What LHR has done for me.

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

I have been a regular visitor to this site for some time now and felt that it was time for me to give something back. I hope this will help others.

I have ‘suffered’ quite coarse dark brown hair and whenever I shaved, it grew back within several days and often left a number of ingrown hairs (especially if I epilated instead). I decided that I wanted rid of it as much as possible so that I only needed to shave once every week or every other week the same as many women do (I ought to say that I am TG but I do not take hormones and will not be having reassignment surgery). My skin type I guess is Type III.

I decided to go for LHR on my full legs, feet and bikini area (my chest and back are hair free and my underarms are fine with shaving).

I chose Cambridge Skin and Laser Clinic here in the UK and went for a consultation and had test patches on 17 Jul 09 (Apogee Elite Alexandrite (Alex) 755nm 17/20/15mm on one calf and Soprano Diode 810nm 8 passes on the other calf). I noticed over the few weeks that followed that the shedding results were more noticable with the Alex. I decided that from now on I would take a couple of Nurofen painkillers one hour before treatments.

My next visit was 04 Aug 09 for my first session with the Alex 755.
Full legs and feet 17/20/15mm.
Bikini 20/20/12mm.
Results - shedding started and finished over the 1 week up to 3 weeks after treatment - I experienced around 2 weeks of smoothness until the next round of hairs started to grow in. Next visit planned for 8 weeks later.

My next visit was 29 Sep 09 for my second session with the Alex 755.
Full legs and feet 18/20/15mm.
Bikini 21/20/12mm.
Results - shedding similar to previous treatment - I experienced around 2 weeks of smoothness until the next new hairs started to grow in. Next visit planned for 8 weeks later.

My next visit was 24 Nov 09 for my third session. There seemed to be some stubborn hairs on my legs which didn’t seem to be shedding with the Alex 755. So we tried a session with the Diode on my legs and feet. Bikini area continued with the Alex.
Diode - Full legs and feet 36 - 38.
Alex - Bikini 23/20/12mm.
Results - shedding similar to previous treatment - I experienced around 2 weeks of smoothness until the next new hairs started to grow in. The stubborn hairs were noticably reduced. Next visit planned for 8 weeks later.

My next visit was 20 Jan 10 for my fourth session with the Alex 755.
Full legs 20/15/15mm
Feet 20/15/5mm.
Bikini 23/20/12mm.
Results - shedding similar to previous treatments - I experienced around 2 weeks of smoothness until the next new hairs started to grow in but they were finer and much more difficult to see except for odd hairs that were still coarse and dark. Next visit planned for 10 weeks later.

The fifth visit was 27 Mar 10 for my next session with the Alex 755.
Full legs 20/15/15mm
Feet 25/15/5mm.
Bikini 25/15/12mm.
Results - shedding similar to previous treatments - I experienced around 2-4 weeks of smoothness until the next new hairs started to grow in but they were finer and much more difficult to see except for odd hairs that were still coarse(ish) and dark. Next visit planned for 12 weeks later.

The sixth visit was 19 Jun 10 for my final session (of my six session package) with the Alex 755.
Full legs 20/15/15mm
Feet 20/15/15mm.
Bikini 20/15/15mm.
There were far fewer hairs to be treated than previously and so I guess this explains the difference in settings. There were few hairs around my bikini area and feet and only sporadic hairs on my legs. Shedding has now started and I now cross my fingers that the long term results are what I hoped for.

I have to say that my laser specialist (Janette) was absolutely wonderful. She quickly made me feel at ease and she never made me feel embarrassed nor uncomfortable (apart from the laser zaps) and I will miss our chats very much. She has asked that I contact her in 5 months to let her know what results have been achieved. If the hairs grow back much finer and only need to be shaved once or (even better) only every other week, then I will be very happy. I realise that as I am still male with no hormone adjustment I shouldn’t expect complete hair removal but rather finer hair regrowth (many girls still shave fairly frequently after all).

That is my story. I hope it helps and I will make sure that I come back in 6 months to let you know what the regrowth (if any ha ha) is like.

#2

Congratulations on seeing the whole process through! Hey, if you only need to shave every other week you are really lucky :stuck_out_tongue:

You’ll probably need to have touchups every year or so but the main bulk of the work is done! If there are any stray hairs on your bikini line, you can always go for electrolysis to finish the whole job off. Goodluck!

#3

Thanks for sharing! All good info. Hopefully you will not have to deal with too many touch ups.

#4

Thanks for the thorough report. It’s very helpful. Btw, where in the UK are you so that others near you can consider this clinic?

I actually doubt you’ll need much in terms of touchups on these areas. Let us know how things look at 6 months and please post in the Success Stories sticky if you’re happy at that point.

I personally haven’t needed any touchups at all and I’ve been done for over 3 years.

#5

Thanks very much Emilily, Kitty and LAGirl,

I hope that I don’t have to have much in the way of aftercare now:). I do have a ‘OneTouch’ home electrolysis kit which I successfully used on the few chest hairs that I had. I may use it on any ‘rogue’ hairs left so long as there aren’t too many.

