! (Of course, we love to talk about it). I’ve worked with several docs and surgeons (30 years) and am truly amazed at people’s unwillingness to sue, even when they were clearly and horribly damaged. (And, I know you don’t believe me!)
We have lots of perceptions about “other people,” especially those damned Americans (so easy to dislike) and this perception is one of them.
It was me that said it. At least when watching TV every night, every other channel is some lawyer going on about being hurt in a car and they’ll get all the money for you. Or did you take accutane and now have this or that disease then call us etc etc. I have many friends in the states (and actually own a condo in Miami) just seems like everything is based around suing people.
Anyway to 22justin, that is a good machine and the one I use. The settings aren’t crazy high though, as the max for 12mm is 35 joules. 25 joules is better for 15mm. They aren’t bad though. The problem is the larger the spot size the deeper it goes, so the 12 probably isn’t going deep enough to hit all the roots. Also it’s a smaller spot size so it’s a lot harder to overlap and cover the entire area.
do you think this 2nd round that i just got will do a good job at getting the remaining dark areas or do i need to have her change the settings?
ok i just called the place in Bellevue…spoke to Debbie (the owner) and she told me not to worry, that this is totally normal to have some patches after the 1st session… so I will go there on friday for a consult.
i guess the best thing is after the 2nd shed from saturdays treatment, ill just head to this place in bellevue for touchups… i told her i was worried that this would take like a year but she told me it wont take anywhere near that long to clear it up.
would you agree this is the best strategy?
Your best strategy is to wait 2-3 weeks and see what happens since you just did a 2nd treatment. We can more easily judge from that point to see what to recommend.
It’s not really normal to have patches after a treatment as patches means spots that were missed. Either way sometimes things happen, but in your case it’s all over your face so it doesn’t look like they could have missed that much. Give it a few weeks and see what happens and then go from there.
Those settings are somewhat low given that it’s a 12mm spot size. Do they have a 15mm spot size I wonder? I don’t know whether their specific model has adjustable spot sizes. But other Apogee machines (alex devices made by Cynosure) do come in 15mm and one in 18mm. The larger the spot size, the higher the joules and the lower the pulse width, the better.
At this point, here’s what I would do:
-
Wait 3 full weeks since your last treatment. If more than 10% still hasn’t shed, get a touchup at either clinic, on all the missed spots. If you choose the same clinic, they need to use higher settings. If 15mm is possible, the other variables you listed would be fine. If only 12mm is possible, then joules need to be increased and pulse width can stay the same or be descreased (it can go as low as 5ms on this machine). If you go with the Bellevue clinic, please find out what machine they use first and post here, so we can advise on settings before you go all the way out there.
-
Once you get the touchup, wait 8 weeks and see how the new growth comes in. If it still comes in patchy, you will need another treatment at that point.
-
What they said is wrong. ALL hair in ALL phases of growth should shed after the treatment. The hair that’s not in anagen won’t be permanently eliminated, but it will still shed if it was affected properly with laser.
From my understanding (and I’ve pretty much had 95% of my treatments with Cynosure machines so I love them), they would have the 15mm. You didn’t mention what model of Cynosure, it could be Apogee which is alexandrite only, Apogee Elite, which is alexandrite and yag combo, or Apogee Elite MPX which is also alexandrite and yag combo but also has a 18mm spot size now.
On Cynosure’s website, the Apogee has 5, 10, 12 and 15mm spot sizes and the 10 has a **Optional handpiece beside it.
The Elite has 5, 7, 10, 12, 15 for alex and 1.5, 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 15 for Yag. The 1.5mm is listed as being optional here.
The Elite MPX is the same, 1.5mm is optional, but has 18mm as well so I’m 99% sure that they would have a 15mm handpiece.
It’s similar to GentleLASE, the whole handpiece snaps off the holder and they pop in the different piece.
From my experience though, you can’t just go in there and say “Oh treat me with 15mm” or “Okay use 12 but I need lower pulse width” etc. Clinics are set in their ways and no matter how much you know, it’s really hard to get them to actually go lower than they normally would.
I’ve always had good experiences asking to use the settings I want because I did the research and showed them that I knew what I was talking about and had them test the settings if necessary. I would use the fact that spots were missed to get them to do what I need.
But generally, I agree. Which is once again why we recommend to find a good clinic BEFORE embarking on this process. It’s a lot harder to fix mistakes.
I use a Cynosure Elite. I treat beards very effectively using both Alex and YAG. I have seen patchiness before…which usually all clears up after the second or third treatment. I treat this area every 3 weeks until it evens out and then space the visits further out. It never looks as bad as the picture, but you do need to be persistent and continue the process and it WILL even out. Don’t panic. Contrary to what people on this forum say…this is not a totally abnormal reaction…nor is it permanent. Don’t shoot the messenger, I’m just here to help. Also…I treat at lower settings than I’ve seen some of you post… 15 spot size…on Alex starting at 15j, 20pw…on YAG starting at 20j, 40pw…then I step up the joules every session…and when those max out and the hair gets very thin, I begin to drop the pw. Some of these settings I see recommended would be excrutiating on a first time beard client. I can’t speak for everyone…but this is my protocol and what works for me.
I have had patients get nervous and quit the process after one session because of reading misleading information on the internet. I recommend trusting the technician and giving the process a chance to work without being discouraged by everything you read. It is too soon to tell at 4 weeks.
Ahh… we tend to go for the settings which work, rather than those which make people feel comfortable. It’s much less expensive that way 
Most people do trust the technicians. Unfortunately, many of them out there don’t know what they’re doing and we constantly have to help people on this forum after the fact.
What is the benefit of treating at lower settings? Comfort? We recommend results over comfort.
Also, treating every 3 weeks is expensive for the patient. There would be nothing to treat at 3 weeks if settings were high enough and overlapping was done properly in the first place.
i have been shaving basically every day… should i let the hair grow out for a few days this way its longer and easier to fall out???
i remember last time i had the shed, my beard was grown out a bit and i was just rubbing it in the shower and all the hairs were falling out…
i was thinking that if i shave everyday it doesnt give the hairs the chance to fall out…
btw it has thinned out somewhat already… looks much better now then in the pictures but still some patches but not as dense as before.
i went to the clinic in bellevue that was recommended…they are clearly very experienced and have worked on several professionals and celebrities… she told me that its completely normal to look like this, especially when i had such a thick, dense beard and that i need to have it treated a few times before they all come out…she gave me some exfoliation creams …so i will try to scrub out as much as i can and then remaining bits ill have her go over … i just dont know if i can keep shaving every day or if i should let it grow out a bit so i can tug at it a bit and get those dead hairs outta there…
Shaving every day tends to slow down the shedding process.
No, it’s not normal to have patchiness at 3 weeks when shedding is supposed to be complete. It’s normal while it’s shedding.
I don’t know what to tell you. If you want to trust the clinic, you can do that. We’re providing our opinions and you can run a search here to see other men’s beard stories. Then make your own decision. I just don’t want to tell you “we told you so” later when you’re at treatment #15 and still have patchiness.
well what do u suggest i do lagirl?