Hi everyone!
This is my first post here. I will start with a bit of background… Being into bodybuilding, naturally I didn’t want any body hair on my chest or abs. So I decided to shave this area and did so for about 2 years. This worked well at the time, yet I was still embarassed to go to the beach, take my shirt off or even wear a singlet simply because of the stubble not making it look naturally smooth. I am happy with my body yet am too ashamed to show it off because of my hair. All that work at the gym seems very pointless at times.
I noticed one hair on my left shoulder (at this point I had no hair on my back or shoulders). So I just got the razor and quickly cut it off. After that, I noticed I had a square patch of hair growing where I had shaved it. The hair grew back MUCH darker. I triggered its growth.
I also had a couple of hairs on my upper back which my girlfriend waxed off. I had several other hairs growing back here after it was waxed as well, but these were fine compared to my shoulder.
I began to have laser treatment two years ago. I am now 26 years old. I was sick and tired of having such low self-esteem and it was really affecting my life. I had to do something about it as it was eating at me inside. I felt I needed to be free and was a prisoner as I couldn’t do the things that I wanted to do.
I started with the light-sheer laser and had 2 treatments. Due to circumstances, I had to continue my laser treatments at another clinic which had the ruby laser and continued to have about 5 treatments there. I had been treating my chest, abs, shoulder and upper back. When I was able to go back to the original clinic I did so, as I noticed that the light-sheer laser was much more powerful and effective than the ruby laser. You could practically fall asleep during the ruby laser. No chance of that happening with the light-sheer. hehehe
I kept telling the physicians that I didn’t want to be shaved, as its triggers more hair growth. I knew with the light-sheer that the the area to be treated HAD to be shaved, so told them to do as little as possible and to make sure not to go out these areas. They basically laughed at me and said that hair growth can not be triggered by either shaving or waxing and that I was imagining it. They told me that it may APPEAR to be darker around the other finer hair. How wrong they were! They soon found out exactly what I was talking about, when they saw with their own eyes that the hair WAS growing back thicker and much more intense after every treatment that was performed on my back. They told me that they have never seen anything like it and couldn’t explain it. (Doesn’t make me feel any better.)
My theory is that the hair is in a dormant state and when it is shaved or waxed it is triggered. The problem with the light-sheer, is that you need to be shaved in order to have it done, and it only targets hair that is in the growing phase and hairs that have pigment. Therefore any tiny blonde hairs that are dormant will not be affected by the lazer. This is where the problem lies. These dormant hairs are not affected by the lazer and will grow back darker and courser than the blonde ones that were originally there, simply because they were shaved. Therefore I believe, in my case anyhow, that I had to get worse (hairier) in order for the lazer to target the darker hairs, in order for me to have any form of hair reduction.
Since I had been shaving my chest and abs for about 2 years prior to my first lazer treament, I believe this worked in my favour and in this area I have had fantastic results - about 95% reduction. Therefore I am completely satisfied in this area and only need to pluck sparse hairs and sometimes wax. Although on my back, with the same number of treatments, it has infact gotten really bad and hairy as I have been triggering growth through the shaving.
I am getting concerned with the number of treatments that I have had performed as I believe that my energy levels have been dropping progressively since starting the lazer. I might be getting a little personal here, but who cares…I believe my libido has dropped as well. I am normally very healthy in this department and this has come as a bit of a shock to me! They report that there are no side affects besides possible short term scaring and pigmentation, yet I wonder what the side affects are after the number of treatments that I have had and whether it can affect your hormone levels. This is mainly the reason why I am not sure whether I want to continue treatments or not. I think my general health is a lot more important than the hair on my back. At the end of the day, I can always get it waxed???
Has anyone experienced feeling lethargic or lacking libido after several treatments? What should I do? I do believe that I will eventually get a reduction in my back if I persevere, but it is costing me a fortune…thousands and thousands and is maybe affecting my health…I don’t know! It’s like a vicious circle. Once you start, it’s like you can’t stop.
Over the last year I have had the confidence to wear a singlet (for a couple of weeks between treatments) and that has made me feel great! I envy people when I see smooth bods. I seem to be fascinated or obsessed in body hair. I hate it! I just wish it would go away! I wish I could have a tan!
Anyhow enough of my bullshit. I think I have bored everyone enough…that’s if you’ve even read this far. I just had to let it all off my chest and wanted to know if anyone else had similar experiences.
Please let me know All the best to everyone!