LAGirl, Cambridge Skin and Laser is located in Cambridge itself and is easily accessible off the A14/M11 depending on which way you approach from. I have made it my solemn vow to post in the success stories if I am happy after the 6 months (I do SO hope so) but if not - well I will still make sure that I come back and let everyone know.

Thanks very much to everyone who has contributed to make this a great site.

#6

Well, it’s been almost 5 weeks since my final treatment and I thought I would let you know how things are going.

Shedding seems to be complete. I did get around 20 coarsish dark hairs which appeared on my inner thighs - I zapped these with the ‘OneTouch’ about a week ago.

My legs look clear but I have been feeling a slight stubble but couldn’t see anything. I discovered why and so I hope this will help others. I shone a torch across my legs and saw occasional gold/grey hairs which you can’t see until the torch light picks them up. These hairs are REALLY downy and some of them are about 2 or 3 mm long. The laser wouldn’t be able to kill these as they are so fine and light coloured - after all, I can’t see them without the torch :).

So, I’ve not shaved my legs for over 3 weeks now and I am very happy about that. Of course, the razor will be coming out to get rid of the fine gold/grey ‘stubble’ but to be honest, if even if things stay like this I will be very happy :grin: .

#7

It has now been six months (to the day) since I had my final of 6 treatments. Since my last post here I have noticed little change. As some people have LHR and then experience regrowth, I have been worried that I may also get the same happen to me but now after 6 months I only need to shave once every 2 weeks. I am very pleased with that and I keep being surprised by how soft and smooth my skin in the treated areas feels. I love it.

When I shave my legs now I can feel the softer ‘stubble’ on my thighs after about 3 days and then my legs feel smooth and soft for about another week and a half. I am finding that they need to be shaved again around the 2 week point which is when I can start to see the now fine downy hairs getting longer - I really do have to look hard (or bright light needs to catch them just right). I occasionally get one or two coarser dark hairs come through but have been zapping them with the ‘one-touch’ which seems to get rid of them. The lower part of my legs (knees down) seem to be almost totally hair free and the thighs area is where I seem to get the downy hairs come through.

My bikini area is slightly different as it has much softer skin with hardly any visible pores (I have quite large pores on my legs). It remains mostly hair free and I run the razor over this area roughly once a week to catch the odd hair that comes through but once again they are very fine and downy. I shave this area more as it is really quick to do in the shower. I used to get lots of ingrown hairs here but hardly ever get any now.

Am I pleased? You bet I am. I have been so worried that hair would come back but it has not (much to my relief). People mention touch-ups but I don’t understand whether that is because hair slowly and surely starts to come back or whether it is to get rid of the odd stragglers (those I have already zapped). I really hope as the 6 months has now passed that the hairs are dead and gone and that I will not experience any major regrowth other than the fine downy hair which comes through now. When I started my course of treatments I realised that as a male I was not going to completely get rid of the hair and that I would be happy with shaving once every 2 weeks which I am. I hope this helps anyone contemplating LHR or even needing a little encouragement during treatment. :grin:

#8

I love your story Smoothie and how fortunate we all are to have your update. I really think you are done. LASER worked very well for you and heck, the minimal amount of shaving you have to do is certainly no big deal.

I was wondering if your feet responded just as well. Do you have to shave your feet every two weeks, or were all the hairs affected?

#9

Thanks so much for the update. You got great results.

Anything new that you may see in months after this point would be new hair that your body may develop due to age, hormonal changes, etc. Any hair that was killed with these treatments would not be coming back.

#10

Thank you very much for your kind words dfahey and LAGirl - yes, I am very pleased.

dfahey, my feet responded just as well. I have had a few stubborn returns but I zapped them with the ‘One-Touch’ and (so far so good) they have not returned. I hardly shave my feet now:).

#11

That is wonderful and I am very, very happy for you. Thank you again for allowing us to follow your story from beginning to a positive ending.

Dee

#12

Thanks for sharing your story. :slight_smile:

I am thinking of getting a One Touch to get the few hairs missed by laser as well… how easy or difficult has it been for you to use it? Have you experienced any scarring?

Thanks!

#13

The ‘one-touch’ is a little tricky to use but patience is a virtue - I don’t always manage to zap the hair the first time so I leave it for a while and then try again another day. I find that the very low settings are best because you can zap for longer with less scarring. It can be really time consuming but when those stubborn hairs stop coming through, it is worth it. I do seem to get some scarring which looks like a darker blemish which seems to fade over time. There are some very good discussions on this topic in the self/home electrolysis area of this site Ennovi (I don’t want to be told off for discussing Electrolysis in the LHR area of this site) - I hope this helps.

#14

Well, it’s now been just over a year since I completed my course of 6 LHR treatments. I have experienced no further hair growth other than the odd straggler which pops up now and then which I zap with the ‘one-touch’. Please read my previous post dated 19/12/10 as there really isn’t much change since then. I am still very pleased with the results and hope this update is of use and encouragement to anyone who may read it.

#15

Thank you for the update! I forget whether you already posted in our Success Stories thread, but if you haven’t, please drop a line there :slight_smile: