I believe I was missold IPL as laser hair removal, even worse as I’m skin type IV this is not a good treatment for me as I had to be on very low fluence due to dark skin, therefore when my upper arms were treated the vellus hairs became terminal and that’s why they became dark, that is what i understand. However, what I don’t understand is that the hairs on my forearm although they are thinner are much longer and darker than before so now I have the problem where I’m removing hair from my upper arm using the yag (which is actually working) and then there being a hard line near my elbow as the hair there has now become very long whereas it used to be short and therefore fade off as it got to my elbow, what are my options? Could I look to use electrolysis to remove these long hairs and leave the thinner ones underneath?
Electrolysis can target any particular hairs you choose.Laser cannot do this.
Seana
Yes but any ideas on why the hairs have grown longer than they were before? And what can I do about this
I’m going to defer to the laser experts on this who would be able to tell you . I have more knowledge about electrolysis than I do laser processes, though I understand this does happen I cant accurately describe the physiology behind it. Electrolysis can help though, as it’s able to target any specific hairs necessary to achieve the look that you want.
Seana
I’m fine with the lower part of my arm being long around my wrist etc, but the upper part just before and around the elbow was never this long, how much would you estimate it would cost for me to reduce the density of this hair so it seems to fade away? I have no knowledge of electrolysis
an electrologist in your are could give you a better cost estimate. I wouldnt want to predict rates in your area nor try to give an estimate on skin I’ve never ever seen.
Here is some pictures http://myalbum.com/album/9sMfztHpEtmG
It is very frustrating having stimulated growth even though the hair is thinner it is now all over my arm, I also get comments like ‘why does your arm hair just stop there?’
I can get a much better idea of what you are talking about having seen your pictures.
The issue seems to be that where you stop with the yag the skin goes from completely bare, to fairly dense all at once. Actually this is a pretty common spot for hair to start to thin out on the arms naturally, but it’s been made more abrupt by the laser treatment.
The first thing I would do, is nothing for about 6-8 months. You can maybe take an hour or two of electrolysis to thnths after your last treatment with laser is done. The reason I say this, is some of the hair that shed from laser is likely to regrow during this period. This may make the transition less noticeable all on it’s own. Dont try to thin the area too much without seeing what it looks like over time.You wont know how the transition area will turn out until it has had this time.
I dont feel that much more than about 8-10 hours would be necessary to thin the area spread out in 3 or so sessions over a period of 6 months to a year, maybe less than that. How much more or less than that would depend on how gradually you want the transition from hairless to thick hair to occur to look natural, and the electrologist you work with could give you a far better estimate than I could. I really hate trying to give estimates on someone elses work and I do alot more work on faces than I do arms.In thinking about it I think I might be high with 8-10 hours total.
Seana
I haven’t even gone to a consulation with an electrologist yet, i have been screwed over once by bad technicians with laser so I am reluctant to jump in with the first one that I see is close to me as that is what I did the first time, I may ask my current laser technician as she is a certified dermatologist and knows what she is doing, futhermore my parents are paying for these treatments and are very reluctant for electrolysis as they think it would cost a bomb, 8-10 hours would not cost much more than £500? surely
I still think I am high on that estimate. You may be able to get away with half that. But you should wait before doing anything. If you’ve just done laser you wont know how much will grow back for up to a year. The landscape will change a little bit.
Seana